John the Baptist’s body is believed to have been buried beneath the picturesque village center of Sebastia, dating back to the Ottoman era. In the Bible, he baptized Jesus in the Jordan, east of Sebastia.
He is said to have been beheaded by the Roman-appointed King Herod I, who ruled Palestine from 37 BC, and his head was buried in Damascus.
The Israeli government, however, focuses on Sebastia as the reported site of the capital of the Kingdom of Israel during the First Temple period (ca. 1200 to 586 BC).
The importance that Israel places on the site is seen in the boundary between the Sebastia Archaeological Park and the village of Sebastia itself.
The Second Oslo Accord in 1995 divided the Palestinian West Bank into three areas, approximately two-thirds of which were in Area C under fully Israeli administration and control, including the Sebastia Archaeological Park.
The rest of Sebastia is in Palestinian-controlled Area B, although Israel still controls security.
Mayor Azem said that the conservation of Sebastia’s historic sites has always caused conflicts between Palestinians and their occupants who want to “Judaize the site.”
Last year, the Israeli government announced around 30 million shekels (more than $8 million) for the restoration of the archaeological park. Recently, senior Israeli government ministers, including Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman and far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, visited the site.
Azem fears that once the war on Gaza ends, the Israeli government will restart the project.
“When Sebastia is mentioned, the extremist Israeli government is convinced, or politicians try to convince themselves, that the history of the site belongs to the Jewish people.
“And that’s why they prepared a budget… under the pretext of restoring the archaeological zone and protecting it, but in reality they want Sebastia to be transformed into a site reserved for Jews. »
Tel Aviv Tribune inquired with Israeli authorities about the claims made by Azem and others in this article, but received no response at the time of publication.
Palestinian efforts to work on the site have often been delayed, Azem said, with the municipality unable to dig, work on the ruins or even clear the site without aggression and intimidation from the army.
“All these things lead to a…fear of visits due to pressure from the occupation through the army and settlers,” Azem said.
“They do this to scare us, trying to evict us from our homes and land to empty them for the benefit of settlers.”
Sebastia Archaeological Park has been under the control of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority since 1978. The Yesha Council, which oversees all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, is headquartered in Shavei Shomron. Azem says this only underscores Israel’s intention to control the village and its historic sites.
Tour guide, archaeologist and villager Suhaib Huwwari said the settlers are guilty of “crimes against history” and that the village is unable to prevent the looting of the artifacts. Some settlers, he explained, display objects from the archaeological park in their homes.
“We spoke to UNESCO and gave them information about the Israeli project and called for protection, but ultimately Israel does not care about international criticism,” Azem said.
Tel Aviv Tribune contacted UNESCO about the claims to ask whether progress had been made in listing Sebastia as a world heritage site and whether UNESCO condemned the violence in the village.
A UNESCO spokesperson did not comment on the behavior of settlers and the Israeli army in Sebastia and said the body had not received a request from Palestine for full heritage site status. global.
In Sebastia itself, Azem says, life has changed after the two “catastrophes” – first, Fawzi’s assassination and, second, Israel’s war on Gaza, which has now killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
“Of course (Fawzi’s killing) had a big impact,” he said. “People are afraid, parents are afraid… When soldiers invade Sebastia, parents try to take their children home. »
“(And) since October 7, the army has been killing without any responsibility. You see the massacres in Gaza every day, and no one cares. (It’s) the same thing here in Sébastia. When they come to the village to kill and shoot, … there is no responsibility.
“But we will not abandon our home or the history of Palestine.”