PA Inaugurates ‘Heritage Site’ at Israel’s Ancient Capital in Samaria

By: Aryeh Savir

The Palestinian Authority (PA) held over the weekend an official ceremony to inaugurate a “Palestinian” tourist complex in the town of Sebastia in Samaria, the historic capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel.

The ceremony, attended by PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh and other ministers, included the official opening of the compound after two years of extensive construction at the site.

Completely ignoring an order issued by the IDF about two months ago, a 15-meter-high mast was installed at the site, topped by a PLO flag.

The Samaria Regional Council has been working for several months with Shomrim Al Hanetzach, (Preserving the Eternal), a project dedicated to the preservation of the archaeological treasures situated throughout Judea and Samaria, and with the Ministry of Defense and government officials to combat the phenomenon of the PA taking over Jewish historical sites.

Tel Aroma, a Hasmonean-era fortress, Biblical Samaria, and the altar of Yehoshua Bin Nun on Har Ebal near Shechem (Nablus) are some of these sites being taken over and converted by the PA into “Palestinian heritage sites.”

Head of the Shomron Regional Council Yossi Dagan dispatched a scathing letter on Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a series of ministers and IDF and government officials outlining the legal approach they should adopt to combat this phenomenon.

“For a long time now, Abu Mazen [PA head Mahmoud Abbas] and his terrorist comrades have been developing and preparing land at the entrance to ancient Samaria, the site of the historic palace of the Kings of Israel, with significant damage to archeological remains and vandalism,” Dagan wrote in his letter.

Dagan noted that international bodies, including UNESCO, Italy and Belgium, which operate in the site with Israel’s consent, are involved in the vandalism.

Dagan further pointed out that the PA’s operations are being conducted in violation of the Oslo Accords, which state that the PA must maintain archeological sites.

The PA actions are “an active act of organized and planned destruction of an archeological site of great heritage value to the Jewish people and the whole world. This is a cross-border issue with international consequences of damage to heritage,” he said.

Dagan underscored that Israel has the authority and duty to act to prevent the destruction of the site, even though part of the sits is in Area B, under the PA’s control.

The PA’s authority in Area B was “given only to manage civil and municipal matters, and not to damage the property and destroy national and world heritage assets,” he said.

            (TPS)