Israel Forced to Cancel Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit due to Palestinian Claim

Israel will not go ahead with its planned exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Frankfurt, Germany because the German government has said it cannot guarantee that the scrolls will be returned if the Palestinians or Jordanians claim them.

The Frankfurt Bible Museum said it would cancel the exhibit, which was slated to open in September 2019.

“Because of the unwillingness of both ministries to give the necessary declaration, as Qumran lies in today’s West Bank, the Israel Antiques Authority is not letting the material out of the country and the Bible Museum had to cancel its plans,” Uwe Becker, the deputy mayor of Frankfurt, told The Jerusalem Post.

Becker said he had sent letters to Culture and Media Minister Monika Grütters and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, asking them to support the exhibition.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority, that agency that oversees the archaeological heritage of the country, had worked with the Frankfurt museum to coordinate the exhibit.

Israel claims ownership and possession of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but Jordan and Palestine both also claim them and have demanded they be returned.

Each visit the Dead Sea Scrolls tour, Jordan and Palestine governments have demanded they be returned, but those claims are ignored.

Germany, however, said it couldn’t ignore those claims.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: December 4,2017