Jerusalem: Israeli authorities confiscate antiques from Palestinian family shop

A chilling sight - image: Maan

An antique shop run by a Palestinian family in Jerusalem, which will be have been visited by many foreign pilgrims through the years, has been raided by Israeli authorities who confiscated many items.

Israeli forces on Sunday morning raided a Palestinian-owned antiquity shop in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City and confiscated a large number of antiquities, the owner told Ma'an news service. Nabil al-Huroub said Israeli police and border guard officers along with inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) stormed his shop on al-Wad Street in the Old City "without prior notice" and started seizing antiquities. An IAA employee moving the items told him that al-Huroub is accused of trading antiquities without a license. However, al-Huroub insisted to Ma'an that his shop, which he has been operating with his family since the 1970s, has all the necessary documents and licenses from the IAA and the tax authority and has "sent the photos they (Israel) requested and paid taxes regularly every year."

Al-Huroub highlighted that some of the antiquities in his shop are about 4,000 years old including pottery, stones, glass works, coins, and other from the Canaanite, Byzantine, and Islamic eras, with the most valuable piece reaching a total value in the millions of dollars.

Read the full report in Maann News: www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=772181