oatmeal<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palestine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Palestine</span></a> / Celebrating Israeli archaeology in the Occupied West Bank</p><p>Liat Naeh examines a conference celebrating Israeli archaeology in the Occupied West Bank, clear evidence of a close working relationship between Israeli academic institutions and the Israeli military, specifically the Civil Administration and its archaeological unit (KAMT, Staff Officer for Archaeology). </p><p>Naeh argues that this collaboration normalizes and legitimizes the military occupation of the West Bank throught the activities of the KAMT and the Israeli military's Civil Administration (of the occupied Palestinian terittories). </p><p>Naeh argues that the conference, through its exclusion of Palestinian voices and its focus on Israeli narratives, served to reinforce Israeli control over archaeological sites erasing Palestinian cultural identity. The event, she explains, is a political maneuver, potentially damaging Israel's international standing and further entrenching the occupation.</p><p>[...] When I was a student, there were whispers in the corridors that the identities of the KAMT employees had to be kept secret so they could participate in international conferences without being boycotted. In fact, the organizations "Emek Shaveh" and "Yesh Din" previously sought to publish the names of KAMT employees and their list of excavations, but in 2019 the Supreme Court forbade this, arguing that the publication would harm the researchers' future and Israel's foreign relations. This is the first time I've seen the names of the KAMT archaeologists openly, and in English, no less. Why now? In these days, the Likud party is seeking to strip the KAMT of its power and transfer control of the West Bank antiquities directly to the Antiquities Authority, meaning to Israel, and the discussions on the matter took place in the Knesset simultaneously with the conference. The KAMT for Archaeology, which operates in the shadows, is seeking to come out into the light and prove to the public that it is legitimate.</p><p>Hebrew <a href="https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2025-02-20/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000195-22cb-d293-a1d5-e6cf0ff60000" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">haaretz.co.il/opinions/2025-02</span><span class="invisible">-20/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000195-22cb-d293-a1d5-e6cf0ff60000</span></a> or <a href="https://archive.ph/1fahL" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">archive.ph/1fahL</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>Analyzing a proposed amendment to Israeli law which enabled all of this, Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO working to defend cultural heritage rights and advocates for the protection of ancient sites as public assets belonging to all communities, reached the conclusion that if passed, the law would extend the authority of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) to the Occupied West Bank, effectively applying Israeli law to the occupied territories. </p><p>Hebrew <a href="https://emekshaveh.org/he/tag/%D7%A7%D7%9E%D7%98-%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%92%D7%99%D7%94/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">emekshaveh.org/he/tag/%D7%A7%D</span><span class="invisible">7%9E%D7%98-%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%92%D7%99%D7%94/</span></a></p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/academicchatter" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>academicchatter</span></a></span> <br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/palestine" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>palestine</span></a></span> <br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/israel" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>israel</span></a></span> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/archaeology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>archaeology</span></a> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OccupiedWestBank" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OccupiedWestBank</span></a> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a></p>