Heritage under siege: Expert’s take on preserving Palestinian history

AMMAN – Raymond Bondin is a staunch advocate for heritage preservation with a career dedicated to safeguarding cultural sites in conflict zones. Over the years, he has built an extensive background of high-level missions for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). 

In this interview with The Jordan Times, Bondin, originally from Malta, shared his insights on the destruction of Palestinian heritage and his work to ensure that the cultural legacy of Palestine remains a part of humanity’s shared history. 

Bondin’s commitment for heritage conservation started over 25 years ago, when UNESCO invited him to co-chair a proposal for the conservation of Hisham’s Palace in Jericho. “It was my first experience with the difficulties of protecting heritage under occupation,” he recalled. 

Decades of damage

Bondin’s work included helping Palestine to prepare its Tentative List in 1998, a list that countries submit to UNESCO to propose specific cultural or natural sites they hope to nominate for World Heritage Status, and also supervising crucial dossiers like those of Bethlehem and Battir. His initiatives have evolved alongside a troubling trend: the systematic destruction of Palestinian heritage by the occupation. 

For Bondin, the recent escalation of destruction in Gaza and the West Bank only reflects a longer, systematic attempt to erase Palestinian identity. “This destruction started many years ago,” he said. “And has only intensified recently.” Bondin’s firsthand accounts of the affected sites reveal the cultural cost of the occupation. 

Since many years, key Palestinian heritage sites such as Jericho’s world heritage-listed ruins or the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem have been under constant threat from the growing illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are affecting the landscape, the tourism, and limit local authorities’ ability to manage the integrity of the site. 

Gaza has suffered the most severe losses. The Great Omari Mosque, a historic Byzantine church converted to a mosque in the 8th century, has been “completely destroyed for no reason,” Bondin said. Sites of historical and architectural significance, such as the Roman cemetery and the Pasha Palace, have also been reduced to rubble, taking with them irreplaceable artifacts and records of Gaza’s vibrant past. 

The ongoing occupation greatly restricts the access to these sites for both locals and heritage experts. Limited mobility due to checkpoints or permits delays essential preservation work, as workers, archaeologists or materials may need specific approvals to access the sites, complicating timely maintenance. 

Bondin has visited Gaza three times in recent years, where he faced strict controls due to  the presence of drones that monitored his every move. “Gaza is a well-protected prison,” he said about the constraints, which often involved unpredictable checkpoints, strict access controls, surveillance, and drone monitoring. 

Question of identity

For Bondin, the stakes of protecting Palestinian heritage are a global concern. “The Palestinian heritage is our humanity’s heritage,” he said, highlighting that the preservation of these sites speaks to a collective memory that transcend borders. 

He emphasised that cultural heritage is essential to national identity, particularly in Palestine, where the political landscape disrupts physical continuity and access to the land itself. 

“National identity depends on three main factors: land, language, and heritage,” Bondin explained. “In Palestine, these are all under threat.”

The fragmentation of Palestinian territories, shared language across the Arab world, and the systematic destruction of heritage sites create a unique vulnerability. By erasing tangible connections to their past, Palestinians face a targeted erasure of their identity. 

Political realities

Though the devastation of Palestinian sites is deeply political, Bondin distances his work from profit-driven motives. “I leave politics to those making millions by selling arms and those hoping to make more millions from the reconstruction, if there will be one,” he stated. 

The challenges of protecting heritage in conflict zones are massive and, for Bondin, these realities underscore the urgency of his work. He recounted how even departing Tel Aviv airport involved extensive questioning, as authorities were aware of every detail of his work in Palestine. “They knew all I did on my computer, yet kept asking the same questions,” he recalled. 

Bondin’s experience highlights the extraordinary hurdles heritage experts face in conflict areas. For years, he has advocated for the preservation of St Hilarion Monastery in Gaza, an ancient archaeological site recently designated as a World Heritage site in Danger. His persistence led to UNESCO’s approval of the site’s protected status under the Hague Convention in 2023. However, Bondin warns that international recognition does not guarantee any preservation. 

Such cases reveal the complex interplay of international heritage preservation efforts and on-the-ground realities. Bondin’s collaboration with organisations like UNESCO and ICOMOS underscores his belief in the power of diplomatic efforts combined with heritage work. Yet he acknowledges the limits of what international bodies can achieve in areas of active conflict. 

Future for Palestinians

Looking to the future, Bondin remains pragmatic about the complexities of reconstruction. “Who will finance this? The very countries who sold the arms?” he questioned, voicing doubts about the feasibility of meaningful reconstruction without local involvement. 

“This is about protecting our collective past and respecting those who still call these places home. It is about humanity itself.”