Palestinians have laid the groundstone at Birzeit University, near Ramallah on the West Bank, in a ceremony hosted by the Welfare Association with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the guest of honor for the world’s largest museum devoted to their history.
The museum’s campus will cover 40 dunums (40,000 m2 ) of land adjacent to Birzeit University. A series of thematic gardens will flank the museum building to one side and cover the cascading terraces. These gardens will showcase trees, plants, flowers, and herbs that are native to Palestine and the region.
Director Jack Persekian says the multimillion dollar museum will be an inclusive space that will tell the diverse stories of Palestinians on their land and the millions who live in exile. Persekian says the $15 million first phase will take about two years to build and cover 3,000 square meters, or 32,000 square feet, of space. The project is being funded by a nonprofit development group backed by prominent philanthropists called “The Welfare Association.”