At this session of our counter-narratives circle we will discuss two works by two authors covering the environmental dimension of the imperialist war on Palestine: environmental warfare, ecocide and fossil imperialism. Everyone attending should read both works beforehand, but it's OK if you don't manage to finish everything in time!

(1) The book Environmental Warfare in Gaza: Colonial Violence and New Landscapes of Resistance by Shourideh C. Molavi focuses on another stage of Israeli warfare, namely environmental and chemical warfare that has destroyed swathes of lush arable land, greenhouses and vegetation, further debilitating Palestinian livelihoods, and enabling better Israeli military targeting of Palestinian communities. An extract from the foreword by Eyal Weizman:

"From the point of view of colonial history, climate transformation is not the accidental and indirect consequence of conflict; the environment is not the collateral damage of history, but a tool in its arsenal of transformations, a form of government over land, peoples and the relation between them – one of the means by which colonial racism is enacted, land is grabbed, siege lines fortified and violence perpetuated."

Do also take a look at the Forensic Architecture report Israel's Ecocide in Gaza: 2023-2024 that focuses on the ongoing destruction.

(2) The article The Destruction of Palestine Is the Destruction of the Earth by Andreas Malm is a long-term analysis of Palestine's subjugation to fossil empire, in which he demonstrates that the forces responsible for the destruction of Gaza are the same as those responsible for the climate catastrophe.

Please contact spxx@kpnmail.nl for further info or if you plan to attend, and would like to order the book (a discount can be arranged).

About the authors:

Shourideh C. Molavi is a scholar of political science, urban studies and international humanitarian law. She is the lead Palestine researcher at Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Senior Lecturer at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. She has written several books on Palestine.

Andreas Malm teaches human ecology at Lund University, Sweden. He has written many books on fossil capital and climate change, revisiting 19th century politics in the transition from hydropower to coal, and addressing the nature-society nexus, the far right and fossil fascism.

NOTE: There will be a donation jar and some refreshments available (cash or pin). Please think about donating something if you are able; a place like NieuwLand can only exist through the contributions of volunteers and friends, who know of the importance of places like this, which exist alternative to an individualistic society, capitalist economy and gentrifying neighbourhoods.

(Flyer design: Ingeborg Kraft Fermin)