Museum on Palestinian cause to open
A MUSEUM dedicated to the Palestinian cause is in the final stages of completion and will open in September.
The nine-storey building in Gore Street, Cape Town, took five years to plan and renovate.
It faces the Castle of Good Hope, with views of Cape Town and Table Mountain.
The chairperson of the museum, Dr Anwah Nagia, said the museum was dedicated to human rights activism and would be the first human rights centre in Africa.
The first floor will portray the Palestinian war, with floor tiling to represent each of the 6 000 villages destroyed.
“This also speaks to all people without land and housing. On the side walls will be the 14 Stations of the Cross for the Christian faith, and a synagogue.
The third floor will be the restaurant, representing food from most counties. The fourth floor will be a library depicting the lives of prominent people from South Africa and across the world.
Nagia said he was partnering with certain universities across the country to donate books.
“The fifth floor will be our lecture theatre, sixth floor the human rights centre, seventh floor the media hub, eighth floor a peace garden representing the history of our murdered heroes during apartheid. The last floor will be our sun roof top with an art gallery and guest house.
“The Palestinian Museum will chronicle the story of the Palestinian people and their displacement by the conflict which followed the establishment of the state of Israel at the end of the 1940s,” said Nagia.
“It will also provide a focal point for collections of private family photographs,” he said.
The logo of the museum had a deep meaning, he said. “It is very interactive TUESDAY JUNE 19 2018 and will change every year as we make progress in the struggle of the Palestinian people,” said Nagia. “The green bud will be greener and the illustrated white light will get brighter as we progress the discourse for the freedom of Palestine.
“We want the logo to represent human rights issues across the globe.”
Three pupils each from hundreds of different schools would be chosen and invited to the centre during their exam period, he said. They will be collected by the Al-Kaaf Trust, given meals and taught their subjects, including computer classes and maths.
“We want to be helpful to our community, and all the efforts will be free.”