Aphrodite in Gaza

translation from http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/archaeologie-und-nationalgefuehl-aphrodite-in-gaza.2165.de.html?dram:article_id=295094

Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians and Greeks - they were all and left their mark in today's Gaza. That's why the area is one of the richest archeological sites in the Middle East. Astill young museum  on the beach could also serve the peace process.
The Geneva archaeologist Marc-André Haldimann is considered one of the greatest experts in Gaza. He has been eight times on site.
"Gaza is a beautiful place, one of the most beautiful places along this coast, from Syria to Egypt. The sand is very fine, and it is a place where you have water, which has been very important. That's why Gaza has always been an important hub for Egypt as a starting point for the Sinai. And from 3500 BC to the present day it has always been densely populated. "
Hardly anyone knows anything of Gaza's glorious history. But right about archeology there is a dispute between Israel and Palestine - a battle for the history and the historical claim to the land that raise both sides - and whose reckoning is to prove the quasi scientific archeology. This even brought to a military intervention from the Israeli side.
"Until the withdrawal of the army in 2005 was basically the archeology a thing of the Israeli army."
You have to know that Israel has a military-archaeological Corps that also digs out. If something is found, then move the military archaeologists on the field.
The University of Tel Aviv dug in 1984 in Gaza an ancient Egyptian necropolis,  more than 50 sensational clay sarcophagus  in human form have been brought to light. They are all currently in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan said to have been a particularly avid "collector" - some call it also art theft.
"There are more than 32,000 objects that have been found in Palestine by Israeli excavations and brought to Israel."
The Palestinian side hadn't for long nothing against it. What to do with found objects? There has been no museum in Gaza until recently.
Coins from sunken ships
Then in  2008  the Mathaf was founded - a museum that was conceived and financed by the contractor Jawdat Khoudary. He and his construction crews had repeatedly found vases and statues, Fischer brought coin hoards from sunken ships in the harbor. So the Gaza's first museum was founded through private initiative.
Jawdat Khowdary is - like all his countrymen - still trapped in Gaza. On the phone he says:
"Our faith in the country, our identity are here. We Palestinians have been in this land for thousands and thousands of years. We used to think always, our grandfathers would have created this nation, but the story of Gaza began many thousands years before. I have created here a small but, I hope, good museum. I wish we had  dozens of museums in Gaza."
However the sand-colored museum right on the beach was bombed one year after its opening by the Israelis and damaged, some works of art were broken. Meanwhile, the damage is fixed. The private citizen Khowdary thus connects it with a greater mission. It's not just a piece of heritage, but about presence, awareness, identity - and a positive image of the city.
Marc-André Haldimann: "Since August 2008, finally, the population of Gaza has the opportunity to see their own past, and this is particularly important. Archeology is always part of the process of national sentiment..."
However a culturally self-confident Palestine is also important for the peace process. Only those who may devolop safely the  consciousness of their own identity, may also be a partner for peace.