Silent Displacement in Occupied Palestine: Hebron as a case study

Abstract

This work seeks to illuminate the phenomenon of internal forced displacement in Palestine since 1967 by collecting and analysing the voices of displaced individuals and people vulnerable to displacement. The specific cases investigated are in Hebron city. The main reasons for selecting the subject of forced internal displacement, which I call “silent displacement”, are based on the nature of the phenomenon and the mechanisms of displacement. In contrast to the first displacement of Palestinians in 1948, the ongoing displacement in the Palestinian territories is not as apparent and it is, in many ways, silent and silenced. I discuss Israeli internal forced displacement policies by focusing on both their physical and non-physical aspects, including the imposition of checkpoints, settler attacks, deliberate killings, physical and psychological abuse of the population and the seizure of spaces and property by force. As well as using physical means to enforce its policy, Israel also implements a set of measures that affects the daily life of the population in this region, rendering Hebron and areas targeted for forced displacement as a ‘Death Zone’ where fear, fear of killings, and the destruction of space and property reign supreme. Drawing from semi-structured interviews, this research will also explore the survival strategies adopted by inhabitants of the city of Hebron exposed to internal forced displacement to counter Israel’s physical and silent uprooting policies. It will examine the tenacity of people to resist and remain in their homes and city, as well as cases where they were forced to flee. I will review the mechanisms and strategies adopted by Palestinians through what James Scott has termed forms of “everyday resistance” in order to show how Palestinians attempt to read Israeli policy, to interpret its consequences for their homes, city, and livelihood, and to develop mechanisms to resist and withstand it. This is all part and parcel of everyday life for Palestinians in Hebron.