| dc.description.abstract | The struggle for recognition and sovereignty for Palestinians has been marked by Israel’s systematic erasure of Palestinian identity and history. From the Nakba (Catastrophe in Arabic) in 1948 to present-day policies, Israel has pursued expansion while actively suppressing Palestinian existence and erasing heritage. This erasure is evident in various forms, including military occupation, settlement expansion, and cultural appropriation. Through the Hebraization of names and landscapes, Israel continues to assert its dominance and hegemony in efforts to erase the Palestinians.
This thesis explores how Palestinians assert their Right to Place and claims of citizenship amidst Israel's ongoing efforts of erasure and dispossession. I gathered insights from informal conversations across historic Palestine through a qualitative study. Palestinians employ strategies of resistance, such as weapons of the weak, like sumud (steadfastness), the names of children, street art, and social media activism, to reclaim their narrative and preserve their history. Despite facing restrictions on movement and citizenship classifications, Palestinians continue to resist through everyday acts of defiance.
This research examines the concept of the Right to Place and highlights the importance of space in the Palestinian struggle against cultural erasure. Employing Lefebvre's framework, it analyzes power dynamics and resistance strategies within the context of space and settler colonialism.
The findings in this thesis underscore the ongoing discussions on Palestinian agency and the struggle for self-determination through a nuanced understanding of resistance methods. Using original fieldwork from Palestine from the Summer of 2023, I aim to shed light on the multifaceted nature of resistance against cultural erasure, indigenous erasure, and settler colonialism in Palestine. | en_US |
