U.S. and Canadian archivists launched a project to help Israel and the Palestinians preserve their archives.
Allen Weinstein, the archivist of the United States, and Ian Wilson, his Canadian counterpart, traveled to Israel and the West Bank earlier this year to meet with officials of the Israel State Archives and the Palestine National Archives.
“The purpose of these meetings was to discuss projects that would assist in the digitization of paper records of both Israel and Palestine that would ultimately document the joint heritage of people in the region,” said a statement released Thursday. “They are also working with both institutions to develop archival training programs for their staff, and have received enthusiastic support from” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “and the State Department for these projects.”
The announcement was made in conjunction with the launch of a joint U.S.-Canada exhibit on the Treaty of Paris, the 1783 agreement that ended the Revolutionary War and divided North America into the United States and the British-held colonies that would become Canada.
