The Destruction of Nablus

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Nablus, the venerable historic city, has been subjected over the past three years to a terrifying Zionist assault across the economic, social, and security dimensions alike. Its siege drags on, and tanks, armored personnel carriers, and military vehicles never leave its streets or the streets of its refugee camps, while the brutalization of its people never stops or eases. Killing, destruction, vandalism, and the demolition of homes have become an almost daily Zionist practice. There are other cities and villages in the West Bank and Gaza, such as Rafah and Jenin, that are subjected to this same savage Zionist barbarism, and they scarcely find respite from the repeated attacks.

Israel targets the city of Nablus in its population, its civilization, and its history alike. The city is historic, and its founding goes back to the era of the Canaanites, who settled in the land of Sham around 2500 BC. The Canaanites built the city and named it Shechem, a name the ancient Hebrews altered to Shkhem. Some historians say that our master Abraham the Friend of God settled in the city after crossing the Jordan River westward, and before moving south toward the mountain of Hebron. Successive civilizations passed through the city — Pharaonic, Hyksos, Greek, and Roman. Jews of the Samaritan sect settled there, those who believe only in the first five books of the Torah as it exists in Jewish hands today, and who believe that the Jewish holy sites lie on Mount Tur (the mountain south of the city, also called Gerizim) in Nablus. Christianity spread there before the Islamic conquest arrived in 636 AD.

No civilization has been sparing with Nablus in leaving behind its monuments and civilizational touches. In the city of Nablus you find Canaanite remains represented by the original town of Shechem, along with Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Christian remains, and a great many Islamic ones. The city is distinguished by its old town, considered one of the oldest and most venerable old towns in the land of Sham, rivaling the old towns of Aleppo, Jerusalem, and Hama. Every building in this old town, indeed every stone, speaks of history and tells a story. It has architecture of varied styles, covered streets, buildings adapted through their very construction to the climate, bathhouses, latticed balconies, and Eastern markets brimming with life.

Outside the walls of the old city lie the Roman amphitheater and Roman ruins distinguished by their columns and capitals, and one sees the mosques with their soaring minarets speaking of the true Islamic spirit that distinguishes the city’s people. Nablus is a veritable forest of minarets, bearing witness to the city’s pride and devotion. On Mount Tur, meanwhile, one finds Samaritan, Byzantine, and Islamic remains intermingled, bearing witness to the succession of civilizations. A short distance from the city lies the village of Sebastia, crowded with the remains of the prophets, intermingled with the remains of the civilizations.

On the scholarly level, the city gave shelter to many scholars, such as the sons of Banu Qudama, who moved to Damascus to enrich the civilization of Sham. Authors, especially on religious matters, were numerous there. In our own time, Nablus has produced writers, poets, scholars, and academic institutions. An-Najah School was established there, which grew into a teachers’ college attended by Arabs from various regions, and then became An-Najah National University, considered among the foremost Arab universities for its intellectual and academic openness.

On the economic level, Nablus gave the land of Sham very important products that remain, to this day, at the forefront of goods traded across the Arab homeland. Nablus gave the world Nabulsi kunafa, Nabulsi soap, and Levantine halva. It excelled in ceramic, copper, and woodworking crafts. Over time it turned into a major commercial center that sat atop the commercial centers of Palestine. Its people excelled commercially to the point that they spread across many Arab places and turned Nablus into a financial capital where currency prices and company shares were set.

On the level of national struggle, Nablus was no less significant. Nablus and its mountain region, which includes the districts of Tulkarm and Jenin, fought against the British Mandate, and the city, along with Tulkarm and Jenin, became known as the Palestinian “triangle of terror” because of the revolt that blazed there against the British Mandate. Nablus continued its struggle after the fall of Palestine in 1948, and became known for its leadership in Arab nationalism and its defense of Arab unity. Its people long stood defying the parochial Arab regimes through demonstrations, party organizations, and statements. It was known as a Nasserist stronghold that saw in Arab division nothing but a weakness bound to bring grave consequences upon the nation.

Nablus has led the national struggle against the Zionist occupation since 1967. Palestinian organizations were launched from it, and national decisions issued from it. Many national leaders were present there, and thousands of grassroots fighters rose from its soil, defying the occupation and offering themselves as a sacrifice for the cause, for the sake of God. After the Oslo Accord and the agreements that followed it, Nablus was a pioneer in stoking the conflict against the occupation, and refused to let Palestinians become guardians of Israel’s security. Its young men and women stood in the face of the occupation, fully aware of the weight of the task; some of them fell, but the banner never fell. Many young men emerged from the city who carried out martyrdom operations against the enemy.

The Zionist enemy sees in the city of Nablus a Palestinian treasure that continually supplies Palestinians with national, commercial, scholarly, and economic creativity. It is a city that has proven itself possessed of a renewing spirit that will not allow the flag of Palestine, of Arabism, or of Islam to bow or fall. Whenever the occupation thinks matters have been settled in its favor, it finds Nablus a pincer around its neck.

For this reason, the Zionists have placed the city under a tight siege since the beginning of the intifada. Zionist checkpoints surround the city and close off every entrance, and Zionist soldiers spread across the mountains and valleys to prevent the movement of people. The occupation has choked the city, imagining it would bring it to its knees. It raids the city, almost every single night, wreaking corruption within it. Its most recent barbaric act was at dawn on July 6, 2004, when it killed a university professor from An-Najah University and his son in cold blood, at close range, and assassinated two other young men. It defies the city’s will, and as the years pass, that will only grows more resolute.

The city is patient and steadfast, but it has a grievance; and if it sheds a tear, it is not because of the enemy’s armored vehicles, but because of the neglect of its own kin, and their disregard for the city’s concerns. The city does not receive the support and attention it deserves. Even the media still hesitate to set up bureaus in the city, preferring to remain where political decisions are made. And this, even though it is the national decision that determines the course of the struggle against the occupation, not the political decision, which always collapses before the blows of the resistance fighters.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “تدمير نابلس” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.