Thursday, August 20, 2009

MORE ON THE WAC CONFERENCE CONTROVERSY in Nature:
Uproar over Palestinian archaeology congress

Dearth of Israeli researchers attending provokes accusations of bias.


Haim Watzman
Hisham's palaceHisham's palace is one of many important archaeological sites in the West Bank.Wikimedia Commons

A row has broken out between scholars over an international conference held last week on the relationship between the archaeology, heritage and politics of the West Bank and its surrounding regions.

Senior Israeli archaeologists have accused conference organizers of including only speakers who presented Palestinian points of view. But Claire Smith, president of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC), the organization that sponsored the conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, says Israelis were not deliberately excluded.

[...]
Seems to be a good summary of the current state of the dispute.

Background here.