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ashitakaxsan · 6 months ago

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✨Exploring Palestine's Cultural Richness: From Ancient Statues to Modern Dreams✨

Palestine, a land steeped in history and brimming with cultural treasures, offers a fascinating blend of ancient artifacts and contemporary aspirations.Let's explor into the country's archaeological wonders, the enduring influence of Japan on Palestinian society, and the unique stories that bridge past and present, tradition and modernity.

Warning:My post is only Cultural,it highlights great cultural points.I took the care with sensitivity. I don't bring in politics,I won't meddle with.

A) The Bronze Statue of Apollo in Gaza:

Gaza, often in the headlines for its political tensions, holds a treasure from the ancient world that speaks to its rich cultural heritage. The discovery of a Bronze Statue of Apollo, dating back to antiquity, sheds light on Gaza's historical significance as a crossroads of civilizations. This remarkable artifact serves as a reminder of Gaza's role in the ancient world and the cultural exchanges that occurred in the region. However, the current whereabouts of this statue are unknown, leaving its fate uncertain amid the region's instability.

The Story:

Lost for centuries, a rare bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo has mysteriously resurfaced in the Gaza Strip, only to be seized by police and vanish almost immediately from view.

Word of the remarkable find has caught the imagination of the world of archaeology, but the police cannot say when the life-sized bronze might re-emerge or where it might be put on display.

A local fisherman says he scooped the 500kg (1,100lb) god from the seabed last August, and carried it home on a donkey cart, unaware of the significance of his catch.

Others soon guessed at its importance, and the statue briefly appeared on eBay with a $500,000 (£300,000) price tag - well below its true value. Police from the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the isolated Palestinian territory, swiftly seized it and say they are investigating the affair.

Archaeologists have not been able to get their hands on the Apollo - to their great frustration- and instead must pore over a few blurred photographs of the intact deity, who is laid out incongruously on a blanket emblazoned with Smurfs.

From what they can tell, it was cast sometime between the 5th and the 1st century BC, making it at least 2,000 years old.

"It's unique. In some ways I would say it is priceless. It's like people asking what is the [value] of the painting La Gioconda [the Mona Lisa] in the Louvre museum," said Jean-Michel de Tarragon, a historian with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.

"It's very, very rare to find a statue which is not in marble or in stone, but in metal," he told Reuters television.

The apparently pristine condition of the god suggested it was uncovered on land and not in the sea, he said, speculating that the true location of where it was unearthed was not revealed to avoid arguments over ownership.

"This wasn't found on the seashore or in the sea ... it is very clean. No, it was [found] inland and dry," he said, adding that there were no signs of metal disfigurement or barnacles that one normally sees on items plucked from water.

Palestinian fisherman Joudat Ghrab tells a different tale. The 26-year-old father of two said he saw a human-like shape,lying in shallow waters some 100 metres offshore, just north of the Egyptian-Gaza border.

At first he thought it was a badly burnt body, but when he dived down to take a closer look he realised it was a statue. He says it took him and his relatives four hours to drag the treasure ashore.

"I felt it was something gifted to me by God," Ghrab told Reuters. "My financial situation is very difficult and I am waiting for my reward."

His mother was less happy when she saw the naked Apollo carried into the house, demanding that his private parts be covered. "My mother said: 'What a disaster you have brought with you' as she looked at the huge statue," said Ghrab.

The discoloured green-brown figure shows the youthful, athletic god standing upright on two, muscular legs; he has one arm outstretched, with the palm of his hand held up.

He has compact, curly hair, and gazes out seriously at the world, one of his eyes apparently inlaid with a blue stone iris, the other just a vacant black slit.

Ghrab says he cut off one of the fingers to take to a metals expert, thinking it might have been made of gold. Unbeknownst to him, one of his brothers severed another finger for his own checks. This was melted down by a jeweller.

Family members belonging[ I doubt if his family ever had ties to Hamas,either directly either indirectly ] to a Hamas militia soon took charge of the statue, and at some stage the Apollo appeared on eBay, with the seller telling the buyer to come and collect the item from Gaza.

That would have been easier said than done, however, as Gaza is virtually sealed off from the outside world, with both Israel and Egypt imposing rigid controls on access to the impoverished enclave and its 1.8 million inhabitants.

Whether any potential buyers stepped forward is not clear, but when Hamas's civilian authorities found out about the artefact, they ordered the police to seize it.

Officials at Gaza's tourism ministry told Reuters the statue would not be shown to the public until a criminal investigation into who tried to sell it was completed.

However, Ahmed al-Bursh, the ministry's director of archaeology, said he had seen it and promised that Ghrab would receive a reward once the issue had been resolved.

"It is a precious treasure, an important archaeological discovery," said Bursh. Once the statue has been released by police, his ministry plans to repair it and put it on show in Gaza.

"International institutions have also contacted us and have offered to help with the repair process," he said, adding that a museum in Geneva and the Louvre in Paris wanted to take it on loan.

Like Ghrab, Bursh said the statue had been found at sea. The historian Tarragon said it was vital to know the true location of its discovery.

Some 5,000 years of history lie beneath the sands of the Gaza Strip, which was ruled at various times by ancient Egyptians, Philistines, Romans, Byzantines and crusaders.

Alexander the Great besieged the city and the Roman emperor Hadrian visited. However, local archaeologists have little experience to carry out any scientific digs and many sites remain buried.

Statues such as the Apollo cast would not have been held in isolation, meaning it may prove the tip of an historical iceberg, according to Tarragon.

"A statue at that time was [put] in a complex, in a temple or a palace. If it was in a temple, you should have all the other artefacts of the cult [at the site]," he said, adding that he hoped Hamas appreciated its potential importance.

"There is a feeling that they could find more and more [items] linked to the statue, more and more artefacts, so this is very sensitive," he said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinian-apollo-gaza-idUSBREA190NQ20140210/

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/4/8/what-happened-to-gazas-apollo-statue

B) An 11-Year-Old Palestinian Boy Pursues His Dream of Becoming a Chef:

In the midst of adversity, stories of hope and aspiration emerge, exemplified by the journey of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy who dreams of becoming a chef. Despite the challenges he faces, including limited resources and economic hardship, his passion for cooking fuels his ambition.

His story underscores the resilience and determination of the Palestinian people to pursue their dreams and overcome obstacles in pursuit of a brighter future.

Palestinian child Mahmoud Abu Nada cooks inside the kitchen of a local restaurant, in Gaza City on Oct. 13, 2018. Although blood cancer has forced him to leave school, 11-year-old Palestinian boy Mahmoud Abu Nada became a chef after receiving courses at a Gaza restaurant. TO GO WITH Feature: Gaza child suffering from cancer amazes people with cooking talent.

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/16/c_137536471.htm

C) Palestinian-Japanese Cooperation For the restoration the mosaics of Hisham's Palace:

Hisham's Palace (Arabic: قصر هشام Qaṣr Hishām), also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar (Arabic: خربة المفجر), is an Vital early Islamic archaeological site in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. Built by the Umayyad dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, it is one of the so-called Umayyad desert castles. It is located 3 km north of Jericho's city center.In 2015, an agreement was signed between the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to enable the 825 square metres (8,880 sq ft) mosaic in the palace, one of the largest in the world, to be uncovered and readied for display.

On 2018 the collaboration between Palestinians and Japanese archaeologists has yielded remarkable results, including the recent display of the site.

This joint effort not only highlights the importance of international cooperation in preserving cultural heritage,but also deepens the cultural ties between Palestine and Japan.

Through shared endeavors in archaeology and cultural preservation, Palestinians and Japanese forge bonds of friendship and mutual respect, enriching both societies in the process.

https://pcpsr.org/ar/node/893

D) The Representation of Palestinian Girls in the Anime "Canaan":

In the world of entertainment, the original anime "Canaan" offers a unique portrayal of Palestinian girls, Alphard and Canaan, whose contrasting backgrounds and beliefs shape their identities and actions.

Plot:

A Palestinian teenaged girl and a mercenary, Canaan is dispatched by her unknown superiors to the city of ShanghaiWP in the People's Republic of ChinaWP where she meets up with Maria Ōsawa. Now a photographer, Maria reunites with her friend Canaan after being saved from harassment, during a trip to the Middle East years ago. Their presence in Shanghai, however, has been greatly overshadowed by the upcoming,crucial NBCR International Anti-Terrorist Conference in the same city where Alphard(Canaan's hateful rival) plans to stage a terrorist attack with her subordinates known as "Snakes".

💕The Palestinian girl Canaan is amazingly pretty(kawai).💕 Her eyes are now radiant red because of her synesthesia:An ability as a radar to locate others, to hack into mechanical systems, and to dodge/deflect bullets easily.

Through their characters, the anime explores themes of conflict, identity, and resilience, offering viewers a nuanced perspective on the Palestinian experience. While fictional, the depiction of Palestinian characters in "Canaan" reflects the diversity and complexity of Palestinian society, challenging stereotypes and fostering understanding.

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