Exhibition canceled: Germany won't guarantee return of DSS to Israel

WELL, THAT'S AWKWARD: ISRAEL PULLS OUT OF DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBIT IN GERMANY. Frankfurt museum couldn’t guarantee scrolls’ return if claimed by Palestinians or Jordanians (BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JTA/Jerusalem Post).

Israel has pulled out of a planned exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Frankfurt because the German government would not guarantee their return if claimed by Palestinians or Jordanians.

The Frankfurt Bible Museum announced that it has canceled the exhibit which was scheduled for a September 2019 opening. Its director, Jürgen Schefzyk, said he regretted the German government’s decision, adding that neither Holland nor Austria would have hesitated to issue general immunity guarantees.

According to German news reports, the government guarantee would have blocked Palestinian or Jordanian authorities from contesting the provenance of the scrolls, which are among the oldest known texts related to the Hebrew Bible.

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The deputy mayor of Frankfurt is not pleased with the German government.

Some past PaleoJudaica posts that bear on this subject are here and links.

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