Summary
Qumsiyeh’s term, adopted by Asmaa Abu Mezied, for the systematic destruction of Palestine’s local fauna, flora and native trees alongside the 1948 displacement of its people, and its continuation as a standing policy of ecological erasure (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.83-84).
Details
- In 1948 Qada Gaza lost forty-five villages and the city of Al-Majdal, its citrus falling from 22,000 to 4,000 dunum and cereals from one million to 17,000 dunum, while native oak, hawthorn and olive were replaced with fast-growing European pine (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.84).
- Abu Mezied extends the term to preservation used as expropriation (some 576,491 West Bank dunum designated natural reserves in 2015, half inside settlements and closed military areas), tree uprooting, buffer-zone destruction and the damming and pollution of Wadi Gaza (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.84, p.93-95).
Related pages
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, Asmaa Abu Mezied, Nakba, Place attachment