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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mori Ram
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
In recent years, the common analytical framework used to understand the situation in Palestine/Israel is that of settler colonialism, in which the basic urge of the colonizers is to expand and settle. Accordingly, we suggest that the current moment in Palestine/Israel seems less like a race to settle and to build homes on the expanse of the Other and more like a movement towards unsettling and destroying the other's home as much as possible. We examine in this short commentary the relationship between settler colonialism and domicide – the systematic and intentional destruction of houses and living environments. Settler colonialism supposedly emphasizes the act of settlement: an organized expansion enabled through constant expulsion and exclusion of the colonized people from its territory. The destruction of the indigenous domestic environment and sense of being at home is thus contextualized as an interim stage preceding the construction of homes for the settlers. However, ruination, particularly that of houses and living environments, is inherent to settler colonialism, not just as a tool but as a fundamental part of the settler-colonial regime's logic. In other words, unsettling the natives is no less important than settling the settlers.
Author(s): Ram M, Handel A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Political Geography
Year: 2024
Volume: 114
Print publication date: 01/10/2024
Online publication date: 07/08/2024
Acceptance date: 29/07/2024
Date deposited: 07/08/2024
ISSN (print): 0962-6298
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5096
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103179
DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103179
Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.
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