Bosnian museum donates Haggadah proceeds to Palestine aid
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Bosnia’s National Museum links cultural heritage to conscience, redirecting funds from a historic Jewish manuscript to aid Palestinians amid Israeli genocide in Gaza.
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In this file photo taken on Wednesday, March 31, 2010, the original book of the Sarajevo Haggadah, displayed at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, Bosnia (AP)
The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has announced that proceeds from its latest publication on the famed Sarajevo Haggadah will be directed toward Palestinian humanitarian causes, in a pointed protest against "Israel’s" ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Revenue generated from the sale of Sarajevo Haggadah, Art and History, along with ticket income from public viewings of the manuscript, will be used to “provide support to the people of Palestine who suffer systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel, and indirectly by all those who support and/or justify it in its shameless actions,” the museum stated on its website.
Wider context
The Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the world’s oldest and most treasured illuminated Jewish manuscripts, originating from 14th-century Spain. It has long been a centerpiece of the museum’s collection, with its estimated insurance value reaching $7 million during the Bosnian War in 1992.
While the museum’s move is largely symbolic in financial terms, it marks a broader shift in public sentiment across Bosnia and Herzegovina, where vocal pro-Palestinian solidarity has surged in recent months amid mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.
Last month, the Gaza Tribunal, an independent people's tribunal formed as a humanitarian and moral initiative to investigate "Israel's" continuing war crimes in Gaza, convened its inaugural public session in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The discussions addressed multiple critical issues, such as settler-colonial genocide, the legal frameworks of genocide, the realities of apartheid, the forced displacement of populations, the safeguarding of civilian lives, the systemic failures within the UN, and the increasing criminalization of protest movements.
In a related development, Sarajevo was slated to host a major gathering of European rabbis in June, but the event was canceled following public outcry. A local official had warned that holding the meeting could be interpreted as “a message of legitimization of the occupation and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people.”
