Palestine: Court ruling shows Israel’s ongoing cultural erasure
Residents of Masafer Yatta, a cluster of Palestinian villages in the south of the occupied West Bank, are appealing for urgent international intervention after an Israeli court approved the demolition of their main community hub, reported by Middle East Eye on the 11th of October. The ruling, campaigners say, underscores how Israel’s policies in the West Bank continue to erase Palestinian life and culture.
Although the ceasefire has temporarily paused the current phase of Israels genocide in Gaza, this example in Masafer Yatta highlights the ongoing elimination of Palestinian history and culture, which constitutes a broader state level strategy to erase and replace the indigeneity of Palestinians by the Israeli settler colonial regime.
On 29 September, the Jerusalem District Court rejected an appeal against a demolition order for the Youth of Sumud (YOS) Centre in the village of At-Tuwani, issued two years earlier. The centre has long been a focal point for community organising, international solidarity, and pro-Palestinian advocacy. It also features in the acclaimed and censored documentary No Other Land, co-directed by local journalist and activist Basel Adra, which documents life under occupation in Masafer Yatta.
According to Sami Huraini, YOS coordinator and member of a family that has owned the land for generations, the ruling relied on a claim that the building was constructed without consulting Israel’s Archaeology Commission. “They always have different excuses for the demolition,” Huraini told Middle East Eye. “This time they claim we destroyed an archaeological site, which is a big lie.” He said Israeli authorities provided no proof of any such damage.
State sanctioned actions such as this represents the ongoing destruction of Palestinian culture and history, which has been a cornerstone policy of settler colonial regimes throughout History. Just as it were in Australia, Canada, the United States and elsewhere across the world, the aim of the Israeli settler colonial regime is to eliminate the indigenous people, not just through violent means, but through the destruction of language, history and cultural identity.
For Huraini and other residents, the accusation reflects a broader Israeli tactic: using archaeological and “heritage” justifications to seize Palestinian land. In 2023, Israel’s far-right government transferred control over heritage and antiquities sites in Area B of the West Bank to the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA), a body under the authority of minister Bezalel Smotrich. This shift gave Israeli authorities expanded power to halt construction, restrict development, and carry out demolitions across the occupied territory.
Masafer Yatta lies within Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control. The region was declared a military training zone in the 1980s, and since then hundreds of Palestinians have faced demolitions, displacement, violence and restrictions to their freedom of movement. Despite international attention following the No Other Land documentary, demolitions continue weekly.
While a ceasefire has brought a fragile pause to the genocide of Gaza, actions like the demolition order in Masafer Yatta reveal the broader and ongoing nature of Israel’s erasure of Palestinian existence. The destruction of community spaces, homes, and heritage sites represents a concerted effort to eliminate not just Palestinian lives but their culture and historical presence.
“Israel is able to do this because no one in the world will tell them to stop,” Huraini said. Still, he believes that global solidarity can make a difference. “Masafer Yatta became more known and more heard,” he added. “We should build on that and continue to work on that, we hope more people will act.”
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi
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