Israeli state honors settler rabbi linked to home demolitions, exposing systemic militarization of national identity

The honor for Zarbiv exemplifies the erasure of indigenous Palestinian land stewardship, where home demolitions are framed as 'security' rather than acts of dispossession. Indigenous Palestinian communities, such as the Bedouin in the Naqab or farmers in the West Bank, have long resisted displacement through traditional land management practices, which are systematically criminalized by Israeli law. The state’s co-optation of religious symbols (e.g., torch-lighting) mirrors other settler societies where colonial rituals replace indigenous cosmologies.

Zarbiv’s actions are part of a continuum of violence dating to the 1948 Nakba, when 700,000 Palestinians were expelled, and homes were systematically destroyed to prevent return. The 1967 occupation extended this model, with home demolitions used as a tool of demographic engineering, as seen in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah or Hebron’s H2 area. The torch-lighting ceremony itself is a modern ritual, but its roots lie in the 19th-century European nationalist tradition of 'lighting the flame' to symbolize purity and exclusion.

The glorification of Zarbiv parallels other settler societies where state honors are given to figures central to ethnic cleansing, such as Canada’s John A. Macdonald (architect of residential schools) or Australia’s Henry Reynolds (who framed Aboriginal resistance as 'criminal'). In both cases, national identity is constructed through the erasure of indigenous presence. The Israeli case is unique in its fusion of religious and secular nationalism, where the state and rabbinate collaborate to sanctify occupation.

Research by B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch documents how home demolitions in Israel/Palestine violate international law, constituting war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Studies show a direct correlation between settlement expansion and increased demolitions, with 96% of demolitions in Area C of the West Bank targeting Palestinian structures. The Israeli legal system, as analyzed by scholars like Noura Erakat, systematically privileges Jewish Israeli claims over Palestinian ones, creating a two-tiered justice system.

Artists like Larissa Sansour and Khaled Jarrar use film and photography to expose the spiritual violence of home demolitions, framing them as attacks on collective memory. Palestinian embroidery (*tatreez*), once a symbol of resistance, is now often stitched on ruins, transforming destruction into a canvas of resilience. The torch-lighting ceremony itself is a performative act, where fire—historically a purifying symbol—is repurposed to legitimize exclusion, echoing how colonial powers used 'civilizing missions' to justify domination.

If current trends continue, Israel’s 2048 centennial could see a formalized apartheid regime with no pretense of democracy, where Palestinian citizens are permanently disenfranchised. The international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable risks normalizing ethnic cleansing as a 'solution' to conflict, emboldening other settler states. Alternative futures include decolonization via a single democratic state or a confederation model, as proposed by groups like the One Democratic State Campaign.

Palestinian voices—from activists like Ahed Tamimi to scholars like Ilan Pappé—are systematically excluded from mainstream narratives, which frame the conflict as a 'clash of civilizations' rather than a settler-colonial project. Mizrahi Jews, who were expelled from Arab countries and often marginalized in Israel, are also erased from this story, despite their historical opposition to Zionist militarism. The voices of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who face legalized discrimination, are reduced to 'human rights cases' rather than agents of change.