Managing Heritage in a War Zone

Threats to the rich Palestinian cultural heritage are many and diverse. They are quite serious and hard to deal with. Some of them, such as illegal digging and the antiquities trade, are the result of a mixture of past colonial history and internal and self-inflicted problems, while the Israeli Separation Wall, direct military and settlement activities are present-day external threats. Up to this very day, they are devastating the country’s heritage, and nothing has thus far been done to confront them. The present paper intends to discuss those threats and suggests ways to confront them.

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Résumé  Les menaces mettant en péril le riche héritage culturel Palestinien sont nombreuses et variées. Elles sont très sérieuses et d’un abord difficile. Certaines d’entre-elles, comme l’excavation illégale et le commerce des antiquités, sont le résultat d’un amalgame entre l’histoire post-colonialiste et de problèmes issus des Palestiniens eux-mêmes. Le mur dressé par les Israélien, les interventions militaires et les activités d’implantation dans les territoires occupés constituent actuellement des menaces. Jusqu’à ce jour, ils sont entrain de dévaster l’héritage du pays, et rien n’a été fait pour les confronter. Cet article a pour objectif de discuter de ces menaces et suggère des moyens de les confronter.

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Resumen  Las amenazas que acechan al rico patrimonio cultural de Palestina son muchas y muy variadas. Son, además, bastante graves y difíciles de combatir. Algunas de ellas, como la excavación ilegal y el comercio de antigüedades, se deben en parte a la historia colonial y a problemas autoinflingidos, mientras que el muro de separación israelí y las actividades militares y coloniales directas son las amenazas externas de la actualidad. Hasta hoy, han estado destruyendo el patrimonio del país y nada se ha hecho para evitarlo. En este trabajo se pretende analizar estas amenazas y sugerir medios para combatirlas.

     

The Exotic Portrayal of Women in Isabella Bird Bishop's Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan

Isabella Bird Bishop's Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan is presented as an objective picture of Persia, purportedly reflecting eye-witness accounts. Setting the narrative in its historical context and employing the concept of exoticism, this paper aims to unearth its subtle imperialist underpinnings. It argues that Bird's portrayal of Persian women and their mores and manners as exotic is an effect of a mode of representation which depicts and constructs difference based on a British-oriented system of evaluation, in line with its imperialist interest in Persia. As such, the exotic representation of Persian women in need of British benign tutelage and a chivalric mission could be interpreted as lending implicit support to Britain's colonial intervention in and imposition on Persia.     

Developing a documentation system for desert palaces in Jordan using 3D laser scanning and digital photogrammetry

Desert palaces in Jordan are unique pieces of art scattered in the desert as standing symbols of ancient civilizations. Due to their location, these palaces witness different environmental conditions which affect their status and sustainability. This raises the need to have a 3D documentation system reporting all spatial information for each palace, which can be used later for monitoring purposes. Digital photogrammetry is a generally accepted technique for the collection of 3D representations of the environment. For this reason, this image-based technique has been extensively used to produce high quality 3D models of heritage sites and historical buildings for documentation and presentation purposes. Additionally, terrestrial laser scanners are used, which directly measure 3D surface coordinates based on the run-time of reflected light pulses. These systems feature high data acquisition rates, good accuracy and high spatial data density. Despite the potential of each single approach, in our opinion, maximum benefit is to be expected by a combination of data from both digital cameras and terrestrial laser scanners. By these means the efficiency of data collection as well as the geometric accuracy and visual quality of the collected textured 3D models can be optimized. Within the paper, a 3D documentation system for Umayyad desert palaces in the Jordan desert will be presented using digital photogrammetry and laser scanning. The approach is demonstrated by generating high realistic 3D textured models for Amra and Kharanah palaces.     

BIMSTEC and emerging patterns of Asian regional and interregional cooperation

The first phase of India's Look East Policy in 1991 was exploratory in nature and tinged with more idealism and optimism to break out of the South Asian region which was stagnating in economic growth. The second phase of India's Look East policy took stock of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 to 1998 and China's growing linkages with the Southeast Asian region. In 1997, mainly through the diligence of Thailand, a new grouping that could act as a bridge between Southeast and South Asia was established called BIMSTEC. The objective of the paper will be to argue that BIMSTEC balances India's engagement with Southeast and South Asia but it also counters China's growing influence among ASEAN members, in particular Myanmar. Thailand is the driving force behind BIMSTEC activities as this would enhance its trade hub status and engagement policy with Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam (CMLV) states.     

A Visa Story from Palestine

Palestinians are subject to special difficulties when applying for a visa: the ban imposed by the Israeli military authorities on Palestinians entering Israel and traveling via Bin Gurion airport is compounded by the obligation of Palestinians who need to travel abroad to fly via Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. Since September 11th the author and many of his colleagues have experienced overwhelming difficulties in securing visas to travel abroad to attend the smallest activity. Harsh and restrictive visa policies are playing into the hands of extremists on both sides. It is the responsibility of colleagues in countries that are implementing these restrictions to pressure their governments to change those policies.