Document Type : Original Article
Author
Associate Professor of Political Science, Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Boroujord, Iran.
Abstract
Purpose: Palestine holds a significant place within Islamic civilization and can be understood as one of the central arenas of the enduring identity struggle between Islam and the West in the history. Since October 7, 2023, Palestine has not only been the site of widespread violence and the tragic loss of thousands of Palestinian lives, but it has also faced profound cultural and identity-related challenges, rendering its situation exceptionally complex. This dimension warrants scholarly attention and should be investigated as a "scientific issue." Thus, this study aimed to analyze the deeper, often concealed dimensions of the Zionist regime’s comprehensive assault, bolstered by the political and military backing of the Western world, on the cultural and civilizational identity of Palestine, which constitutes an inseparable component of the broader Islamic civilization.
Methodology: The required data in this study were derived from documentary reports by Al Jazeera Network correspondents (in both Arabic and English) operating within Palestine, as well as from reports issued by specialized institutions and organizations in the field. Additionally, official statements and messages from political and military
officials of the Zionist regime, along with communications from prominent international figures on social media platforms, such as Telegram and X (formerly Twitter), have been investigated. Furthermore, relevant journal articles and books were collected and analyzed using a qualitative methodology employing a descriptive-analytical approach.
Findings: The extensive military, political, and diplomatic support provided by the West to the Zionist regime during its full-scale assault on the Gaza Strip following October 7, 2023, can be examined within the broader context of the West’s civilizational conflict with Islam. This perspective has led some scholars to refer to the conflict as the "New Crusade." The Zionist regime’s conduct in the Gaza war of 2023–2025 constitutes a grave violation of international law, particularly international humanitarian law. As a result, more than 160,000 individuals have been killed or injured, and over 11,000 remain missing. The regime’s widespread destruction and targeting of Palestinian life and infrastructure are treated in this article as a critical research issue. The central hypothesis posits that, with the full backing of the Western world during the Gaza war, the Zionist regime has systematically targeted multiple dimensions of Palestinian identity, an identity deeply rooted in Islamic civilization, which may be appropriately conceptualized under the term "cultural genocide".
Cultural genocide can be defined as a series of deliberate and systematic actions that, beyond the physical extermination of a particular group or nation, aim to erode, weaken, and ultimately destroy its identity across various physical, cultural, and historical domains. Although the draft of the Geneva Convention at the end of World War II initially included forms of cultural genocide beyond its physical dimensions, the final version of the convention restricted its scope primarily to the physical aspects of genocide, limiting its conceptual and legal reach. However, in recent decades, the understanding of genocide has expanded significantly, encompassing a broader range of components beyond direct physical annihilation. In line with these redefinitions, particularly those proposed by contemporary scholars, the present article adopts an extended conceptualization of genocide. It draws upon the developments observed in contexts such as Iraq, Syria, and particularly Palestine, to propose the concept of cultural genocide. This concept includes not only the physical killing of individuals but also the destruction of cities (urbicide), the suppression of knowledge (scholasticide), environmental devastation (ecocide), the dismantling of health and medical infrastructure, the obliteration of historical and cultural heritage, and the forced displacement of populations as a means of undermining their collective existence.
Although the Zionist regime has perpetrated many of the aforementioned forms of cultural and physical destruction in Palestine since 1948, its actions during the recent war in Gaza have taken on an unprecedented level of systematic intensity. Over a span of fifteen months, it is reported to have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians with weapons banned under international laws. The regime systematically demolished both urban and rural infrastructure across the Gaza Strip, including nearly all residential buildings. It also targeted educational institutions, destroying every school and university in the territory and reportedly killing more than 15,000 students, teachers, and academics. Additionally, all 36 hospitals and numerous medical centers were destroyed or rendered non-operational, with medical personnel either arrested or killed. Environmental destruction was also widespread, with the use of prohibited weapons such as white phosphorus and depleted uranium contaminating agricultural lands and ecosystems. Seawater was deliberately pumped into agricultural areas, damaging farmland and greenhouses, while the destruction of sewage systems further exacerbated environmental degradation. Religious sites, including mosques and churches, along with other cultural and historical landmarks, were systematically razed. As a result of these coordinated attacks, approximately 2.3 million Palestinians residing in the Gaza Strip have been forcibly displaced multiple times.
Conclusion: The Zionist regime has executed all forms of cultural genocide in Gaza according to premeditated and systematic plans. In fact, its actions go beyond mere retaliation for what has been described as its most significant military defeat since the Six-Day War in 1967. With extensive political, military, and diplomatic backing from the Western world, the regime has launched a deliberate campaign aimed at erasing the cultural and national identity of the Palestinian people, an identity deeply intertwined with that of the broader Islamic civilization.
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