Report: Israel attempts to erase Palestinian memory by demolishing martyrs' monuments in the West Bank
Israel is expanding its targeting of memorial monuments bearing the names of Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank, with its forces demolishing a monument at Birzeit University, another in the town of Ya'bad, a third in the village of Abu Falah, and a fourth in the Jalazone refugee camp, a step that Palestinian experts see as an attempt to strike national memory.
Israel is expanding its targeting of memorial monuments bearing the names of Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank, a step that Palestinian experts see as an attempt to strike national memory and affect consciousness and belonging. On October 5, Israeli forces demolished a monument inside Birzeit University north of Ramallah that bore the names of students who were martyred in Israeli attacks over the years. On the 7th of the same month, they destroyed a monument in the town of Ya'bad southwest of Jenin for Palestinian Yasser Diab Hamdouni, one of the martyrs of the prisoner movement in Israeli prisons, who died in 2016 at Soroka Hospital as a result of 'the crime of medical negligence' according to data from the Palestinian Prisoner's Club. This coincided with the removal of images of Palestinians who were martyred in Israeli attacks from various locations in Jenin by occupation army forces, preceded two days earlier by notices to demolish signs and monuments. On October 12, the army demolished a monument bearing the names of Palestinian martyrs in the village of Abu Falah northeast of Ramallah, and another monument on the 14th of the same month in the Jalazone refugee camp north of the city. The Israeli channel i24 News reported on October 7 that the army began demolition operations during the night hours.