The Second Bethlehem International Conference – Program

Conference Program

Tuesday, 8 October 2024

8:30 – 9:00 Registration

Opening and Welcome

Welcoming remarks of the Vice Chancellor, Bethlehem University, Dr. Br. Hernan Santos

Address by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity

Address of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and head of the Scientific Committee: Dr. Iman Saca

Facilitator: Dr. Omar Abed Rabo

9:00 – 11:00

The first Session: Archaeology, History, and the Question of Extermination and Restoration

Facilitator: Hanadi I. Soudah-Younan

9:00 – 9:20

Gentrification (“modernization”) as a distorting colonial tool – Wadi al-Salib neighborhood in Haifa as an example

 

Johnny Mansour
9:20 – 9:40 Gaza: Current Rukam (Ruins) for future archaeologists

Omar Algul

Mazen Owais

Jamal Barghout

9:40 – 10:00 Rethinking the Late Bronze Age: Population and settlement Ghassan Al- Nagagreh
10:00 – 10:20 Heritage research hub: integrating BIM and advanced technologies to preserve Palestinian cultural heritage Karim Yahya
10:20 – 11:00 Q&A
11:00 – 12:40

Second Session: Appropriation and Destruction, Archaeology and the Cultural, and Natural Heritage

Facilitator: Fadi Kattan

11:00 – 11:20 From Abu Ghneim to Tantour: The destruction of the Palestinian material culture and the natural landscape in the southeastern countryside of Jerusalem Omar Abed Rabo
11:20 – 11:40 The Jerusalem Citadel: A case study in the appropriation of Palestinian cultural heritage Mahmoud Hawari
11:40 – 12:00 A study on the concept of Palestinian cultural heritage in a colonial context Maysoon Sharqawi
12:00 – 12:20 The persistence of the Israeli institution in destroying the material heritage in the land of 1948 Palestine Abed al-Razzaq Matani
12:20 – 12:40 Q&A
12:40 – 2:00 lunch break
2:00 – 3:40

Third Session: Cultural Heritage in Depopulated and Razed Palestinian Villages

Facilitator:  Taher Labadi

2:00 – 2:20 Colonial settlement and the destruction of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the West Bank and the destroyed villages in 1948 Saleh Abdel Jawad
2:20 – 2:40 The depopulated Palestinian villages of the Hebron district in 1948: al-Dawayma village as a Model Alaa al-Dawayma
2:40 – 3:00 The disappeared Sheed (lime) ovens in the lands of the depopulated and razed village of ʿInnāba in 1948 Rawda Ghanayem
3:00 – 3:20 Lake Hula: drying up of water and erasure of cultural memory Ali Habib Allah
3:20 – 3:40 Q&A
3:40 – 4:00 Break
4:00 – 5:40

Fourth Session: Gaza in Archaeological Inscriptions and the Monastery of Saint Hilarion

Facilitator: Laura Vie’

4:00 – 4:20 Gaza and its importance through ancient inscriptions in pre-Islamic periods Issam Halayqa
4:20 – 4:40 The inscriptions of the Al-Omari Mosque are an important source for the history of Islamic architecture in Gaza City Samah al-Dawayma
4:40 – 5:00 Monastery of Saint Hilarion in Gaza Hamdan Taha
5:00 – 5:20 Management and protection plan of the Tell Umm Amer site (St. Hilarion Monastery) in Nuṣairāt / Gaza Luma Qumsieh
5:20 – 5:40 Q&A

Fifth session: Museums, Cultural Heritage, and Identity

Facilitator: Hamdan Taha

5:40 – 6:00 Culturecide – Zionist attempts to obliterate the Palestinian cultural heritage by plundering and destroying archives and assassinating culture after 1967:  Archives of the Palestinian Research Center in Beirut 1976-1983 as an example Muntaser Jarrar
6:00 – 6:20 The impact of wars on private collections in Gaza City, “Shahwan Museum” as an example Ali Shahwan
6:20 – 6:40 Q&A
End of the first day

Wednesday, 9 October 2024

First Session: Destruction of Archaeological and Cultural Heritage in Gaza

Facilitator: Mousa Rabadi

9:00 – 9:20 The intentional destruction of Islamic and Christian monuments in Gaza City during the latest war (Ṭūfān al-Aqsa 2023- 2024) Abdul Latif Abu Hashem
9:20 – 9:40 The historical and archaeological importance of the heritage and historical buildings destroyed by the Zionist occupation in Gaza and the necessity of their restoration. Ayman Hassouna
9:40 – 10:00 Documenting the cultural heritage in Gaza City through photos before and after Ṭūfānal-Aqsa war 2023-2024 Doaa Yasser Al-Dawayma
10:00 – 10:20 Israeli illegal excavations of Palestinian cultural heritage sites: Bethlehem area as a case Study Wael Hamamra
10:20 – 10:40 Q&A
10:40 – 11:00

Second Session: Different Approaches to Studying Palestinian Cultural Heritage

Facilitator: Bilal Salameh

11:00 – 11:20 The importance of support sciences to the field of archaeology: paleobotany in Palestine as an example Hussein Madina
11:20 – 11:40 The network of relationship among Bir al-Saba’, Gaza and the Palestinian coastal cities before the Nakba Mansour Nasasra
11:40 – 12:00 Cultural heritage in the custody of its own people: In’ash Al-Usra Association, a Palestinian ethnographic blog Ahmad Asa’ad
12:00 – 12:20 Gazan popular cuisine: Food culture and its role in preserving memory and constructing a national identity Hamza Al-Aqrabawi
12:20 – 12:40 Q&A
12:40 – 1:40 Lunch Break
2:00 – 3:20

Third Session: Preserving Cultural Heritage: Manuscripts, Memory, and Law

Facilitator: Br. Alejandro Cerna

2:00 – 2:20 The role of the Manuscript Restoration Center in the Islamic Waqf Department in preserving and maintaining the collection of manuscripts and Qur’ans of the Aqsa Mosque Youssef Natsheh
2:20 – 2:40 The social and religious conditions of Christians in Gaza City in the late Ottoman era through Sharia court records Hanin Al- ‘Amsi
2:40 – 3:00 Classical complicities: Confronting classicism, Zionism and other historiographical Tools of genocide Marchella Ward
3:00 – 3:20 International law and the protection of intangible cultural heritage Lina Khamis
3:20 – 3:40 Q&A
3:40 – 4:00 Break
4:00 – 5:40

Fourth Session: Memory and archives: dialect and material heritage as entry points for preserving the narrative

Facilitator:  Mehdi Berriah

4:00 – 4:20 Digital archives for Palestine: Accessibility and sustainability Said Badawi
4:20 – 4:40 Archives and the war on Palestinian material heritage between documentation and practice Heba Omari, Dana Abbas, and Basel Naser
4:40 – 5:00 The role of Jordanian museums in preserving the Palestinian cultural heritage Safaa Sobh Sababha
5:00 – 5:20 Q&A
5:20 – 5:40

Fifth Session: Documenting Palestinian Cultural Heritage

Facilitator: Dr. Issam Halayqa

5:40 – 6:40 Leveraging artificial intelligence for enhancing digital documentation and virtual tours of Palestinian cultural heritage vs experiences Ehab Alafandi, Raffaella De Marco
5:40 – 6:00 Hilma Granqvist and Palestinian cultural resistance Rosanna Sirignano
6:00 – 6:20 Postwar recovery of cultural and natural heritage in Gaza

Akram M. A. Ijla

 

6:20 – 6:40 Q&A
Closing ِand Recommendations:  Dr. Omar Abed Rabo

Important Dates

Starting in:

Abstract submission: 20 April, 2024

Responses will be out: 2 May, 2024

Completed research papers: 1 August, 2024

Final Conference Program: 20 September 2024