Erasing history: Israel’s war on Lebanon's ‘human heritage’

Israel's military assault on Lebanon is not only intent on causing immense human suffering, but is also deliberately and systematically targeting the erasure of the nation's ancient, rich cultural and religious heritage. In Tyre, Baalbek, Nabatieh, and elsewhere, these are attacks on the collective history of humanity itself.

Ibrahim Dawi

The Cradle

The reach of Israeli aggression knows no bounds, sparing neither people nor stone. The occupation state's wrath stretches across historic Lebanon, from Baalbek in the east to Tyre (Sour) in the south, intentionally eradicating countless archaeological and cultural treasures.

Lebanon's cultural heritage is ancient and deeply rooted in the Levant's rich history, which the enemy seeks to erase – to wipe out memories, history, and national identity. Much like ISIS's cultural war on Iraq and Syria, this assault on antiquities is nothing new; during the 1982 invasion, Israeli forces looted numerous artifacts from the western Bekaa and the south, many of which ended up in Tel Aviv.

Erasing Nabatieh’s heritage sites 

In Nabatieh, heritage buildings and homes have faced relentless bombing since the 1970s, through the 1978 aggression, and later on the 1982 Israeli invasion and 18-year occupation of Lebanon. 

The Shaheen House, built in 1928, where two late Lebanese members of parliament, Ghaleb and Fahmi Shaheen grew up, was destroyed just shy of its centennial anniversary. The house was restored in 2013, only to see its beautiful arches and red tiles razed to the ground today. The Israeli predators went on to obliterate yet another Shaheen house, that of former minister Dr Rafik Shaheen, which was built in 1920 by his father.

These historical pillars that once housed locals and memories of Nabatieh's social and political communities in the 1960s and 1970s now lie in ruins – erased along with the stories they had preserved. 

Shaheen House, an old traditional Lebanese home in Nabatieh, south Lebanon, before and after being destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

The Israelis recently targeted and damaged the traditional house of Qasim Zaher – once the headquarters of the Cultural Council of South Lebanon and a beacon for intellectual, cultural, and political figures who gathered there for countless events and salons for a quarter of a century. The residence was under restoration by his grandson Kamel Zaher when the enemy struck. 

Parliamentarian and former minister Muhammad Bey al-Fadl's ancestral house, which was a rare Lebanese architectural gem of the 1930s, was ravaged as well. 

A hub of Nabatieh's cultural life in the 1930s, the Al-Sabah building in the city's commercial center also made it on the list of destroyed heritage. The center contained The Priest's Library, Ayoub's Photo Studio, and records of political movements and protests against the French mandate in 1943, all of which were blown to dust. The strike also impacted the nearby tomb of Hassan Kamel al-Sabah, a prominent and world-renowned Lebanese electrical engineer and inventor from Nabatieh. 

The occupation army has turned many other heritage structures to ashes: Habib Musa al-Radi’s 1940s house on the main streets, the Khreizat family home, and the homes of Sheikh Abdul Rasul Assi and writer Sheikh Hassan Sadiq where Ashoura commemorations took place, making them integral social locations for the Shia community. 

Nothing is sacred 

As in Gaza, places of worship were not spared. Mosques dating back centuries, including the historic Al-Bayad mosque, Nabatieh al-Fawqa mosque, and 19th-century mosque in the Saraya neighborhood, have been wrecked.

On the significance of the destruction unleashed on Nabatieh, researcher Ali Mazraani tells The Cradle:

“The commercial center in Nabatieh is not a block of cement or stones that we can rebuild again. It is the lifeline of Nabatieh and its beating heart. This is where the people’s days begin: day laborers, vegetable sellers, taxi drivers, butchers, merchants, and everything that happens on the ground.” 

Complete destruction of a mosque in Nabatieh, reduced to rubble and debris following an Israeli airstrike.

The first and largest Israeli attack was on Nabatieh's commercial center, which includes the economic, social, and residential features of the city, such as the late 19th-century building that was once a small hotel called ‘Lokanda, Flower of the South,’ characterized by its cross-shaped stone arches.

Nabatieh's director of the Ministry of Tourism office, Zaher Shaitani, says, “Tourism has become non-existent, and it has become difficult to replace the institutions that were destroyed in the region, which will definitely affect the day after the war.”

As per the Hague Convention of 1954, “any damage to cultural property, irrespective of the people it belongs to, is a damage to the cultural heritage of all humanity, because every people contributes to the world's culture.” 

This principle was born from the devastation wreaked during World War II, but today, Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon – apart from ISIS's rampage last decade – stands as perhaps the most extensive violation of cultural heritage ever since, targeting lands that have long been the cradle of ancient civilizations.

Dr Hussein Fayyad, a professor of urban geography, offers some comfort amidst the despair:

“The process of building these houses, as well as the heritage markets and ancient religious places, is possible, but on the condition that they are rebuilt in the same old architectural style and using the same or similar materials to those in which they were built. Thus, part of the ancient heritage of the city of Nabatieh can be preserved.”

The centuries-old souk of Nabatieh, devastated and left in ruins following an Israeli bombing.

Tyre: A World Heritage Site in peril

The southern city of Tyre was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1984, which entails that its protection from attacks is mandatory as these sites are demarcated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as protected territory. Nonetheless, Israeli incursions have erased entire chunks of Tyre's decadent past, particularly in the Old City that dates back to the 18th century. Phoenician antiquities, among the most significant relics in human history, face imminent danger due to ongoing bombardment by enemy fighter jets and munitions.

The media officer in the Disaster Management Unit of the Union of Tyre Municipalities Bilal Kashmir tells The Cradle:

“Through these raids, the occupation wanted to eliminate culture, heritage, and tourism by bombing the largest building in Tyre, the Awda Tower, and destroying shops, residential apartments, hotels, and restaurants along the sea line, which was full of cultural and artistic celebrations before the war.”

A view of Tyre, Lebanon, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with its historic architecture and coastal landscape.

Meanwhile, in the southern Lebanese village of Muhaibib, located in the Marjayoun district, the Israeli army planted explosives in residential neighborhoods, annihilating their entire history. The village once harbored the 2,000-year-old ancient historical shrine of Prophet Benjamin (son of the Prophet Jacob and brother of the Prophet Joseph). The Israelis not only reduced to ashes the spot that was once revered across borders, but also robbed many of its artifacts in 1948. 

In Mais al-Jabal, the situation is not much different, as confirmed by Mayor Abdel Moneim Choucair, who noted that the occupying forces blew up the oldest mosques and most ancient, centuries-old neighborhoods.

A duty to protect and preserve 

In addition, the Tirdaba Mosque, the Kafr Tibnit Mosque, the Church of Dardaghia, the Church of Yaroun, the Monastery of Mimas, and the Blida Mosque (a mosque whose construction dates back more than 1,000 years) - all of which are archaic religious landmarks classified as heritage edifices – were also affected. The crusader Tebnine Castle, located in east Tyre, came under direct bombardment by the Israeli military.

Aerial footage of the border village of Blida before and after its destruction by the Israeli army.

Most recently, on 15 November, after invading the southern village of Shamaa, occupation forces directly targeted the Shrine of Shimon (the prophet Shamoun al-Safa) – also known as the Shrine of Saint Peter – with explosives. It is a site cherished by both Shias and Christians: the latter believe the saint is buried there, and the former have constructed various sites to honor Imam Mahdi. 

This shrine was a center point for religious tourism: the Prophet Shamoun al-Safa's lineage dates back to the Prophet Suleiman bin David; he was a disciple, the son of Hammun, and his mother was sister to the Prophet Imran, the father of the Virgin Mary. A document carved on one of the stones of the shrine’s Ottoman-style minaret indicates it was built in 490 AH, that is, before the arrival of the Franks, who built the castle overlooking the Sea of Tyre and northern Palestine.

The Shrine of Shimon in Shamaa, south Lebanon.

This spectacle is located within the wall of the historic citadel of the town, which was transformed into a military headquarters for the Israeli army for about 22 years prior to when Hezbollah liberated the country in 2000. Before the Israelis and their local collaborators fled, however, they made sure to destroy the shrine and the citadel. In the July 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, large sections of the castle were yet again destroyed by the aggressors.

Over 100 Lebanese representatives have sent urgent appeals to UNESCO, pleading for the conservation of these historical sites from further Israeli vandalism, assaults, and bombardment. In a glimmer of hope, the Lebanese Minister of Culture, Wissam al-Murtada, announced that UNESCO had decided to grant enhanced protection to 34 Lebanese archaeological sites. 

While this step marks progress, it cannot reverse the harm already done to Lebanon's rich ancient history and heritage. If the devastation of Lebanon's cultural treasures is truly an attack on humanity's shared legacy, it becomes our collective duty to fight and resist such destruction and work toward restoration.