In Jerusalem, manuscripts are being restored to reveal Palestinian history

At the heart of the Khaledi Library in East Jerusalem, the part of the city that Israel has occupied, Rami Salameh is meticulously devoted to the restoration of historical Palestinian documents, which provide a rare insight into the city’s history.

“Among the manuscripts, we find legal treatises, astronomy, a biography of Muhammad and the Qur’an on various subjects”, explains the Italian-trained expert, who carefully works on a text of Arabic grammar in his small workshop, where he works alone.

Mr. Salameh heaves a sigh of relief when he learns that the bicentennial document he holds in his hands has not needed treatment for discoloration caused by oxidation over the years.

In two and a half years, they have restored at least 1,200 pages belonging to private Palestinian libraries and a dozen manuscripts from the Ottoman period, some of which are 200 or 300 years old.

Much of this comes from the Khalidi Library, which houses the largest collection of Arabic and Islamic manuscripts in the Palestinian territories.

It also includes works in Persian, German and French, including an influential series of books by Victor Hugo.

The bookstore was founded in 1900 by Raghib al-Khalidi, a Palestinian notable who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the request of his late mother Khadija. It is located at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem.

From the main building overlooking the holy Jewish site of the Western Wall, Muslim fighters are said to have participated in the liberation of Jerusalem from the Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries.

– Overview of the History of Jerusalem –

The library’s collection includes books, correspondence, orders from the Ottoman Empire and memoirs of the influential Khaledi family, providing a rare insight into past life in the Holy City. The oldest manuscripts date back to the tenth century.

“We have manuscripts highlighting the cultural and social status of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this is a sign of the Palestinian presence here for centuries,” explains Khader Salameh, librarian in charge of the collection and father of the establishment’s curator.

Salameh, referring to a speech by Zionist leaders prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, said, “The contents of the library contradict the Zionists’ claim that this country was empty.”

Since the Old City was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967, Palestinian families and institutions in East Jerusalem have frequently faced evictions, which have been deemed illegal by the United Nations and the international community.

The librarian expressed regret that the Israeli authorities had taken away a part of the library in order to build a Jewish religious school there.

The library management engaged in a protracted legal battle to protest this decision, but lost the case and was unable to prevent the Israeli authorities from occupying part of the establishment.

However, Khadr emphasizes that the situation could have been much worse if the entire building had been confiscated, and he was pleased to have the support of Israeli intellectuals, who testified in his favor in court.

– “Fragile Manuscripts” –

Since this episode, the library has continued its commitment to preserving Jerusalem’s Arab cultural heritage through its restoration and digitization work, while benefiting from the support of local and international organizations.

“We work on the documents with a very high precision without exposing the paper to the light, because the manuscripts are very fragile, and we want to preserve them for as long as possible,” explains Shaimaa Al-Budeiri, head of the digital archives, from her office surrounded by hundreds of books and materials.

She brushes the pages before flattening them out for taking photos and downloading them to her computer. To date, he has photographed approximately 2.5 million pages of manuscripts, journals, rare books, and other documents from four private libraries in Jerusalem.

She points out that digitization is essential so that researchers can access library archives from afar.

The library hopes to secure more funding to purchase expensive supplies and equipment such as acid-free storage boxes, and to upgrade the workshop, which is too damp to work with such delicate paper.

Mrs. Buderi does this work because of her love for books.

“If I see someone holding a book badly, I feel like the book is getting spoiled,” she says with a sigh. “The book gives you things, doesn’t take anything away from you.”