Discussion Question: What, to settler colonialism, is land?
Watch Forensic Architecture’s “Return to Ma’in” (approximately 30 minutes)
- While watching the 30-minute video, take notes on what you notice: what has been destroyed? What was put in its place? What forms of erasure stand out? What does the project of reconstructing a video model of the destroyed village Ma’in demonstrate about the process of settler colonialism?
- What is the impact of settler colonialism on Palestinians? How do Palestinians experience settler colonialism, both in the past and in the present?
- What does it mean to have the “right of return”? [brief context about who has it/ how it is bestowed or denied and a follow up question for discussion]
Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian agricultural practices, traditions, and land is a form of ecocide that enacts violent settler colonialism. Watch Forensic Architecture’s 7-minute video “no Traces of Life” documenting the destruction of Abu Sittah’s farm in Gaza, and demonstrating it to be an intentional project of the settler colonialism, accelerated by the 2023-present genocide. Consult Visualizing Palestine’s “green colonialism” graphic for more details about how the widespread practice of ecocide plays out, and how they disguise themselves as environmentally “friendly” policies.
