Rafah Museum

The Rafah Museum was established in December 2022 in the south of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. It was founded by Dr. Laila Shaheen, an academic who holds a doctorate in educational studies from the Arab Research Institute of the League of Arab States in Cairo and a doctorate in arts education technology from Helwan University in Egypt, at her own expense. To simulate the permanence of survival in the face of the storms of displacement, normalization and Judaization. Openings, exhibitions, and heritage celebrations are held at the museum to commemorate Palestinian occasions, such as Earth Day and International Women’s Day.

Contents

The museum contains 200 heritage items, 24 mannequins, old documents from court records and other historical papers of the people and their property, collections of clothes and dresses with different beautiful designs, heritage tools, decorations and embroideries related to Palestinian heritage and everything related to old agricultural tools such as "shadouf, sickle, plow, sieve and gafa", and a brass corner.

The museum also contains rare gemstones, old Palestinian passports before the Israeli occupation, old Palestinian postage stamps, original and illustrated documents about ancient Palestine, Palestinian women's headdresses of various shapes, different types of baskets, and a mummified sieve that may be more than 150 years old.

Destruction

"No tree, no stone, no human being, no animal, no heritage is safe here, the treasures of my life and my toil, the dresses, precious stones, old coins, documents, the treasures of my life are gone. This is our condition, this is the condition of the Palestinian people, God help us," Shahin said after the Israeli Air Force bombed the museum in response to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.