This essay addresses the imminent transfer of the library, British Mandate Archives and potential continued movement of antiquities from the Rockefeller Museum to sites in West Jerusalem. It further addresses the recent Israel Supreme Court ruling which challenges international law governing institutions in the Occupied Territories and allows the Israel Antiquities Authority and Israeli museum officials to move the museum's collections to West Jerusalem. The focus of this article places the Rockefeller and its collections in historical context as the major antiquities museum of Palestine, based previously in two other buildings in East Jerusalem now considered by international law to be in the Occupied Territories.
Emek Shaveh, an Israeli organization with the stated mission “to prevent the politicization of archaeology in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” issued this statement with respect to an action they brought before the Supreme Court of Israel. The High Court's final decision held that...
