The recent military raid and eviction of 11 Palestinian homes in Silwan are part of Israel’s coordinated assault on the conditions that make psychological life possible: home, continuity, and the right to remain. We must resist.

The Hamdia family spent all of their life savings on building a home, but Israeli bulldozers destroyed it in a single day. They are one example of Israel’s surging policy of home demolitions in the West Bank.

Israel’s escalating campaign of demolishing Palestinian homes in the West Bank is the other side of the coin of seizing Palestinian land for settlement expansion. The objective is to force Palestinians to silently leave.

As American Christians who enable Israel’s actions through our government’s support, we are not separate from what is unfolding in Palestine. We must accept our part in it, bear witness, and stand in support of the besieged Palestinian people. 

Home demolitions in East Jerusalem are rampant, but none more than in Silwan, where messianic settlers backed by the state are attempting to establish fanciful “archaeological” parks on top of Palestinian homes. 

Alison Russell was detained by Israeli forces while documenting home demolitions in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank. She was deported following a perfunctory hearing where Israeli police accused her of “supporting terrorism.”

The Israeli military has admitted its policy of punitive demolitions does not work as a deterrent measure, and human rights groups have declared the policy violates international law. So, why does Israel continue doing it?

While the Biden administration claims to oppose “unilateral steps that make a two-state solution harder to achieve,” Israel has already crossed the “red line” of annexation.

Palestinian refugees in Gaza are being displaced by the Hamas-led government to make way for a coastal highway. Although residents have built their homes out of their own pockets over several generations, the government says they have the right to demolish the homes because the residents do not officially own the land in Al-Shati Refugee Camp.

“When the Israeli gunboat fired towards us, we refused to leave our homes,” Nasser Abu Saif tells Mondoweiss “I spent my life suffering. Now at the end of my life the government will take my home instead of supporting me and my family?”

Israel has already killed two Palestinians and demolished two homes in 2023, signaling that ‘Operation Break the Wave’ is far from over.