Palestinian museum missing one thing: Exhibits
BIRZEIT, WEST B ANK A $24 million Palestinian Museum of Art, History and Culture that opened Wednesday showcases a beautiful building with sweeping views. All that’s missing are the exhibits.
It’s an unfortunate metaphor for a people long in search of a national identity and homeland. Still, Palestinians went ahead with a festive celebration marking the empty museum’s debut to “tell the world, the entire world, that we are here, that we are still here, and we will continue to be here to build our independent state,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said.
“We have been planted here since the dawn of history,” he said.
The 43,000-square-foot space was designed by the Dublin-based architectural firm Heneghan Peng in the style of the terraced hills of the West Bank. It has been hailed by Palestinian leaders as a beacon of optimism in a territory under Israeli occupation. Completion of the exhibits has been delayed, in part because the museum’s director resigned last December over disagreements with the museum’s management. With him went the first exhibit, “Never Part,” which showcased personal items of Palestinian refugees to showcase their heritage.
Museum Chairman Omar Qattan said that after years of delays, the decision was made to go ahead with the opening “for something affirmative in the midst of all this negative energy.”
The opening was timed to coincide with the week in which Palestinians mark the 68th anniversary of the nakba, “catastrophe” in Arabic, a reference to the creation of Israel in 1948, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
The launch comes amid growing animosity between Israelis and Palestinians. Since last fall, Palestinians have been responsible for more than 100 knife attacks and assaults on Israelis. Peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority have been dormant.
Israeli Communications Ministry spokesman Yehiel Shavi dismissed the museum, telling USA TODAY in a phone interview Wednesday that it was an “attempt to take away the Jewish identity of this contested place.”