FACTS ON THE DISCOVERY AND 'DESTRUCTION' OF ANCIENT CHRISTIAN BUILDING IN GAZA

You may have seen headlines about a supposed destruction of a Christian Church in besieged Gaza, sometimes claimed to be "1800 years old" - which would have made it among the oldest in the entire world.

Both Hamas and Palestinian Authority have been blamed in these articles - especially by sections of far-right media fervently supporting Israel in the United States - and naturally Israeli media is using the archaeological find's fate for propaganda purposes also, trying to create from it a dividing issue between Palestinians of different faiths.

Here we offer available the facts as they are, without either exaggeration or attempting to excuse anything through counter-propaganda. Honesty is the best way when opposing any propaganda on behalf of Israel, it is a defense that can't be broken.

THE SITE

The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in Gaza Strip started to develop a piece of land it owned in a shopping district near Palestine Square and the old spice market of Gaza, intending to build a trade center or mall on its place.

The exact site is not mentioned at any of the available sources. No source indicates what if anything was on the site before the excavation started; as this area suffered some bombardment by Israel in 2014, a possibility of some ruined building exists.

During the late Ottoman period part of the area at least was in agricultural use which could have protected the ruins.

No one seems to have known that there were archaeological remains as the excavation for the mall foundations began, although because of the long history of Gaza some remains are almost always to be expected at building sites.

The resources of the local archaeological authorities are very limited and foreign archaeological teams don't operate in Gaza because of the siege. Everything is in the hands of about forty employees of the Antiquities and Tourism Ministry.

THE FIND

During excavation by mechanical diggers remains of a major building started to appear on April 2. Archaeological authorities were called in and a in few days they had found fifteen different sculpted stone pieces.

Based on information and photographs from the site nothing in the way of any standing walls or pillars are or were place; instead findings are mainly Corinthian pillars and their bases that seem to have collapsed or torn down at some point in the past. Largest pillar fragment is almost three meters in length. A claim has been made that the pillars would have been imported from Greece.

An earthquake might have been the reason for the destruction of the building - these are quite common in eastern Mediterranean's historical record. It's also likely that the site would have been used as a source of building material later on, which might partly explain the incomplete nature of findings.

Earthquakes both in 551 and 749 caused tidal waves on the coasts of Lebanon and Palestine. (Currently a major earthquake causing a tsunami could cause immense destruction in the crowded Gaza Strip, which has basically no defense and no chance for the population to escape to a higher ground even if there would be a warning time.)

CHRISTIAN BUILDING?

On one foundation stone a Christian cross can be seen and mainly based on this it is assumed by Jamal Abu Rida, the general director of the Antiquities Ministry.that the site is that could be a church, perhaps even a 'cathedral'; his colleague Hiam Al-Bitar believes that the stonework are characteristic of the reign of the emperor Justinian I(527-565). Preliminary the stone remains have been only dated to late antiquity, from the fourth to the seventh centuries CE.

If the building was destroyed soon after it was constructed, for example build just before the 551 Beirut earthquake and destroyed in it, it could explain why no historical records of its existence seem to remain. It might even have remained unfinished. Another scourge that hit Gaza during this time was the empire-wide Plague of Justinian in 541-542.

As well as a church, it might have been a monastery or a palace of a bishop. The last few centuries before the Sasanian War(602-628), during which Persia occupied Gaza, had seen economic recovery and increased trade in the Eastern Roman Empire, which benefited Gaza and led to a large-scale building of numerous churches and monasteries.

OPPOSING MINISTRIES

The Ministry of Antiquities in Gaza and local archaeologists want to stop excavation of the area and perform a proper archaeological dig, for which, as explained above, they lack resources and money. Archaeologists also believe that older layers under the Christian building could exist.

The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs continued excavation with mechanical diggers in the following days and the excavation has damaged some stone pieces as they have been removed from the site. One pillar is said to have been broken in two and there are reports of pottery being destroyed by the machinery also.

The apparent indifference from the latter Ministry seems to be based on purely economical reasons, and are not influenced by religion; Christian church is not being deliberately destroyed by Muslims, but in the name of 'economical development' archaeological remains are being damaged. The old excuse of past having to be given up for the benefit of today.

OUTSIDE HELP NEEDED

An attempt at conservation of the found archaeological remains is being done by local archaeologists and archaeological authorities, but they have basically no money and an excavation of the size needed would be very expensive and demand the amount of staff not really available in Gaza.

Both UNESCO and French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem have been asked for help by Hiam Al-Bitar, Director of Museums and Antiquities at the Ministry of Tourism in Gaza, and her call for help has been echoed by Mohammed Al-Zarad from Gaza's Islamic University.

By the latest news, the different ministries in Gaza are still wrestling hand over the fate of the site, various Church representatives and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have started to wade in and as mentioned above, the case has been taken into use by propagandists for Israeli occupation.

ARCHAEOLOGY UNDER OCCUPATION

Under Israel, all archaeology in the occupied territories is politically charged archaeology, in which science bends to political needs of the government controlling it.

Israel's government is after Jewish archaeological remains which it sees as title deeds to the lands and everything else is in danger, in the manner of Mussolini's fascist Italy destroying medieval remains in Rome to uncover remains from the antiquity, so that the dead Roman empire's remains could be used by a new Italian empire under construction.

Israel has also bombed, torn down and otherwise damaged countless historical buildings and archaeological sites, in some cases handing the latter in the hands of untrained Christian Zionists from the United States, who have devastated them. The biblical village of Emmaus in Palestine 1948 was notoriously destroyed by Israeli government in the 1950s to make way for the Canada Park - destruction of which Christian Zionists are silent of.

None of which in anyway justifies any possible negligence against Palestine's heritage by Palestinian authorities themselves. Archaeological remains like this one in besieged Gaza are assets for the Palestinian people, signs of the history leading to their own current existence, signs which can be used to bring the people together instead of dividing them.

(Discrepancies in the names of local government authorities in Gaza above are due to differences in the source materials.)

SOURCES:

Ancient church discovered at Gaza construction site
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/…/ancient-church-discovered-at-ga…

Archaeologists scramble to save ancient church unearthed on Gaza building site
http://www.rawstory.com/…/archaeologists-scramble-to-save-…/

Bulldozed for a shopping mall? What might happen to these Church ruins
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/…/bulldozed-for-a-shoppi…/

Gaza’s architectural heritage fades, but one man resists
http://www.thenational.ae/…/gazas-architectural-heritage-fa…

Builders find remnants from Byzantine period in Gaza
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/builders-find-remnants-fro…

Palestinian Christians bitter over destruction of church ruins in Gaza
http://www.jpost.com/…/Palestinian-Christians-bitter-over-d…

Remains of 1,500 Year Old Byzantine Church Found in Gaza
http://www.newhistorian.com/remains-1500-year-old-byzant…/…/

Ruins of ancient Byzantine church discovered in Gaza
http://www.christiantoday.com/…/ruins.of.ancient.…/83359.htm

What is the fate of the Byzantine Church ruins found in Gaza?
http://en.lpj.org/…/what-is-the-fate-of-the-byzantine-chur…/

VIDEO:

Gaza archaeologists call for ancient church to be protected
https://www.sciencedaily.com/…/f2c27ee69b60857e222ab9b5f930…