The Palestinian public engagement with its local museums : a case study of area A in the West Bank

Abstract

The rich cultural heritage Palestine enjoys, allows it to express it through the forms of identity the Palestinian society practice in their daily life. However, the geopolitical situation affects this practice and all other aspects of living inside the borders of historic Palestine; the UN reports and many other researchers address this effect: "that occupation policies constrain Palestinian life and push Palestinians to leave their land and homes, especially in area C of the West Bank, and East Jerusalem" (UN, 2015). Thus, this research aims at addressing the Palestinian public engagement with its local museum as a response to the found low number of visitors to the local museums as the PCBS reports for 2016 indicate. This research is important to seek out the reasons behind the usually and constantly given statement/ response from the public when mentioning or asking about Palestinian museums: "Jo we even have museums?" In addition, this research mainly studies the effect of the political situation on the Palestinian public engagement with its local museums in two aspects: first aspect, the role of the museum in the Palestinian society in attracting and engaging its visitors. The second aspect is about the role of the educational system, tourism sector and political situation in enhancing and influencing the public engagement with its local museums. It is important to note that the field of museums studies in Palestine is relatively weak and under development. Thus, no literature available on museums in Palestine. Hence, this research could be considered initial and introductory to the field of the museum studies in Palestine. It will cover the aspects related the museum services and role in the society only, without touching upon the opinion of the public at this early stage. Thus, the research methodology was based on conducting interviews with a selected number of museums for the case study, in cities considered tourist attraction in Palestine. Due to the shared relationship between museums and tourism (Perera, 2013). Museum curators were asked 17 questions about the museum establishment and background. As well as questions concerned with museum didactic, design and management characteristics. The conducted interviews showed that there is a lack of continuous maintenance in the services provided from the museum in reaching out the Palestinian society, and let the public know about the museum. In addition to the lack of the services provided from the tourism sector and the educational system in enhancing the public engagement with its local museums.