Palestinians propose a variety of museums for locals

Though the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority's territory in the West Bank are not very popular tourist destinations, but that doesn't stop the locals from making museums for all to enjoy.

Elior Levy|Published: 11.19.16 , 23:34

The Palestinian Authority does not abound with tourists, and the Gaza Strip all the less so. This isn't preventing the Palestinians from building and maintaining museums intended principally for the local population.

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Which museums exist on the PA's territory? Quite a few, actually. There are those that touch on the politics like that of the recently opened Yasser Arafat Museum that presents all the stations of the Palestinian leader's life. It includes personal mementos like his famous keffiyeh, eyeglasses and gun that he kept on himself at all times.

Arafat Museum

Also in Ramallah is the Mahmoud Darwish Museum, dedicated to the Palestinian national poet. North of that city is the largest Palestinian museum that opened last year with an investment of tens of millions of dollars. It can be compared to the Israel Museum, except that the impressive building opened while the museum was still completely devoid of exhibits. This was because, from the Palestinians' perspective, the museum's opening was no less important than its content, which is to present Palestinian history and its sources.

Arafat Museum

A tour of the museums in the West Bank also leads to Jericho, the hottest city in the region. It turns out that there are Russian influences, inter alia, due to delegations which came there directly from the cold country. As a result, a Russian museum has opened in the city, located in an archaeological site. Those who enter the gates of the museum feel immediately like they reached Russia because of the building that holds the museum and its treasures.

And how did it come to pass that the Gaza Strip holds a significant archaeological gem that shows spectacular items from seven different historical periods that was opened in the most unexpected place? The explanation is found in the private house of an amateur in the field.