In the horrors of occupation and violence, Palestinians have lost their homes and loved ones, but they have also seen countless cultural institutions, hospitals, libraries, and educational facilities leveled in the Gaza Strip.
As of May 27 of this year, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 historical sites in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
They include 13 religious sites, 77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, three depositories of movable cultural property, nine monuments, one museum, and seven archeological sites.
“All our heritage sites are clearly marked, yet the Israeli military strikes, the tanks and the bulldozers continue,” an archaeologist told AlJazeera back in 2024. “But I have faith all this will end. Even if they attempt to destroy our past, we will build back Gaza’s future.”
Although the destruction continues, allies across the globe are working to preserve important cultural artifacts and contemporary art from Palestine.
In Woodbridge, Connecticut, Faisal Saleh opened the first Palestinian Museum in the Western Hemisphere in 2018. It includes historic photos, artifacts, embroidery pieces, and artworks throughout Palestinian history.
“The mission of the Palestine Museum is to preserve the Palestinian history and culture and to tell the Palestinian story through the arts,” Saleh said in a video about the original museum.
The Connecticut museum is also home to a large mural by a Palestinian refugee honoring Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer when she was in Gaza protesting the destruction of Palestinians’ homes.
“We want to focus on the arts because we feel they are an effective means to tell the Palestinian story to the world,” Saleh told The Urban Activist last year. “People have a lot of respect for culture and are more likely to listen and understand through the arts. They speak to people’s hearts.”
Now, he has expanded the reach of his efforts in a new museum branch located in Edinburgh, Scotland. This gallery focuses specifically on contemporary art by Palestinians and is the first of its kind to debut in Europe.
Home to paintings, sculptures, and installations by Palestinians, Saleh said it aims to counteract the “dehumanization” of his people by giving their culture and narrative a place to shine.
“We want people to see our artwork and to see that Palestinians are human,” he told Herald Scotland. “All these efforts to dehumanize and to erase the Palestinians are not working, and we are hereby opening a museum that is full of beautiful artwork.”
The Edinburgh location opened on Nakba Day of this year, the anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948. Saleh’s parents lost everything in the Nakba and gave birth to him just three years later. He grew up in the West Bank and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1969.
He hopes both branches of the museum can offer a glimpse into Palestinian history and provide some comfort for people like him.
“Whether they're under occupation or in the diaspora, I think coming to the Palestine Museum goes a long way in giving people moments during which they can feel at home,” he said in a video.
“They can feel that they are in Palestine, even though it’s just a feeling, it gives them a feeling of comfort.”
The Edinburgh museum features pieces from local artists and Palestinian immigrants, as well as art directly from the frontlines of the occupied Gaza Strip.
“We have children’s drawings from Gaza that are being exhibited,” Saleh told Herald Scotland. “We also have some installations representing the forced evacuations. We have a keffiyeh bundle. It’s a bundle of memories that represents what Palestinians leave when they get kicked out of their homes.”
The museum will also exhibit work by local artists in Edinburgh, including a bronze bust sculpture of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been detained by the Israeli military since December 2024. Another Edinburgh artist will exhibit three smaller sculptures that depict Palestinians mourning their dead children.
“These pieces don’t focus on violence. That’s not what we’re here to show,” Saleh told The New Arab. “These pieces speak to what Palestinians carry — grief, loss, but also hope, life, and resilience.”
Although many of the pieces in the new museum spark big emotions, Saleh has created something he has seen act as a stand-in homeland for his people.
“By opening this museum, we assert our presence and history, despite all efforts to silence us,” he told The New Arab.
“It’s not just about art — it’s about showing the world who we are.”
Header image courtesy of Palestine Museum Scotland
