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Heritage talks amid Gaza war
In Rabat, Morocco, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek met ICESCO Director-General Salim Al-Malik to discuss cooperation to protect and restore Palestinian cultural heritage, with a focus on Gaza’s archaeological and historical sites. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the international conference “Managing Cultural Heritage in Conflict and Post-Recovery Situations,” where Al-Hayek stressed joint work to protect Palestinian archaeological sites from “the dangers they face amid the exceptional circumstances in Palestine.” Al-Hayek also emphasized the need to pool efforts to restore what can be rehabilitated of archaeological and historical sites “destroyed in the Gaza Strip as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression.” The discussions included training on restoration “especially in the Gaza Strip” and the possibility of establishing a permanent exhibition at ICESCO titled “Gaza 5000 Years.”
“the dangers they face amid the exceptional circumstances in Palestine”
Natavan award and Gaza
At ICESCO headquarters in Morocco, the inaugural “ICESCO–Azerbaijan Natavan Excellence Award” was presented as part of the conference “Managing Heritage in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations in the Islamic World.” The event was attended by ICESCO Director-General Salim bin Mohammed AlMalik and Princess Dana Firas of Jordan, and it included a project-category win for the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (Palestine) and an individual-category win for Iraqi national Ayoob Thanoon. In remarks reported during the ceremony, Anar Alakbarov highlighted joint initiatives under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2024 in Shusha, while Princess Dana Firas emphasized that the initiative comes “at a time when cultural heritage faces increasing threats from conflicts.” Salim bin Mohammed AlMalik said conflicts across the Islamic world have damaged or destroyed “hundreds of cultural heritage sites,” and noted that “more than 27 World Heritage properties” are under serious threat.
What comes next for Gaza
Beyond the Rabat meetings, the sources describe concrete next steps for Gaza-focused cooperation between Palestine and ICESCO, including training, capacity-building, and a memorandum of understanding. WAFA reported that the discussions included “organizing specialized training programs and workshops on cultural heritage preservation” and “launching capacity-building initiatives for experts and heritage custodians in Palestine.” The same meeting also explored establishing a permanent ICESCO exhibition titled “Gaza 5,000 Years,” and agreed that ICESCO would contact the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to contribute to restoring parts of sites destroyed in Gaza. In parallel, the Djeddah Declaration described protecting heritage as “a heavy responsibility that falls on the entire international community,” and it called for redoubling efforts to protect the heritage of the Islamic world “especially in the State of Palestine, in light of the incessant attacks suffered by the occupying forces.”
“launching capacity-building initiatives for experts and heritage custodians in Palestine”
