A model of the Palestinian Museum. Photo: thepalestinianmuseum.org.

Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday joined a ceremony to lay the cornerstone for a new museum of “Palestinian culture, history and society”  in Birzeit near Ramallah.

“The museum will not only be for Palestinians but will reach out to the whole world through an advanced digital network,” project manager Omar al-Qattan said as ground was broken on the new venture.

“It will be more than a traditional building with archaeological relics. We are looking at an institution that will transcend all boundaries — geographical and political,” he added.

In a video celebrating the museum’s launch the claim is made that Palestine was home to “one of the most infuential [sic] cultures the world has ever seen” but that the fabric of the nation was torn apart by “dispossession” and “forced exile” in the 20th century.

Anonymous blogger Elder of Ziyon points out that this questionable version of history, which tries to “erase or marginalize the culture of a real nation that has existed for thousands of years” will be housed in a museum built with Western funds.

“When museums are built in the rest of the world, they are funded by private donors and foundations, with perhaps the aid of local government,” he writes.

The major funder is called “The Welfare Association” and its money comes from “the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, World Bank, EU, Islamic Development Bank, Arab Monetary Fund, Kuwait Fund, AGFUND, Ford Foundation, and the governments of Austria, Canada, France, Italy, and Switzerland, among others.”

Watch  a video about the museum below:

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