Several Palestinian historic sites in Sebastia town and its environs in Nablus suffer from negligence by the official authorities Judaization attempts by Israel and looting by antiquities thieves and dealers.
As someone arrives in downtown Sebastia where modernity is mixed with history he or she can easily see the town hall overlooking the outstanding Nabi Yahya Mosque and the Sebastia Museum.
Sebastia is a mixture of structural remains and modern buildings and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the West Bank.
It was once a major city home to successive civilizations from its Canaanite founders to the Romans and then its modern-day Palestinian inhabitants.
Both the major archaeological site above the village and the historic center of the town itself are still fascinating tourist attractions.
However this unique ancient town is exposed to systematic attempts by Israel and its ministry of tourism to obliterate and Judaize its Palestinian history and identity.
According to town chief Mohamed Azem Israel prevents the Palestinian local authorities from carrying out any restoration or cleaning works at the historical sites.
Every once in a while groups of Jewish settlers escorted by soldiers provocatively storm the main archaeological site of the town in broad daylight to perform religious rituals as part of an Israeli attempt to claim it as a Jewish shrine.
At nighttime the site becomes vulnerable to acts of sabotage and plundering from settlers and thieves.
In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) Azem has appealed to the Palestinian ministry of tourism to assume its responsibilities in this regard and take serious action to provide protection for the historical sites of Sebastia
Official Palestinian institutions have tried to include Sebastia and its archaeological monuments on UNESCO’s World Heritage List to protect them from the risk of Judaization and seizure and to encourage tourists to visit the sites.
