Archaeology, Apartheid, and War

This week we are joined by Nelly Abboud and a member of the collective Archaeologists Against Apartheid, to discuss the ongoing destruction of cultural heritage in Lebanon and Palestine by Israeli forces. We dive into the colonialist and imperialist roots of archaeology as a discipline, the ways in which Zionists have mobilized archaeology to legitimize settler-colonialist agendas, the effectiveness of UNESCO World Heritage designations, and whether archaeology can become a tool of decolonial liberation. Nelly P. Abboud is a Lebanese archaeologist and museum educator. She is founder of Museolab, an organization promoting cultural heritage preservation through experiential learning methods. Her research interests include museum education, collective memory, cultural heritage protection, illicit traffic, community engagement, and post-conflict heritage documentation in Lebanon. Our second guest, “S”, is a member of the collective Archaeologists Against Apartheid, which is a decentralized and international organization of archaeologists and heritage professionals committed to exposing and combating the intersections of archaeology, apartheid, and genocide. Additional Resources: Alfred, Taiaiake. 2023. It’s All About the Land: Collected Talks and Interviews on Indigenous Resurgence. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.El-Haj, Nadia Abu. 2001. Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Albanese, Francesca. 2025. “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide – (A/HRC/59/23) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.”See Nelly’s Everyday Orientalism post on UNESCO and the Lebanese sites added to the enhanced protections list.For more information on the Save Sebastia movement: https://www.instagram.com/savesebastia/The Everyday Orientalism Podcast explores how Orientalism continues to have deep ramifications in our everyday lives, for how we think about settler-colonialism, liberation, and how empire and capitalism continue to exploit and dehumanize the majority of us. Defined by Palestinian American literary scholar Edward Said, Orientalism is “a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.” Our podcast celebrates the 10th anniversary of the platform Everyday Orientalism.Host: Girish DaswaniEditor and producer: Taylor StarkResearch assistant: Sophie PlotkinIntro music: Madame Salame – Decaf