Sebastia and the occupation's attempts to steal Palestinian land and its history

Dozens of small and large daily battles are taking place across the Palestinian territories without much fanfare. These battles ostensibly aim to carry out small and limited robberies, within the framework of continuing to annex and Judaize the Palestinian lands. However, in their entirety, they represent the implementation of a program to resolve the conflict with security policies and unilateral decisions and without any Negotiation. Sometimes the occupation army and official state institutions, such as the Environmental Authority or the Antiquities Authority, take the initiative, and at other times the settlers take the initiative, protected by the army and Israeli law, to carry out plundering and robbery of Palestinian lands and property. This method has revived in recent years with the emergence of what is called pastoral settlement. But there is a thread that brings all these operations together, and if we link them to what the army, security services, the Israeli government and its various agencies are doing, then we are facing a single, comprehensive operation, whose links are integrated to deprive the Palestinian people of the material and moral components that enable them to build their independent state, by depriving them of land and all symbols and factors. Historical matters that created their national identity, their way of life, and their culture, such as religious sanctities, antiquities, and natural resources. After that, the most that remains for our people will be some facilities and improvements that are, in essence, retreats from artificial restrictions.

Among the main elements that the occupation seeks to strip us of are natural reserves, most notably the Umm al-Rihan Forest in Jenin Governorate, the forests and areas of Wadi Qana between the governorates of Salfit and Qalqilya, Wadi al-Qaf north of Hebron, and Umm Safa and Zarqa northwest of Ramallah, in addition to the areas classified (D) as reserves. Natural, such as the wilderness of Bethlehem and Hebron in the south of the West Bank.

The Religious Zionism Program, headed by extremist Minister Bezalel Smotrich, stipulates that all of Palestine’s lands, natural resources, and antiquities are the exclusive property of the “Jewish people” with a pure gift from God, and thus calls for complete control over the forests, forests, valleys, springs, caves, and antiquities. The rest of the Israeli forces refrain from declaring this for fear of international criticism, but they implement it in practice, as did successive governments, including the Labor, Kadima, and Likud governments. Rather, the Oslo Accords planted the seeds of this control by dividing the occupied territories into classifications (A), (B), (C), and (D), with official Palestinian approval of this division.

The Israeli settlement program aims to control the largest possible areas of the Palestinian territories and what is on them, and to cram the Palestinians into the towns and cities in which they reside within their currently limited areas by turning them into ghettos (Bantustans) devoid of all elements of future planning, growth and development. Confrontation with this plan is almost limited to the families affected by these policies, and some statements and reports issued by specialized civil society organizations and bodies linked to the authority. The matter is not devoid of heroic movements and struggles undertaken by the people, as in Masafer Yatta, the Jordan Valley, Sebastia, and the villages northeast of Ramallah and south of Nablus, but these struggles often remain scattered and seasonal, and lack coherence with each other and with the effort required of the official and civil Palestinian institutions, so that in their unity they form a context of struggle. Influential and effective against Israeli policies. On the other hand, the practices of the occupation army are integrated with the state’s various judicial, political and administrative institutions and the settlers’ aggressive actions, including the activities carried out by the Regavim Foundation, which specializes in monitoring, reporting and following up on Palestinian “violations” in lands classified as (C) legally, even if the matter is merely a matter of Digging wells to collect rainwater.

The town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, represents a unique example of the people’s struggle against the occupation’s plans to control the land and steal Palestinian history and antiquities. This town had a distinctive role in the history of the East during the Roman, Hellenistic, and Byzantine eras, and its antiquities bear witness to its greatness and the richness of Palestinian history. In the town there is a shrine that is said to be the body of the Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist). The Gospels and narratives say that the Ghanaian Salome asked for the head of John from her uncle, King Herod, because the Prophet rejected the king’s marriage to her mother, Herodias, his brother’s wife, so he complied with her. The town was and still is at the heart of Israeli ambitions and threats, which prohibit even attempts to care for and protect the antiquities. What is strange is that the zoning line between classifications (B) and (C) deliberately separates the antiquities from the town and keeps them within Area C, which is under full Israeli administrative and security control.

Despite the scarcity of capabilities and the unfairness of the agreements, the people developed effective mechanisms to preserve the town’s archaeological treasures, including the cathedral, the Roman amphitheater, and the Street of Columns. Among the modern monuments is Al-Kayed Palace, which was transformed into an active center for youth service and social activities. This was done at the initiative of the well-known feminist activist, the late Inaya Al-Kayed.

The town's institutions and bodies have been constantly educating their young men and women about the history of the town and the national and humanitarian importance of its antiquities. The writer touched on this during a tour with a group of activists in the comprehensive scientific and historical explanation led by the young doctor Fares Nizar Al-Kayed, who revealed to us the frantic attempts to fabricate a Jewish history of the town and its antiquities to justify Looting it and stealing its lands and antiquities. These are attempts that began with the exploratory missions that preceded the Zionist invasion, especially the missions of Harvard University in the middle of the 19th century. However, they did not find any tangible evidence of their anti-scientific attempts to link history with the narratives of the Torah, so they replaced that by stealing the most important archaeological finds and depositing them in American museums. .

The efforts of the people have succeeded in improving the tourist facilities that have begun to attract family tourist trips from Nablus Governorate, but this needs to be developed to encourage national tourism, especially school tourism. The most important thing is to launch a comprehensive national campaign to defend the town and its impact and to seek the assistance of UNESCO and other cultural, tourism and human rights bodies in the world. It is unthinkable. The task of defending Sabbat and its antiquities should be the responsibility of the people of the town alone, and it cannot be assumed that defending Jerusalem and its sanctities is an exclusive matter for the citizens of Jerusalem.