Systematic destruction On Thursday August 9. Israeli airstrikes destroyed Said Al-Meshal Institution for Culture and Science, Gaza’s major cultural center that hosts, band rehearsals, a library and a children's cinema, and the second largest theater in Gaza strip. This latest wanton attack is far from being an exception. It is only the latest episode in Israel’s systematic and intentional destruction of Palestinian cultural institutions. In its ongoing attacks on Gaza, Israel has bombed theaters, libraries, museums, universities, stadiums, and tens of schools, after having largely destroyed the infrastructure of teaching and cultural activities throughout twelve years of its illegal and criminal siege of the densely populated Gaza Strip. Al-Meshal Centre (shown before and after the airstrikes) is a detached five-story building that is clearly marked with the Center’s name. The building was reduced to rubble after being hit with eight rockets. Surrounding buildings have also sustained heavy structural damage. We strongly believe that Israel’s targeting of cultural centers, civilian homes, schools, hospitals, ambulances, mosques, social and economic institutions, government buildings, law and order organs, UN humanitarian facilities and shelters, as well as higher education institutions should not go unpunished. Israel’s sense of unassailable impunity is a guaranteed recipe for repetition of its crimes and nourishing its genocidal tendencies. Gaza Cultural Centers, together with other Gaza-based civil society organizations call for a wide campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel in response to its well documented, premeditated war crimes in Gaza. In line with the statements issued by the Palestinian BDS National Committee, BNC, and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), we condemn in the strongest possible terms Israel ‘s war crimes and acts of genocide in Gaza, the inhumane siege of Gaza as well as its attacks against the nonviolent protestors of the Great March of Return. Israel’s wanton assaults have caused thousands of fatalities, injuries and caused hundreds of thousands more particularly children, women and elderly to suffer from chronic diseases, stunted growth, severe malnutrition and heightened risk of mortality. Specifically, and as a minimal response to these Israeli atrocities and grave violations of international law and the most basic human rights, we call on cultural figures, intellectuals, cultural workers and institutions around the world to intensify the boycott of all Israeli academic and cultural institutions to help putting an end to Israel’s impunity and holding it accountable. This is the moral responsibility of every conscientious human being today Signed by:<doc-sep>Dozens of neighbors of the Said al-Mishal Foundation for Culture and Science were seen leaning out of their windows this morning to listen to music they believed would not be played again. The cultural center’s building was completely destroyed by consecutive Israeli airstrikes, but Hazam Gusain, 18, led his twelve-man band on the center’s ruins. The band which had lost their headquarters, equipment and uniforms in the attack, carried their guitars, drums and digital pianos after they all connected their instruments to a small diesel generator. For 15 minutes, the al-Anqaa (the Phoenix) band sang and played three national songs. Some local residents who came down to the ‘concert’ to join in, while others watched from further away, clapping their hands to shake off the deep gloom of the preceding hours. On Thursday evening, at 18:00 Gaza time, 12 successive explosions were heard as Israeli warplanes flew over Gaza City, hitting the popular cultural center, one of the very few cultural outlets left for Gaza’s youth in the besieged enclave. The five-story building held three theatres, offices for cultural associations, a library, and hosted an office for Gaza’s Egyptian community. Ayman Hashishu, 40, was an eyewitness at the scene and the owner of a car wash across from the center. He said that his wife, Amna, received a phone call from an Israeli officer warning her to evacuate their four-story building. “God damn you, are you kidding me?” Amna replied to the caller in Arabic, her husband told Mondoweiss. Five minutes later the IDF phoned again, telling her “I am serious! You have five minutes more to get out; we will hit the cultural center.” Those five minutes were not enough to move the line of just-washed vehicles away from the center. “All the cleaner staff hurried up to drive the clients’ cars far away to the adjacent street,” Hashishu explained. Soon, the station was completely destroyed due to the explosions. Going back to the band leader, who was humming a musical note that he said was from a memorial service for the American peace activist Rachel Corrie held at the center in March 2017. “Al-Mishal was a place of full of memories,” Hazem said. “It was a place of love, warm songs, and movies when sitting on its 350 burgundy seats and dozens of plays were performed on its stages.” Theatre director Ali Abu Yassin, was preparing his first show “Bbret Benj” (Anesthetics Injection), a 70-minute drama that cynically addresses the problems of unemployment, lack of pure drinking water, power cuts and the closure of Gaza crossings. “The audience was waiting to watch it in third and fourth days of Eid al-Adha (Islamic festival on August 22th) in the destroyed theatre,” the director told Mondoweiss. “Now, the play has gone under the rubble, as well my decorations and equipment.” Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic media spokesman, wrote in a Twitter post shortly after the building was targeted: “Warplanes have targeted a five-floor building serving internal security forces […] The unit is the operational wing of Hamas’ political leadership, which is responsible for running all internal security activities in the Gaza Strip.” قامت طائرات حربية باستهداف مبنى مكون من ٥ طوابق والذي يخدم قوات الامن الداخلي في حي #الرمال شمال قطاع #غزة. تعتبر الوحدة الذراع التنفيذية للقيادة السياسية التابعة لمنظمة #حماس الإرهابية والتي تتحمل مسؤولية إدارة جميع نشاطات الامن الداخلي في قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/qGai06U3rx — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 9, 2018 ‏‎Eman Sourani‎‏, one of the center’s neighbors posted video of the attack on her Facebook account and wrote: This bombing was very close to my house. I had to show silly smiles and do funny reactions so that my toddlers would not panic. I am a mother of three and currently I am very scared and worried. Last night a pregnant Mom and her one-year-old daughter murdered by IOF terrorist warplanes and today and every day I do not feel safe at all. By Three years from now; will Gaza have any place of art teaching? Theatres? Music Centers? Libraries or Green playgrounds so my girls would enjoy childhood and learn? “Israel is trying to deliver its message that massive war is not just against humanity or our existence; it is a war against every part of Palestinian identity including music, culture or even Dabkeh dance,” said Nidal Eissa, 30, Deputy Director of the Foundation, which was inaugurated in 2004. Eissa added that the center used to be full of 200-250 poets, artists, folklore dancers and thinkers every day; as well, many kindergarten graduation ceremonies prefer to hold their parties here. “But all those poets will not gather again, and the pupils have to find a place somewhere else.”<doc-sep>The room where Inas al-Khamash was killed with her toddler daughter and unborn child the previous night, Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 9 August 2018. Ashraf Amra APA images Israel bombed and destroyed a building housing a cultural center in Gaza City before reportedly agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas late Thursday. The obliteration of the building in the heart of the densely populated Gaza Strip followed a night of terror for Palestinians in the territory. Over hearing that I crawled in the darkness amid the intinsive air strikes and lied beside my 2 years sleeping daughter. Toghether we live or we die. #GazaunderAttack https://t.co/E5nmFmCrBN — Maram Humaid (@MaramGaza) August 9, 2018 “Bombs are pouring everywhere shaking our house worse than an earthquake. I’m panicking paralysed unable to provide safety for my 2 yrs son whose night is torn by excessive sounds renewed rocket fire in #Gaza” A fraction from what my sister reported in Gaza. #StopFire #Enough — Ayman Qwaider (@aymanqwaider) August 8, 2018 Gaza’s health ministry stated that Hayat, the unborn child being carried by Inas Khamash, 23, was “born a martyr.” The woman was laid to rest in the same coffin together with her toddler daughter, Bayan, and Hayat on Thursday. Her husband Muhammad was hospitalized after being injured in the bombing that killed his family. The Israeli military said that it had hit 150 targets in Gaza since Wednesday evening. Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on 9 August. Mahmoud Khattab APA images The Israeli daily Haaretz reported the military’s claims that 200 rockets were fired from Gaza, more than 30 of them intercepted and most of the remainder landing in open areas. A foreign laborer working at an Israeli greenhouse was reported to have been “moderately to seriously injured” by a rocket fired from Gaza. Twenty-three Israelis have been hospitalized for injuries as a result of rocket fire since Wednesday, according to Haaretz. A rocket fired from Gaza hit the city of Beersheba, in southern Israel, on Thursday, causing no injuries or damage. An Israeli police spokesperson posted photos of a small crater and shrapnel said to be from the rocket: Police bomb disposal experts find rocket that landed outside the city of ber Sheba fired from the Gaza Strip. Police units patrolling areas pic.twitter.com/x6Pi2nauMm — Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) August 9, 2018 Israel claimed that the building housed Hamas’ internal security services, describing it as “the operational arm of the political leadership of the Hamas terror group.” Yet the army also openly admitted to intentionally targeting civilian areas so that civilians would “demand explanations from Hamas”: The IDF openly admits it is now targeting populated civilian areas in Gaza "so residents feel the price of the escalation and demand explanations from Hamas." You cannot make this stuff up (Hebrew link) https://t.co/RAYKkCv4Ps — Mairav Zonszein (@MairavZ) August 9, 2018 #شاهد| فيديو جديد يوثق لحظة قصف الاحتلال مبنى مؤسسة ثقافية غرب مدينة #غزة pic.twitter.com/vdAEC6JAzx — وكالة صفا (@SafaPs) August 9, 2018 لحظة إطلاق طيران الاحتلال صواريخه تجاه مبنى سعيد المسحال غرب #غزة قبل قليل. pic.twitter.com/zh7ysJwnSN — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 9, 2018 الاحتلال يدمر مبنى ثقافياً غرب غزة مساء اليوم، مخلفاً إصابات ورعباً بين الأطفال والنساء. pic.twitter.com/9RFMkqyTmk — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 9, 2018 ما تبقى من مؤسسة سعيد المسحال الثقافية بغزة عقب تدميرها من قبل طائرات الاحتلال. pic.twitter.com/BTslwH7oVD — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 9, 2018 A Hamas spokesperson stated that the bombing of the cultural center, which also housed an organization providing services to Egyptian women married to Palestinian men in Gaza, was “barbaric” and “an attempt to sabotage Egyptian efforts in the Gaza Strip.” That was in reference to indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, facilitated by Egypt and the United Nations, that were said to be at an advanced stage earlier this month. Palestinian women inspect the damage to a building following Israeli an air strike on Gaza City on 9 August. Mahmoud Khattab APA images Adel Abd al-Rahman, president of the Egyptian community in Gaza, stated that services were provided to thousands of Egyptian mothers in the building before it was “destroyed in an ugly and arrogant way.” The Islamic Jihad faction stated that the attack “reveals attempts to destroy the cultural and national identity of our people.” Palestinians took to social media to mourn the destruction of one of the few large venues for theater and music performances in besieged and isolated Gaza: Thousands of kids in #Gaza will miss #almishalCultureAndArtsCentre A place where they had watched Plays and celebrated graduations...#israel is the meaning terrorism.. What would th @UNESCO do for such a crime? pic.twitter.com/rNSlNQgkEN — Bahaauddin Alghoul (@bahaa_alghoul) August 9, 2018 I took this video of ‘O, Palestine’s Children’ song sang at Said Almishal Cultural Center back in 2016 by Dawaween band. Israel wants to erase our culture too. Share #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/RLqzPm1Bpl — Yousef M. Aljamal (@YousefAljamal) August 9, 2018 My timeline is full of people from Gaza mourning the destruction of the Said Al-Mishal Cultural Center in an Israeli air strike. In a place desperately lacking space for entertainment and support, the center provided both. https://t.co/rGuZmBGKgW — Mohammad Alsaafin (@malsaafin) August 9, 2018 I'm writing this tweet with tears and powerlessness. Today, Israeli warplanes bombed Said Al-Mishal Cultural Centre: a home to the second largest theatre in Gaza. The centre is one of places where @GazaCinema Cinema was hosting the movies. I have many happy memories in this place pic.twitter.com/bfnrx3Vwkn — Ayman Qwaider (@aymanqwaider) August 9, 2018 This was the Water and Sanitation Department of al-Mughraqa city, central Gaza Strip. It was hit and completely destroyed by several Israeli air strikes last night. The Israeli destructive regime targets Gaza infrastructure so that it would cause the hugest damage possible! pic.twitter.com/q89KgvVf2V — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 9, 2018<doc-sep>On Thursday August 9th, the Israeli airforce dropped ten missiles on a building in Gaza City, turning the five-story building into rubble. Was this a Hamas training center, or somehow associated with the Palestinian armed resistance? No. Like the building targeted by Israeli forces two weeks earlier, when two teen boys were killed taking a selfie, this was a cultural center aimed at preserving the history and culture of the Palestinian people of Gaza. The Said Al-Mashal Foundation for Arts and Culture was a place where cultural heritage was preserved and maintained. The Palestinian traditional dance known as dabke was taught and practiced there, poets would gather to share their latest works, and musicians would come together for jam sessions and performances. Two weeks earlier, the Israeli airforce dropped another bomb on the Arts and Crafts Museum in Gaza City. Why is Israel so focused on destroying Palestinian cultural artifacts, museums, arts and crafts? Is it because resistance fighters are hidden inside these centers? That is a laughable claim that is easily disproved by looking at the evidence – no fighters, weapons or rockets in the rubble that remains of what had been beautiful and well-loved cultural centers. Nor is it true that these centers were somehow ‘collateral damage’, and the bombs were targeting some other, nearby place. No, Israeli forces directly targeted these centers – and in fact, after the fact, declared the strikes a ‘success’ and claimed that they hit their targets directly. No, the reality is that the centers that preserve the Palestinian people’s identity, culture and history are somehow seen as a threat to Israel, and Israeli authorities have implemented a policy that such centers must be destroyed. Video showing the destruction of the Said al-Mashal Center: The Middle East Eye interviewed some of the artists involved with the center. Edrees Taleb, 27, one of the centre’s well-known theatre directors, was quoted in the paper as saying, “You know what it means to have been working in a place for more than eight years, so you know every tile like the back of your hand and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, everything is gone? For the past couple of months, we have been preparing for a new play entitled ‘Anesthesia Syringe’, to be played during the Eid al-Adha break, and we had installed the decoration a few hours before the building was targeted.” Taleb could not believe that the building was razed until he went to see it for himself. “We spent the whole day on Thursday preparing for Saturday’s rehearsal. The decoration cost us a lot, but we hoped it would pay back,” he said. “We finished the preparations at about 3:30pm, and I went home to have some rest. When I came back at around 6pm, the building was gone. I am shocked and suffocated.” A young artist identified as Taleb told the paper that he has been attending events at the center for eight years, since he was 18. He said, “Israel says its forces targeted the building because part of it was used by Hamas. But I have been there for more than eight years, there has never been anything related to any political party. Not in the past, and not recently.” Hanin al-Holy, 23, stated, “Al-Meshal centre was a symbol of culture, something that reinforced our Palestinian identity. They targeted it because art is, too, a form of resistance.”<doc-sep>
On Thursday, August 9, the al-Meshal Foundation, a cultural center in Gaza housing the region’s second-largest theater, was decimated by Israeli military forces. The five-floor edifice housed a library, an Egyptian community center, offices for cultural associations, and a theater for arts and dabkeh. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted the structure as an alleged Hamas headquarters. Around 6:30 pm local time, Israeli warplanes launched missiles into the building, leveling it to the ground. Surrounding buildings were faced with residual structural damage. Eighteen Gazan civilians were wounded in the attack and sent to al-Shifa Hospital for minor injuries. Reports indicate that neighborhood residents received phone calls from Israeli forces before the attack, cautioning them to evacuate prior to the destruction. al-Meshal existed as one of few operating cultural centers in Palestine. Alaa Qudaih, an 18-year-old artist who is warmly referred to in her community as “the youngest photographer in Palestine,” has expressed her sadness surrounding the center’s destruction. She told the Middle East Eye, “I used to visit the al-Meshal centre regularly because I am interested in art and theatre, especially that there are no real cinemas in Gaza.” The Middle East Eye reported that the center had been preparing for an upcoming play during the Eid al-Adha holiday break, “Anesthesia Syringe.” Edrees Taleb, an al-Meshal employee of over 8 years, told the publication: We finished the preparations at about 3:30pm, and I went home to have some rest. When I came back at around 6pm, the building was gone. I am shocked and suffocated … Israel says its forces targeted the building because part of it was used by Hamas. But I have been there for more than eight years, there has never been anything related to any political party. Not in the past, and not recently. An IDF spokesman told the press the attack was “an expression of the IDF’s intelligence and operational capabilities, which will expand and intensify as necessary.” Hamas has responded to the demolition, saying the IDF identified the wrong building, their actual headquarters located across the street from the celebrated cultural institution. The IDF posted military-view video footage of the missile launches. They report, “The strike was carried out in response to the rockets Hamas fired at Israel, one of which was fired at the city of Be’er Sheva, which is more than 24 miles from Gaza.” Israel’s Housing Minister Yoav Gallant, an advisor on the Israeli security cabinet, said yesterday, “Whatever is needed to protect our citizens and our soldiers will be done, no matter what the price will be in Gaza.” Violence has been escalating in the region throughout the week. On Wednesday night, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians: a man, and a 9-months-pregnant woman and her 18-month-old daughter. The mother was buried with her child, and her husband was sent to the hospital with injuries from the same attack. There have been a series of raids and bombings throughout Gaza in the past 48 hours, including what reports suggest is a bombing a mosque and water infrastructure by the IDF. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations says that over 180 rockets and mortars were launched toward Israeli territory from Gaza during this period. Hamas leaders said late Thursday that a truce had been reached with Israel to conclude the recent frenzy of violence, though an Israeli official denied the claims. Reports say the agreement was facilitated with support from Egyptian government intelligence and the United Nation’s Middle East envoy.