Land, Life, and Liberation: Israeli Colonial Ecocide and the Rise of Palestinian Eco-resistance

In Palestine, Israeli settler colonial practices transcend physical upheaval, dispossession, and wreckage; they encompass ecological alterations. Not only is nature demolished, but it is also purposefully altered to fit Zionism’s colonial intentions. In this context, this thesis investigates the interconnections among land, life, and liberation into the larger frame of settler colonialism in Israel and the ecological dimensions, foregrounding Palestinian eco-resistance as a critical mode of anti-colonial struggle. Through a lens of political ecology, this research examines different Zionist strategies of environmental domination in order to erase Indigenous presence. Within this research, the destruction of traditional agricultural practices and the targeting of cultural symbols is framed as ecocide—an intentional obliteration of ecological and cultural lifeways. Case studies of Al-Khader and Masafer Yatta, both areas in the West Bank of Palestine, illustrate the profound and ongoing impacts of settler policies on Palestinian agricultural systems and communities, where land reclamation emerges as both a survival strategy and an act of defiance. Therefore, this thesis also delves into Palestinian eco-resistance as philosophies of care and resilience. It demonstrates ecological liberation forms such as agroecology and the adoption of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices in Masafer Yatta as methods deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge and collective action. This research thus creates a connection between local struggles in Palestine and movements around the world for environmental justice, thereby placing Palestinian eco-resistance within the much broader anti-colonial and decolonial frameworks. At its heart, this thesis contends that the Palestinian landscape is not a passive victim of settler colonialism; rather, it is an active site of its memory, resistance, and reclamation. Therefore, amid the scarce scholarly attention to this perspective, this thesis hopes to contribute through this lens of nature in Palestine as both a witness and a participant in the enduring struggle for liberation and justice.