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Restitution of Archaeological Artifacts: The Arab-Israeli Aspects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2010

Talia Einhorn
Talia Einhorn
Affiliation:
Lecturer-in-Law 95, Ch. Levanon St., Apt. 14, Tel Aviv 69345, Israel, Tel/Fax: 009723-642 4416
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Summary

Since the second half of the last century, public international law has been developing rules regulating the restitution of cultural objects removed from occupied territories during armed conflict. Today it is generally recognized that customary international law forbids pillage. The Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict further mandates that artifacts removed from an occupied territory must be returned to the competent authorities of that territory at the close of hostilities. The Arab-Israeli case highlights the problematic side of this solution. Following the Six Day War in 1967, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza strip and the territory known as the “West Bank” came under Israeli control. Israeli archaeologists carried out numerous excavations, and discovered artifacts of special importance to Jewish cultural heritage. It is regrettable that, as a result of the peace treaty with Egypt, these artifacts can no longer be exhibited and appreciated at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, but had to be delivered to Egypt, where they now face an uncertain future. A similar fate may befall the artifacts excavated in the Golan Heights. The Palestinian claim for restitution cannot be based on the Protocol. The Problem is nevertheless the same in all cases; if the artifacts are to be preserved, properly appreciated and made available for purposes of study and research, it may be more appropriate to distribute them among the states by way of compromise and agreement, that will seek to enhance their cultural significance, rather than use the arbitrary sole criterion of the place of discovery.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 133 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 1996

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References

Notes

1 The wording of the agreement, signed in Tel-Aviv by the Israeli Antiquities Authority and an Egyptian archaeological delegation on 21.1.1993, is given in paragraph 4.2.b infra. S. also Lapidoth, Ruth/Hirsch, Moshe, The Practice and Case-Law of Israel in Matters Related to International Law, Israel Law Review 27 (1993) 515. Regarding the Sinai findings s. Ronnen, Meir, Sinai: A Shared Heritage, ARTnews October 1994, pp. 147–148.

2 Annex II, art. 2.B.30 of the Cairo Agreement of April 1994: “e. With due consideration to the Palestinian demand that Israel shall return all archaeological artifacts found in the Gaza Strip and Jericho area since 1967, this issue shall be dealt with in the negotiations on the final status.”

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18 Article 2.

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33 Nahlik. supra n. 4, p. 1083.

34 Strebel. supra n. 19, p. 71.

35 Nahlik. supra n. 4, p. 1083.

36 Nahlik. supra n. 4, pp. 1083–1086.

37 Siehr, supra n. 12, pp. 162–163.

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