{"id":18322,"date":"2026-07-27T16:08:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/a-greek-voice-against-cultural-genocide-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T16:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:08:57","slug":"a-greek-voice-against-cultural-genocide-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/a-greek-voice-against-cultural-genocide-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"A Greek Voice Against Cultural Genocide \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"


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On 15-16 July 2026 the first Ministerial Conference for Palestinian Culture<\/strong> was held at the Prado National Museum and the Reina Sof\u00eda National Art Centre in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Promoted by Spain, the international forum brought together more than 30 national delegations as well as UNESCO and the Arab League to consider the impact of the catastrophic war in Gaza on Palestinian culture and its tangible and intangible heritage.<\/p>\n

Greece was officially represented by a delegation led by Iason Fotilas<\/strong>, the Deputy Minister of Culture, and was a signatory to the joint declaration issued at the end of the conference calling on nations to work towards an International Pact for the Resilience of Palestinian Culture that will help protect and revitalise Palestinian cultural life, strengthen its institutions, and mobilise the political will and resources needed to locate culture at the centre of any reconstruction.<\/p>\n

Never forget the genocide<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Opening the Madrid conference, Spain\u2019s Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun<\/strong>, framed the protection of Palestinian culture as a cause of humanity:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no right to forget Gaza, the genocide. We have no right to forget the occupation, the devastation and the bombs. There can be no forgetting in the face of daily violence, repression, torture, the displacement of the population, and the use of hunger as a weapon of war. We have no right to turn the page or to remain impassive before the systematic violation of human rights, of international law and of the global norms of coexistence between states. No one can grow accustomed to this, or look away from such crimes \u2013 from the destruction of schools and universities, museums, archives and libraries; from the elimination of Palestinian tangible and intangible heritage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Urtasun recalled the Spanish Civil War and the efforts of the Second Republic to safeguard the Prado\u2019s masterpieces from bombardment, sending works by Goya, Vel\u00e1zquez, El Greco, Rubens and Titian into protective exile. That episode, he suggested, offered a lesson for the present: cultural heritage must be rescued not only because it is beautiful, but because it embodies the collective memory of a people.<\/p>\n

The view from UNESCO<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Nayef Al-Fayez, UNESCO\u2019s Assistant Director-General for Culture, was formerly the Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and is pictured here in December 2022 with Dr Lina Mendoni (photo credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nayef Al-Fayez,<\/strong> UNESCO\u2019s Assistant Director-General for Culture, told delegates that as the UN agency with the specific mandate for culture, UNESCO has supported the Ministry of Culture of the State of Palestine in addressing the immediate impact of the war at what is now a critical moment.<\/p>\n

He emphasised UNESCO\u2019s longstanding work in Palestine, from its Ramallah office established in 1997 to its support for World Heritage sites including Bethlehem\u2019s Church of the Nativity, the cultural landscape of Battir, the Old Town of Hebron (Al-Khalil) and ancient Jericho\/Tell es-Sultan. \u00a0But the scale of destruction in Gaza has been immense. \u00a0According to UNESCO assessments<\/a>, more than three quarters of documented cultural assets in Gaza have been affected, while damage has been verified at more than 160 cultural sites since October 2023. The losses include landmarks such as the Great Omari Mosque and Basha Palace which not simply architectural treasures, but repositories of Palestinian civic memory and communal life.<\/p>\n

But, as Al-Fayez added, UNESCO\u2019s engagement has not been limited to monuments. Human lives also matter. Sites are important, but so is the safeguarding of living heritage and protecting social cohesion, economic resilience and the capacity of Palestinians to transmit their history to future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cRhetorical Alibi\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The conference then heard a letter read out from Francesca Albanese<\/strong>, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who was unable to attend in person.<\/p>\n

She thanked the organisers for placing Palestinian cultural heritage at the centre of the reflection, describing it as an \u201cact of moral clarity at a moment when both morality and clarity are scarce\u201d.<\/p>\n

But her intervention was also more poignant, as she reminded her audience that talk of reconstruction risks becoming a \u201crhetorical alibi\u201d when the conditions that make it necessary go unaddressed and where state actors avoid the legal and moral obligation to do the utmost to stop the actual destruction.\u00a0 The Special Rapporteur added:<\/p>\n

Gaza has been destroyed, from housing to education and culture. This devastation did not begin on October 7th. It is the latest, most brutal chapter of a longer erasure. Libraries were burned, universities leveled, archives scattered, artists and scholars killed, long before this genocide reached its current intensity.<\/em><\/p>\n

What we are witnessing is not incidental damage. It is the deliberate unmaking of a people\u2019s capacity to remember, to teach, to imagine itself forward. Cultural protection cannot be separated from the broader struggle for Palestinian self-determination, nor from an ethics of indigeneity that recognizes a people\u2019s right to their own land, language and memory. Cultural heritage is not ornament; it is testimony and continuity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Albanese concluded:<\/p>\n

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Words of restoration bring hollow comfort without an end to the violence that makes restoration necessary.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Deploring the Erasure of Palestinian Culture<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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The Palestinian and Spanish Ministers of Culture, Emad Hamdan and Ernest Urtasun, in front of Picasso\u2019s \u2018Guernica\u2019 within the framework of the ministerial conference for the cultural reconstruction of Palestine held in Madrid (photo credit: Chema Moya \/ Efe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Palestinian Culture Minister Emad Hamdan<\/strong> described Gaza as the clearest evidence of a wider \u201ccollective cultural genocide\u201d which was not confined to physical destruction or displacement; it was also deepening the erasure of Palestinian identity through the demolition of homes, land confiscation, settlement expansion, settler attacks, restrictions on movement and the disruption of access to education, health care and places of worship.<\/p>\n

Yet Hamdan\u2019s most urgent emphasis was on culture as resistance. Palestinian poets, artists, musicians, filmmakers, theatre makers and craftspeople continue to create \u201cin the darkest of times\u201d, thus preserving a collective memory that refuses to be silenced. For him, investment in poetry, music, cinema, visual art, folk heritage and other traditional crafts is not a luxury but an investment in the survival of Palestinian identity itself.<\/p>\n

Hamdan also placed the destruction of Palestinian heritage within a legal and moral framework. Archaeological sites, historic buildings, mosques, churches, museums, theatres, cinemas, libraries, archives, manuscripts and other collections have been extensively damaged or destroyed. Under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999), the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, he argued, cultural property is part of a people\u2019s identity and collective memory, and its protection in wartime is not optional but a binding obligation on both parties to a conflict and the broader international community.<\/p>\n

The destruction of Gaza\u2019s cultural heritage is also intertwined with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region.\u00a0 This link is expressly recognised by the International Criminal Court<\/a>, which states that:<\/p>\n

\u201cCrimes against or affecting cultural heritage often touch upon the very notion of what it means to be human, sometimes eroding entire swaths of human history, ingenuity, and artistic creation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The imperative for action Fnow also finds support through Resolution 2347<\/a> which was adopted in 2017 by the United Nations Security Council and which expressly \u201cdeplores and condemns the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, inter alia<\/em> destruction of religious sites and artifacts, as well as the looting and smuggling of cultural property from archaeological sites, museums, libraries, archives, and other sites, in the context of armed conflicts\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Greek Voice in Madrid<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" <\/source><\/picture>The Greek Deputy Culture Minister, Iason Fotilas<\/strong>, spoke at the conference, declaring that Greece, as a force for stability in the region, remains firmly committed to peace and cultural cooperation.<\/p>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause cultures that carry centuries of history also carry a responsibility to support and make cultural property accessible to every citizen of the world. Greece will continue, together with Palestine and together with Europe, to protect what has survived and to rebuild what has been lost.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Greece has a considerable amount of cultural cachet in the fight against the illegal trafficking of antiquities and also has the necessary expertise in the protection and restoration of ancient monuments.\u00a0 It sponsors resolutions in the United Nations for the return of cultural artefacts to the country of their origin.<\/p>\n

In 2022 at the UNESCO World Congress on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (Mondiacult 2022<\/strong>), Greece\u2019s culture minister, Dr Lina Mendoni<\/strong>, strongly supported the final declaration recognising culture as a \u201cglobal public good\u201d and as a distinct sustainable development objective. \u00a0Framed as an ethical imperative, the declaration linked restitution to the right of peoples and communities to enjoy their cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

On 19 November 2024 at the 79th Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly a resolution introduced by Greece and co-sponsored by all 27 EU member states was adopted by consensus.\u00a0 The resolution highlighted the growing threat of the illicit trade in cultural objects and also acknowledged the targeted attacks, looting, and illicit trafficking of cultural property during armed conflicts, both international and domestic.<\/p>\n

Greece\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations at the time, Evangelos Sekeris<\/strong>, stressed that the resolution aimed to safeguard the collective memory of humanity and cultural identity while fostering international understanding and goodwill:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is of the utmost importance for us all to recognize that protecting human life will always remain our primary concern, but that respect for a people\u2019s cultural identity is also vital. While human life is of greater importance than objects, it is nevertheless necessary to respect the rules for the protection of cultural property, as it is the collective memory of humanity and symbolizes human life itself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In March 2025 Lina Mendoni visited the Yasser Arafat State Museum in Ramallah in the West Bank where she held strategic dialogues with Palestinian officials in relation to matters including artistic collaborations, humanitarian initiatives and cultural conservation.\u00a0 Greece also pledged support for restoring damaged Palestinian heritage sites<\/a> and training conservators with Dr Mendoni emphasising Greece\u2019s commitment to solidarity and cultural diplomacy and the protection of cultural heritage from all forms of violence.<\/p>\n

So when Greece signs a declaration about protecting Palestinian heritage, it does as the nation that has experienced the dispersal of crucial elements of its ancient history\u00a0 amongst museums and private collections around the world.<\/p>\n

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On the sidelines of the conference Fotilas met the famous Spanish Oscar-winning filmmaker Pedro Almod\u00f3var<\/strong> and invited him to Greece.<\/p>\n

Almod\u00f3var has been active in the pro-Palestine cause and has urged the Spanish Government to cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel \u201cas a sign of repulsion against the genocide it is committing against the people of Gaza before the eyes of the entire world\u201d.<\/p>\n

In May 2025, Almod\u00f3var joined the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos<\/strong> and more than 350 international actors, directors and producers to sign a letter to the Cannes Film Festival, condemning the targeted killing of Fatma Hassona, a young Palestinian photojournalist.<\/p>\n

The Final Resolution<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Signatories to the Final Declaration were: Austria, Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Mexico, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Vietnam and ALECSO (the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization)<\/p>\n

In it, they express \u201cdeep concern\u201d about the conflict\u2019s impact on Palestinian cultural life, violations of international law in Gaza, and Israeli incursions into the West Bank and Jerusalem. They noted that these actions affect heritage, cultural institutions and professionals, and the Palestinian people\u2019s political, social, economic and cultural rights, including the right to self-determination.<\/p>\n

On that basis, and recognising culture as a \u201cglobal public good\u201d that strengthens human rights, security and social cohesion, the declaration called on states, international organisations, financial, philanthropic and cultural institutions, and civil society to work towards an International Pact for the Resilience of Palestinian Culture<\/strong><\/a> as a means of safeguarding the Palestinian people\u2019s identity, dignity and cultural continuity.<\/p>\n

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The Ghosts of Guernica<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The gaze of Pablo Picasso\u2019s iconic work Guernica<\/em><\/strong> over the conference participants served as a poignant reminder that the work is not just a decorative mural that just happened to frame the official portrait of the delegates in Madrid; it is an enduring historical admonition against atrocity and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

Picasso painted it in 1937 in despairing fury at the obliteration of a small Basque market town by German and Italian aircraft at the behest of the fascist General Franco. The screaming horse, the mother with her dead child, the severed limbs, the single bare bulb like an interrogator\u2019s lamp, remain searing images of atrocities and war crimes in our collective memory.<\/p>\n

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Picasso\u2019s masterpiece (and its modern appropriations) is the eternal image of what happens to ordinary people suffering under indiscriminate bombardment.\u00a0 It is a permanent indictment of war against innocent civilians and the grotesque claims that civilian casualties are mere \u2018collateral damage\u2019.<\/p>\n

Under the shadow of Picasso\u2019s Guernica, the Madrid Conference on Palestinian cultural reconstruction may have passed noble and well-meaning resolutions, but the only true declaration that remains unspoken \u2013 and still awaits action \u2013 is to actually put an end to the wanton killing and destruction before there is nothing left to protect.<\/p>\n

Only then will the ghosts of Guernica begin to be laid to rest in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

George Vardas is the Arts and Culture Editor and is also a\u00a0 cultural heritage activist<\/em><\/p>\n