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‘Everything Beautiful Has Been Destroyed’: Palestinians Mourn a City in Tatters

More than 200 buildings of cultural and historical significance have been reduced to rubble in Gaza, including mosques, cemeteries and museums

The Guardian 5 FEB 2024

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The Great Mosque of Gaza as it looked on 27 January, after months of Israeli bombardment of the region. Its walls collapsed and its minaret cut short, Gaza’s Omari mosque remains standing but vastly diminished.

Around it, the historic old city is also in tatters. The 7th-century mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Gaza, was Gaza’s most famous and its surroundings a focal point of the Palestinian enclave’s history and culture, but the damage done to its heritage over days of Israeli bombardment spreads across the city.

For the few Palestinians who remain, and the far greater number displaced and hoping to return, the culture and history has been reduced to memories.

“The city is a ghost town, people walk around with pale faces and their spirits are tired after having gone through this war. If you walk to the old city of Gaza, you will only remember the memories and feel sickened and saddened by the amount of destruction of cultural and religious sites,” said Bader Alzaharna, who lives in Gaza City despite the intensity of Israel’s ground operation in the area.

“The old city of Gaza, which used to be full of cultural sites, is grey and overcast. Walking in Gaza feels like we are in a movie, in a fictional story, in a fantasy. The scene is apocalyptic.”

Unesco, the UN agency responsible for protecting culture, says it has verified damage to at least 22 sites, including mosques, churches, historical homes, universities, archives and the archeological site of Anthedon Harbour, Gaza’s first known seaport.

A recent report by the Palestinian culture ministry into Israeli damage to Palestinian heritage said Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had destroyed 207 buildings of cultural or historical significance, including 144 in the old city and 25 religious sites.

The damage has also included an ancient Roman cemetery and the Commonwealth war cemetery, where more than 3,000 British and commonwealth soldiers are buried after dying in battles during the first and second world wars.

Unesco has warned that more sites are at risk of damage, including one of the region’s oldest Christian monasteries, the Saint Hilarion complex, which it said had not been damaged yet but was in an area of intense fighting.

“Unesco is deeply concerned about damage of cultural and historical sites in Gaza. While humanitarian emergencies are a legitimate priority, the protection of cultural heritage in all its forms – as well as the protection of educational infrastructures and journalists – must also be ensured, in accordance with international law, which stipulates that cultural property is civilian infrastructure,” the agency said.

Wissam Nassar, a photographer who covered several wars in Gaza but also documented its culture, said the damage to the Omari mosque and its surroundings had hit him personally due to the time he spent there.

“This mosque holds a special place for every Palestinian in Gaza, as it was a gathering point during Ramadan and a place for worship and Quranic readings. As a photographer, it has a special significance for me, capturing many moments and memories inside this mosque,” said Nassar.

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