GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – The large brick walls of the 500-year-old al-Kamalaia school slowly emerged from years of accumulated rubbish as grassroots conservatives they began the long process of restoring its former glory.
Located in the heart of Gaza City’s Old Quarter, the Mamluk-era building is one of the dwindling numbers of historic structures at risk of demolition.
“I was in a very difficult, unfortunate state. It was a landfill, ”said Abdullah al-Ruzzi, a leading artist and volunteer.
Al-Ruzzi and other artists launched the Mobaderoon program, or Initiators, with the goal of saving abandoned houses and buildings from two periods in Gaza history: the Mamluk sultanate and the subsequent Ottoman Empire.
In the former section of the Palestinian enclave, less than 200 houses from these eras are partially or completely standing, according to tourist officials. They are threatened by neglect, decay or even demolition by a new urban development.
“The lack of public awareness and economic considerations of the owners are the biggest threats to these buildings,” said Ahmed al-Astal, director of Iwan, the institute of history and heritage at Gaza Islamic University. “These houses are our identity, but ignorance leads to their destruction.”
Because the Gaza Strip is small, with 2 million people living in just 300 square kilometers, experts and volunteers fear the disappearance of structures from past centuries, such as those of much older civilizations.
Population growth, the conflict with Israel and the mismanagement of Hamas, the militant group that has led Gaza since 2007, have contributed to the erasure of many signs of Gaza’s five-millennium history. The territory has been enriched with its privileged location along the route that connects ancient Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia. For example, Hamas bulldozers destroyed large parts of a rare 4,500-year-old Bronze Age settlement. to give way to a housing project.
Mobaderoon is one of the few organizations that wants to preserve ancient places in Gaza City. But their efforts are usually limited in scope and have no systematic plans.
The team took two weeks to remove the garbage from the al-Kamalaia school, which is named after a Mamluk sultan. Every day, young people gather there, sweeping the dusty floor, brushing the bricks and supporting the windows with wooden frames.
Once the renovation is complete, al-Ruzzi says the goal is to turn the building into a place for cultural and artistic activities, as there are few facilities in Gaza.
“This is the only school that still maintains its architectural position, it still has classrooms. It is clear that this school was used until recently in the education and memorization of the Qur’an because it is in the old city, ”said Jamal Abu Rida, director of the archeology department of the Gaza Ministry of Tourism.
Residents in Gaza are worried about financial problems, fighting a 13-year-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade and fighting a coronavirus outbreak that has overwhelmed the health care system. Campaigns to protect heritage and archaeological sites are not priorities, but they are well received.
“Initiatives are very important because their goal is to preserve the cultural legacy,” al-Astal said.
A few blocks from the school, a different team is working on renovating a house, Ghussein Palace, which bears the name of the family that has owned it for 200 years. Workers scraped the bricks to remove layers of dust that hid their features. Others measured the door frames.
Work on this house began in August and is scheduled to be completed in January. “It was left for a long time and has a lot of cracks and problems,” said Nashwa Ramlawi, the architect who led the restoration. “The place has a great patrimonial and cultural value. We will dedicate it to anything that serves the community; a cultural, service or social center open to everyone. “