Khirbet Zanuta: A village resisting zionist erasure

Over the past 365 days, the Israeli state has carried out 552 military operations across Jerusalem and the West Bank alone, destroying some 1,776 structures and displacing 4,505 Palestinians — displacing an average of 12 Palestinians a day.

Children represent the largest displaced demographic, with 1,897 children left homeless over the past year, followed by 1,343 males and 1,299 women. Children in particular, are disproportionately impacted by demolitions.

The last 30 days show a decrease in intensity compared to longer-term averages: The yearly average is 1.51 operations per day, displacing about 12 people, whereas the last month saw 1.07 operations daily, displacing approximately three people per day. This trend correlates to the movement of military resources from demolition operations to the attempted invasion of Lebanon rather than any sort of policy shift away from the methodical erasure of Palestinians from their ancestral lands. Given the constant, ongoing bureaucratic process of demolishing homes, we can see how the 90-day data reveals heightened demolition activity, with daily displacement averaging 17.44 people — notably higher than the yearly average.

These raw numbers, while critical to understanding trends of Israel's methods of indigenous erasure, tend to obscure the way the demolition of a home is a singular, traumatic moment within a larger violent process of systematic erasure. In Israel and afar, official government bodies and quasi-governmental entities work day in and day out to facilitate and support the displacement of the native population in Palestine in favor of capitalist expansion. The state’s treatment of the Palestinian community of Zanuta highlights zionism's machinations of settler-colonialism.

After enduring nearly a year of forced displacement due to violent settler attacks, the residents of Khirbet Zanuta in the occupied West Bank have returned, only to find their village in ruins. Though allowed back by an Israeli court order, it is mostly a symbolic move: The village residents must navigate a settler bureaucracy explicitly designed to displace them from their land and resources. Under the existing regime, they are explicitly denied permission to reconstruct their homes on their historical lands. As such, the critical village structures, including houses, livestock facilities, and even the local school, lie demolished, leaving families without proper shelter, water, insufficient power and no real legal remedies to rebuild their village. Additionally, the community is still vulnerable to zionist paramilitary formations that operate with impunity — the same armed units that attack Palestinians across historical Palestine regularly and with impunity.

These quasi-governmental military units carried out attacks on Khirbet Zanuta, located south of Hebron in the southern West Bank, on October 12, 21, and 26 in 2023. Following armed threats from Israeli settlers, 24 Palestinian families totaling 141 people, half of whom are children, were forced out of their homes. On October 28, 2023, these families dismantled around 50 residential and animal structures, vacating the area with their 5,000 livestock.

Abu Khaled, a 43-year-old resident, shared the trauma of this experience: “On October 26, settlers attacked us, destroying homes, water tanks, solar panels, and cars. I felt death’s presence. I left everything behind to protect my children.”

This small Palestinian shepherding community in the southwestern Hebron Hills has faced a long battle to protect its homes and structures from demolition by Israeli authorities. Historically residing in caves enhanced with stone entrances, the village residents began constructing stone and temporary structures in the 1980s. The village, which includes an ancient mosque and an archaeological site recognized since the British Mandate, has been denied development by the Israeli state, making it impossible for residents to obtain building permits.

In 2007, Israel's Civil Administration issued demolition orders for most of the village structures, citing the lack of permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain: Israel only issues building permits to approximately 3% of the applicants living in the West Bank — and this number is an increase from previous years. The community of Khirbet Zanuta filed a petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice to challenge these orders on behalf of the villagers. This led to an interim injunction against demolitions, which was expanded in 2012 to cover additional homes, cisterns, and livestock pens.

In 2012, the court instructed the state to propose a solution for the community. In 2013, the state suggested relocating the village to Area A, near ad-Dhahiriya, to consolidate indigenous Palestinian communities into small ethnic enclaves. The community opposed this plan. Between 2014 and 2017, the court held multiple hearings, with the state affirming its unwillingness to allow the village to remain in its current location. Finally, in 2017, the court dismissed the petition but held off on implementing demolition orders while the state developed new planning criteria.

Without access to educational facilities, the community's residents went forth with the help of a humanitarian organization to construct a primary school for 33 children, which was completed on March 25, 2018. The Civil Administration demolished the school on April 9, 2018. The school did not last a month under Israel’s regime of indigenous elimination.

The ongoing legal battles to obtain explicit permission to rebuild, leaving entire families without sustainable shelter, dependent on the open air and aid agencies, highlight how Israel’s colonial courts provide a veneer of liberalism while depriving Palestinians of any real recourse to justice and draining their resources through legal fees and protracted cases. While Palestinians are prevented from building any sustainable resources for themselves on their own historical lands, Israeli bureaucracy keeps communities trapped in this cycle of physical violence through the destruction of resources, and systemic violence through the laws and policies applied in court rooms they must have permits to access.

This is why we emphasize the importance of dismantlement, rather than reform, of zionism and the colonial policies it has created and applied. There is no justice for Palestinians through the “reform” of a system built on the elimination of native and resource theft. Palestinians deserve return, reparations, and self-determination — all things that are completely outlawed under the current regime as Palestinians have neither control over the policies that control their lives, nor access to courts that represent their interests.

Demolition Report

October 28, 2024 | West Bank, Area A, Tulkarm

Israeli colonial forces raided Tulkarm's as-Salam neighborhood and advanced into the community with gunfire and deploying Energa anti-tank grenades, setting fire to a building. The invasion forcibly displaced four residential apartments and caused partial damage to five nearby houses. 23 people were left homeless after the attack.

October 20, 2024 | East Jerusalem, Jabal al Mukabbir

A Palestinian family was forced to demolish their 50 m² rooftop residential unit in Jabal al Mukabbir, leaving a small family homeless and without legal remedies to build on their own property.

October 19, 2024 | West Bank, Area C, Al Farisiya-Nab'a al Ghazal

The Israeli Civil Administration and occupation forces, accompanied by Israeli settlement council representatives, demolished and confiscated three structures in Al Farisiya-Nab'a al Ghazal. Two households, comprising ten people (including six children), were forcibly displaced. The forces dismantled animal shelters constructed with metal poles and plastic sheets, confiscating materials and a family-owned truck — leaving the community nearly destitute. The head of the household was handcuffed and forced to drive the confiscated items to a nearby Israeli military base.

October 18, 2024 | East Jerusalem, Al Walaja

In Al Walaja, a Palestinian man dismantled a donor-funded residential caravan after receiving verbal and written orders from the Israeli Jerusalem municipality and the Ministry of Interior. The caravan, initially provided by an NGO in response to a previous demolition, was dismantled to avoid the fines that would be imposed if the municipality carried out the demolition. The targeting of international aid projects across Palestine continues to be a priority of the broader settler movement.

October 17, 2024 | East Jerusalem, Sur Bahir

A Palestinian family self-demolished their 80 m² residential house in Sur Bahir due to lack of an Israeli-issued building permit — which, by design, Palestinians are denied. The demolition displaced six people, including three children. Constructed in 2000, the family has faced legal battles over the years, resulting in court fines of over 100,000 NIS. A final demolition order was issued, with daily threats from the municipality, leading to the family’s decision to self-demolish to avoid additional fines of over 120,000 NIS.

Important conversations

Here is list of helpful podcasts that help advance understanding of colonialism, processes of decolonization and principles of organizing for justice.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day vs. Empire

The Red Nation marks Indigenous Peoples' Day 2024 with an online discussion moderated by Red Power Hour's Melanie Yazzie

October Seventh Fourteen Ninety Two / Mohamed Abdou

Dr. Mohamed Abdou joins discusses Al-Aqsa Flood, the US-Israel genocide in Gaza, and decolonization as “a world of many belows,” sharing his experiences facing threats at Columbia University’s Palestine solidarity encampment.

On The Ground In Gaza: Service as Solidarity

An important discussion with medical staff who served on the ground in Gaza.