archeology

Yochai Damri, head of the Mount Hebron Regional Council, and Home Front Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin, visit the remains of the ancient Jewish village of Susiya, where a Palestinian village of the same name now exists, in the southern occupied West Bank, December 15, 2021. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Annexation in the name of archeology

Armed with huge budgets, far-right Israeli ministers are pushing ahead with plans to displace Palestinians under the guise of safeguarding heritage sites.

By Alon Arad and Talya Ezrahi August 1, 2023

Israel Antiquities Authority workers dig at the site of archaeological excavations as part of the plan to build an elevator to the Western Wall, at the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City, November 9, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

After backlash, conference drops Israeli archeologist for settlement university ties

Archeologists criticized the participation of two Ariel University scholars at the international event, citing illegality of excavations on occupied territory.

By Oren Ziv May 28, 2023

Christian pilgrims take part in the traditional Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives, occupied East Jerusalem, March 28, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The new national park threatening Jerusalem’s Christian community

Concerns are building that Israel's new government will revive controversial plans to take over Palestinian- and church-owned land on the Mount of Olives.

By Judith Sudilovsky January 23, 2023

Latest

Israeli authorities demolish a tent in the West Bank area of Masafer, near the city of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, on November 25, 2020. (Wissam Hashlamon/Flash90)

This Israeli forbids Palestinians from building. He lives in an illegal outpost

Meet the inspector who prevents Palestinians in Masafer Yatta from building on their land while living in a home Israel says was built illegally.

By Yuval Abraham July 28, 2022

The Givati Parking Lot excavation grounds next to the City of David National Park in the Palestinian village of Silwan, across the street from the Old City walls surrounding the Al Aqsa mosque compound, July 14, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

PODCAST: Excavating Israel’s underground settlements

On the latest episode, Israeli archeologist Yonathan Mizrahi talks about Israel's weaponization of archeology to expand Jewish settlement.

By Natasha Roth-Rowland January 20, 2022

Workers at the City of David archaeological site, near Jerusalem's Old City, on July 22, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

In East Jerusalem, the settler project is expanding underground

Elad's politicization of archaeology, most notably through the City of David park in East Jerusalem, erases Palestinians and their history.

By Natasha Roth-Rowland October 23, 2020

Palestinian workers working on the newly-installed flagpole at the public plaza of the town of Sebastia, West Bank, August 24, 2020. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills)

Israeli army orders removal of Palestinian flagpole for ‘security reasons’

Residents of the West Bank village of Sebastia say the military order was the result of pressure by Israeli settlers who visit its famed archeological site.

By Ahmad Al-Bazz and Activestills August 26, 2020

U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (left) with White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt (center) and Senator Lindsey Graham seen during the opening ceremony of an the Pilgrimage Road at the City of David archaeological site in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, June 30, 2019. (Flash90)

Using archeology in the service of nationalism

The inauguration of a supposed ancient Jewish ‘Pilgrimage Road’ by Ambassador David Friedman and White House envoy Jason Greenblatt is a reminder that archeology is never as neutral as some would like to believe. By Chemi Shiff and Yonathan Mizrachi We tend to think of archeology as a neutral discipline. Archeologists dig up artifacts, date them, and try to build…

By +972 Magazine July 5, 2019

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in ‘The Pilgrims’ tunnel under East Jerusalem, December 26, 2016. (Regev’s Facebook)

A tunnel in the service of nationalism

Israeli politicians use problematic archeological findings to drum up support for exclusionary nationalist narratives under East Jerusalem. By Yonathan Mizrahi “I didn’t think I would be so excited,” said Culture Minister Miri Regev. “Mr. President Obama, I am standing here on the path that my forefathers walked 2,000 years ago. There is not another nation…

By Haokets January 4, 2017

The visitor’s center at the West Bank archeological site of Shiloh, in the Israeli settlement of Shilo. (Mendy Hechtman/Flash90)

Because BDS, Israeli archeologists want West Bank work kept secret

An Israeli court rejects a freedom of information request for the names of archeologists digging, under IDF license, in the occupied territories, and where Israel is storing the antiquities they uncover. The reason: so they don’t face academic boycott. The Jerusalem District Court on Monday refused to reveal the names of archeologists performing digs at…

By Haggai Matar November 22, 2016

Archaeologists digging at a digging site of the remains of a citadel used by the Greeks more then 2,000 years ago to control the Temple Mount at the City of David near Jerusalem Old City on November 3, 2015, According to the Israeli Antiquities Authority the site was found under a parking lot a few years ago also know as Givati Parking Lot. (photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israelis don’t understand Palestinian fears over Jerusalem

For Israelis, Jerusalem is an archaeological treasure. For Palestinians, it is a city whose heritage and identity are constantly under threat. By Yonathan Mizrachi It turns out that issues of identity, religion and recognition are far more critical to East Jerusalem Palestinians than what the Israeli Right and center would have us believe. A new…

By Haokets July 11, 2016

Archaeological dig at City of David (rachelsharon/CC BY NC ND 2.0)

Why a pro-settler group wants to talk about ISIS

An Israeli group working in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan is presenting ISIS destruction of antiquities as a cautionary tale for its own struggle with Palestinians. By Yonathan Mizrachi A group that manages the City of David’s archaeological site in the heart of the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem, the “Elad Foundation in the…

By Haokets August 28, 2015

An Israeli police van outside the City of David archeological park in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. (File photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Parks and Occupation: Archaeology is the new security

The Biblical blueprint is being dragged up around our feet, seeking to use what is under the ground as evidence of divine right and the political and territorial sovereignty it supposedly affords us. The past makes for prime real estate when you’re developing a national mythology. It’s also a fine way to exert control over…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland March 7, 2015