Abstract
Discussions about the role of heritage sites and practices in provoking conflict – or conversely, as opportunities for building peace – have gained new impetus in recent years. In this context, we discuss a site of contested heritage in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Susya national heritage site. The article first highlights the way this contestation relates to wider conflict over territory (as well as political, economic and cultural resources). Using oral histories gathered by Palestinian youth researchers, it then considers how heritage narratives reinforce or challenge competing claims to ‘belong’ in Susya against a backdrop of protracted conflict. Finally, the article asks whether such contested heritage sites could play a role as resources for peace by adopting a conflict transformational paradigm, and what the barriers are to this approach.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 545-568 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Cooperation and Conflict |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 24 Oct 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Oct 2023 |
Bibliographical note
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The On Our Land project was funded as part of the British Council Cultural Protection Fund. The Cultural Protection Fund is a fund that supports efforts to protect cultural heritage at risk, in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (UK).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| British Council Cultural Protection Fund |
Keywords
- peacebuilding
- heritage
- agonism
- Palestine
Themes
- Peace and Conflict
