Its walls collapsed and its minaret cut short, Gaza’s Omari mosque remains standing but vastly diminished. Around it, the historic old city is also in tatters. The 7th-century mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Gaza, was Gaza’s most famous and its surroundings a focal point of the Palestinian enclave’s history and culture, but the damage done to its heritage over more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment spreads across the city.
For the few Palestinians who remain, and the far greater number displaced and hoping to return, the culture and history has been reduced to memories.
“The city is a ghost town, people walk around with pale faces and their spirits are tired after having gone through this war. If you walk to the old city of Gaza, you will only remember the memories and feel sickened and saddened by the amount of destruction of cultural and religious sites,” said Bader Alzaharna, who lives in Gaza City despite the intensity of Israel’s ground operation in the area.
“The old city of Gaza, which used to be full of cultural sites, is grey and overcast. Walking in Gaza feels like we are in a movie, in a fictional story, in a fantasy. The scene is apocalyptic.”
Is there a word for systematically destroying a culture? I swear it was just on the tip of my tongue.
Something something cide. Maybe someone should coin the term…🤔
Hey, remember when ISIS destroyed a shit tons of historical and cultural building when they terrorise iraq and we collectively condemn the action?
Yeah but these people are white and European so it’s fine
these people are white and European
More than half of Israelis have Middle Eastern or North African heritage.
If you’re transposing relatively binary American notions of race (invariably based on skin colour) on a conflict half way around the world, you’re entirely out of your depth when it comes to Israeli politics and the current conflict.
Eg. Netenyahu may be ‘white’ but Likud and right wing voters are overwhelmingly of middle-eastern or north african heritage. IRC Ben-Gvir, the far right minister of National security, is of Iraqi and Kurdish origin.
Given your comment was upvoted significantly, that’s a damning indictment on how uneducated people are here too and how outdated their views on Israel are. Seriously people, go read about Israeli politics. Tiktok videos aren’t enough. Hell, here’s a website which has been previously accused of being pro-Hamas/Muslim brotherhood:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-why-right-wing-mizrahi-vote-misunderstood
If you’re transposing relatively binary American notions of race (invariably based on skin colour) on a conflict half way around the world, you’re entirely out of your depth when it comes to Israeli politics and the current conflict.
Uh… That’s not what they’re doing; they’re saying you can’t deny the race factor in why Israeli lives are viewed as more important than Palestinian lives in the West, and especially in America. Keyword in the West; we’re not talking about Israel itself here.
c/woosh
The entire israeli cabinet looks rather white though, or am I imagining things here?
Most recent “birthright” (no birthright for Palestinians amiright xD) immigration also seems to have come from America, specifically New York.
Oh, it’s you again.
am I imagining things here?
Oh, no. I assume you’re just being ignorant (again) and think some of them just have a bit of a tan. If you actually google them, you’ll find plenty are also of middle-eastern or North African origin. Here’s a few of them, I’ve included a few ministers who were active till 2023:
Uriel Menachem Buso is an Israeli politician who serves as Minister of Health … His mother Heftziba is the daughter of the Moroccan-born Mayor
Amichai Chikli … serves as the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and the Minister for Social Equality. … Chikli was born in Jerusalem in 1981 to a Tunisian Jewish family.
May Golan … is an Israeli politician and activist … In 2023, a group of former Israeli ambassadors said they were “shocked” by the appointment of Golan as Israel’s new women’s advancement minister, saying that “Golan’s appointment is outrageous as she is a racist and divisive figure … She is the child of a single Orthodox Jewish mother … from Iraq
Shlomo Karhi … is currently a member of the Knesset for Likud and serving as the Minister of Communications in the thirty-seventh government … Karhi was born … to mother Mazal and father Rabbi David Karhi, an Israeli-born Sabra of Tunisian Jewish heritage from Djerba
Makhlouf “Miki” Zohar … currently serves as the Minister of Culture and Sports in the thirty-seventh government. … His father Eli was an immigrant from Morocco and his mother Dina was from Tunisia.
David “Dudi” Amsalem … previously held the posts of Minister of Communications … His parents, Avraham and Sultana Amsalem, were immigrants from Morocco
Ofir Sofer … is currently the Minister of Aliyah and Integration … He is of Tunisian-Jewish descent.
Galit Distel-Atbaryan … was formerly the Minister of Information. … Distel-Atbaryan was born in Jerusalem to Iranian Jewish immigrants
Ya’akov Margi … currently serves as the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services. … Margi was born in Rabat in Morocco and brought to Israel during Operation Yachin
Itamar Ben-Gvir … is an Israeli lawyer and far-right extremist… who has served as the Minister of National Security since 2022 … His father was born in Jerusalem to Iraqi Jewish immigrants. He worked at a gasoline company and dabbled in writing. His mother was a Kurdish Jewish immigrant
Yifat Shasha-Biton … was appointed Minister of Education in June 2021 … Yifat Shasha-Biton was born … to Rachel, a nurse born in Morocco and Moshe David … born in Iraq.
Don’t bother responding.
You’ve embarassed yourself enough.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Its walls collapsed and its minaret cut short, Gaza’s Omari mosque remains standing but vastly diminished.
For the few Palestinians who remain, and the far greater number displaced and hoping to return, the culture and history has been reduced to memories.
The agency said it had received reports of damage to other sites but had not been able to verify them through the means available, mainly satellite imagery, because of the conflict.
Wissam Nassar, a photographer who covered several wars in Gaza but also documented its culture, said the damage to the Omari mosque and its surroundings had hit him personally due to the time he spent there.
Nassar, who now lives in Canada, said he remembers visiting the old city, including the now-destroyed Turkish baths, both as a photographer and in his personal life.
Israel aimed to destroy not only people but also stones, infrastructure and historical buildings, wanting to eradicate human life and cultural heritage.”
The original article contains 847 words, the summary contains 156 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Religion is a hell of a drug.
Wait a minute . Beautiful? I thought Isreal had always practiced genocide.
What are you trying to imply?
Didn’t you tell me a few months ago that Gaza was an air prison and that the Israelis are occupying Gaza, which is already an impossible place to live? So which one was it? An air prison or a beautiful place?
I won’t talk you out of loving the smell of your own farts, but: do you think it’s possible parts of North Korea are beautiful? Could one, I don’t know, imprison someone in a palace?
So you got nothing.
Solid answer. :)
Always love it when people can’t defend their own rhetoric then think they’re really something.
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I was gonna seriously respond, but honestly just get a life and stop licking Nazis’ boots.
That’s a response I guess. Best you can do,
Somewhere can be being terrorized and a difficult place to live while simultaneously having still accomplished landmarks and infrastructure and culture. The implication here is that over the time of the attacks several of these landmarks and infrastructure projects have been left in ruin.
Open air prison or beautiful? Can’t be both.
Not big on nuance are we?
Nuance is a crutch
Why couldn’t it? Could they not be confined to an area with historic buildings? It seems quite preposterous to me that nothing beautiful could exist in any area solely due to oppression of the people there.
The imprisonment makes it ugly, that’s what he’s saying.
That isn’t the tone I got from it, but I hope you’re right. I’d much rather it being me misunderstanding that he meant oppression tarnished the beuty, than the attempt at pointing out nonexistent hypocrisy I took it to mean.
