Welcome to Palestine Nexus

Altogether, Israel expelled 300,000 Palestinians and 130,000 Syrians from their homes, leveling 131 Syrian villages and destroying 30 Palestinian villages, hamlets, herding communities, and refugee camps in whole or part (1, 2, 3). Israel wanted the land it conquered, just not the people living on it, the core principle of the Zionist movement.

In Masaffer Yatta, each month brings new demolitions: homes, wells and sheep enclosures. We are left with few choices: to leave, to demolish our homes, or simply wait. Even when our villages are not destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, they are attacked by settlers who set fires, steal cars and take over our towns.

Many words in Palestinian Arabic carry additional meaning, owing to history, culture and politics.

Greater Israel is not just the idea that Israel has no borders or that Israel’s borders should be in a state of forever expansion, but also that Israel should dominate the countries beyond its borders. This is a brief history of Greater Israel, 1948-present.