The future of Gaza has an ancient heart

“When a society has no recollection of its past, its present and future disappear too." This is how professor Christian Greco, director of the prestigious Egyptian Museum in Turin, opens the discussion on Gaza with journalist Paola Caridi in Mantova's Piazza Castello.

Gaza has been deprived of its past, its existence being reduced to two words: Gaza Strip. But these are the occupier's words and, as such, cannot reveal anything about Gaza's rich history. Forgotten by the West, the Mediterranean was a united and globalised reality where ancient civilisations gave roots to modern societies. The very distinction between West and East is an invention of 19th-century European colonialism.

Palestine, and Gaza in particular, were well-known territories in the ancient world, crucial poles for commerce and trade. Quintessentially Mediterranean, Gaza and its ports were well-known by the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks alike, as shown by thousands of artefacts.

Ignoring the existence of Palestine before 1948 means erasing the memory of a population, whose culture, landscape, and lives face daily obliteration. Yet, if roots are destroyed, how is a tree supposed to grow? For Caridi and Greco the demolition of monuments, often a testament to a population’s desire to be remembered in eternity, equates to a genocidal action against the Palestinian people.

The West cannot keep distancing itself from Gaza, argue the authors, erasing its memory, pretending it does not exist. On the contrary, keeping Palestinian history alive must be a categorical imperative for everyone: because Gaza has no future if its past is buried, be it under the debris or in our indifference.