Qatar National Library (QNL) hosted an international team of experts as part of a locally driven and globally connected initiative to preserve Palestinian and Lebanese heritage.
Titled "Fighting Erasure: Archiving Against the Gaza Genocide and the War on Lebanon," the project seeks to contribute to the safeguarding of Palestinian and Lebanese cultural heritage through public education and advocacy, training, social media archiving, resource sharing and digital infrastructure development.
Director of National Collections and Special Initiatives at QNL, Abeer al-Kuwari said: "Today's discussions mark the latest in a series of initiatives that the Library has undertaken to help protect our collective Arab heritage since the war on Gaza began. The expansion and intensification of bombardments are putting an increasing number of archaeological heritage sites throughout Gaza and Lebanon at risk, threatening the erasure of landmarks that embody thousands of years of history."
"At least 104 archaeological heritage sites have so far been destroyed in Gaza and we fear the erasure of the region's cultural heritage could further expand as the assault on Lebanon continues. Through advocacy, social media archiving, resource sharing and digital infrastructure development, we hope to limit this damage and protect the region's cultural identity," she explained.
The event brought together Dr Jamila J Ghaddar, founding director of the Archives and Digital Media Lab and Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University in Canada, along with Dr Hanine Shehadeh, a visiting assistant professor of humanities at NY Abu Dhabi and a research affiliate at the Palestine Land Studies Center (PLSC) at the American University of Beirut.
Dr Ghaddar said the initiative leverages global connections and media exposure to mitigate the war's negative impact on the cultural front. "Through global collaborations and leveraging new media, we work against the cultural dimensions of the genocide, safeguarding Palestinian and Lebanese archives and heritage in defence of Arab life, land and freedom," she said.
Dr Shehadeh described efforts to protect heritage as an act of peaceful opposition. "Preserving memory is an act of resistance. Palestinians might be burning, but they are not consumed. They rise again and again to share photos under fire, continuously defying Israel's erasure to keep the truth alive," she argued.
Ghaddar and Shehadeh were joined by Rula Shahwan, director of the Library and Visual Archive Department at the Arab American University (AAUP), Ghada Dimashk, an archival and library fellow at Dalhousie University in Canada, Dr Rami Zurayk, professor of ecosystem management at the American University of Beirut, and Tamara Rayan, PhD candidate in the School of Information at the University of Michigan.
The talks were moderated by Rawad Bou Malhab, head of manuscripts and archives at Qatar National Library.
Since the launch of the assault on Gaza, the Library has organised numerous events to help protect Palestinian heritage and emphasise Palestine's deep-rooted Arab identity.
