A Forced Anachronism

Abstract

On the road between Hebron and Bethlehem, there exists a cluster of Israeli settlements called Gosh Etzion. This photograph captures its southwestern side. The pictured house is inhabited by an Arab family that refused to sell their house, move away, and let their land be absorbed by the settlement. As a result of their act of refusal, this family was denied the right to renovate their house and is forced to keep it run-down—a common Israeli policy used to obtain Arab homes. The house, a Palestinian remnant of the territory upon which this settlement was established, stands in stark distinction from the modern Israeli houses behind it. It seems out of time and place as a result of the colonial practices that corrupt native histories and presence. My research discusses anti-colonial refusal and land-based belonging as central to native struggles and sense of identity. “Indigenous refusal,” as theorized by Mohawk anthropologist Audra Simpson, describes native acts that reject the settler nation-state and its empty promises for inclusion. This settlement is incapable of truly including an Arab home. Its wired fence cuts through this unwanted house and furthers its discordance. But despite all such penalization, its inhabitants chose to stay.​