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Palestinian museum’s first exhibit sets eyes on holy city

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The Palestinian national museum, located near the West Bank city of Ramallah, finally opened its first exhibit on Sunday, looking at Jerusalem, the holy city that Palestinians hope will one day be the capital of their future state.


“Because many Palestinians cannot reach Jerusalem, we decided to bring Jerusalem to them,” said Reem Fadda, curator of the Jerusalem Lives exhibition, during a press conference on Saturday.


The museum located on the campus of Birzeit University, is a W-shaped building made of stone and glass.


It opened over a year ago, but without any exhibition to show inside, leading to some ridicule.


But now the first exhibition, showing until December 15, has filled the space with artwork from 48 Palestinian, Arab, and international artists, who each came with a unique story to tell about Jerusalem and its hardships. The exhibit delves into all aspects of Jerusalem through a Palestinian lens, including its culture, history, geography and politics.


Visitors to the museum are greeted by a colourful replica of the golden Dome of the Rock.


Jews revere the site as the location where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son on God’s command.


Last month Jerusalem witnessed two weeks of clashes that left four Palestinians dead after Israel placed metal detectors at the entrance to the holy compound that houses the Dome of the Rock.


Israel said it was responding to a deadly shooting attack by Israeli Arab gunmen which killed two police officers near the site, but Palestinians saw the security measures as an Israeli attempt to impose control over the contested space.


“The Dome of the Rock represents Jerusalem. You will not find a picture or painting or any kind of art work about Jerusalem that does not have the Dome of the Rock emblem in the centre of it,” Fadda said.


Fadda added that she and her team spent eight months working on the exhibition, but were hamstrung by one by-product of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the movement restrictions on Palestinians.


“While I had to put together everything about Jerusalem in this exhibition,” she said, “I was never able to get even one chance to go to Jerusalem.”


While Jerusalem is only 14 km from Ramallah, the majority of West Bank Palestinians, to whom Fadda belongs, need a special Israeli permit to enter the city.


Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War, proclaiming the city as the “undivided” Israeli capital, a move that was not internationally recognised. Around 300,000 Palestinians live in the eastern half of Jerusalem. As one walks around the museum halls, the pictures, paintings and art collections all tell a Palestinian perspective of life in East Jerusalem under Israeli occupation.


The 8-metre high concrete barrier Israel built around sections of Jerusalem in 2002 appears in some pictures and art work. — AFP


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