Rivlin dedicates museum in West Bank

Knesset speaker, in speech at 'Good Samaritan' museum, talks of growing threat to settlements and importance of Jewish history in West Bank

Roni Sofer

Published: 06.05.09, 00:54 / Israel News

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin warned of threats to the settlements Thursday night, speaking at an Israeli museum opening in the West Bank hours after US President Barack Obama called in a speech in Cairo for a halt in settlement construction.

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The opening ceremony was also attended by Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu), Head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank Brig. General Yoav Mordechai and Director-General of the Antiquities Authority Shuka Dorfman, as well as respected persons from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish commuities.

The museum, located along the Jersualem-Jericho road, sits in a spot affiliated with the Byzantine Empire – the location of the story of the good Samaritan. Even in the event of Israeli land concessions that include maintaining position of primary settlement blocks in the West Bank, the spot would not be likely to remain in Israeli hands.

The 'Good Samaritan' museum is one of only three mosaic museums in the world and the only one in Israel. It contains both preserved and restored mosaics from the region.

The Tourism Ministry invested some NIS 10 million (around $2.5 million) in the site and in the restoration of the mosaics and other archeological finds from the site. But Rivlin addressed more than the museum's artistic and archeological value in his dedication speech.

"The opening of this site as a museum is a refreshing building project in days in which there is a grave threat to the settlements and to the legitimacy of our presence here," he said.

"Any opening of an important site such as this is a clear and significant statement that we have not abandoned these regions and will not cease in underscoring our national and historic roots in these areas," said Rivlin.

But he added that his dedication speech was not meant to serve as a rebuttal to Obama's speech in Cairo a few hours prior, saying that "our commitment to this piece of land did not start today or with the beginning of President Obama's tenure. Cultural and archeological rehabilitation efforts began over 40 years ago."

Meanwhile, the tourism ministry tried to separate tourism and politics, saying it "did not mix" between the two sectors.

Misezhnikov referred to the site as one of "religious tourism," but nonetheless said in his speech at the museum that, "in addition to being an international attraction, it also a symbol for brotherhood, mutual responsibility and mitzvoth (Jewish religious duties)."

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