Arab Built Heritage Preservation in Israel - שימור מורשת ערבית בנויה בישראל

A View of Haifa
"I am the first to say that I am Israeli, Jewish, Zionist; but there must be a separation between one's personal identity and important public topics, such as site preservation" (Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi). These were the closing remarks by the opening speaker of yesterday's lecture series at Haifa University on the importance of preserving old buildings around Israel, focusing on those in Arab neighborhoods. The lecture series was sponsored by The Israel National Commission for UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Prior to these remarks, Prof. Ben-Artzi, who is the University Rector and a lecturer in the Israel Studies department, stated several challenges facing the efforts to preserve buildings, especially among Arab communities. Some challenges that he mentioned included: the individuals in said communities; the political and narrative society; the local authority, which deals with what is urgent and not with what is important. Ben-Artzi's
remarks proved very true as the following lectures were heard.

While combining many elements to it, including many relating to architecture and building style, this six hour lecture series held political nuances throughout all of the lectures. In fact, this point was reiterated with many oppositions to one speaker's remarks that "there is a need to remove political sentiments when talking about preservation" (Prof. Sa'adya Mendel). The lectures and attendees included Jews and Arabs; Professors, Architects, other academicians; and people working the the public sector. This variety really helped in having a wide range a viewpoints introduced and in creating a balance in opinion.

I found this lecture series especially interesting because it took an issue confronted in Israeli society that may not seem as political at first glance, but clearly is, and brought it to the forefront. It was clear that this was indeed a political topic not just because several speakers mentioned this, but also because as many of the speakers spoke, their personal and political views manifested themselves quite clearly.

Besides learning a lot about the topic of Arab-Palestinian building preservation in Israel, I was also reminded of how loud and opinionated Israelis can be; for not a moment went by during the day when someone from the audience wasn't talking or expressing an opinion while a lecturer was speaking on stage; especially the older man that was sitting right in back of me!