ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the theoretical framework and empirical evidence for the case of cultural genocide against Palestine. Throughout their long struggle for national liberation and self-determination, the Palestinian people have been subjected to policies that have often been described as genocidal and are aimed at destroying their national culture, political autonomy, and national will. Given the declared intent of the Zionist leaders, this wholesale destruction and depopulation of Palestinian villages fit easily with the definition of genocide as cited in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Palestine’s cultural heritage suffered irreparable damage after Israel demolished a number of classified buildings in the old towns of Hebron and Nablus in 2003 and 2004. The formation of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964 was, for all intents and purposes, the first major attempt after the Nakba to provide the Palestinian people with a national leadership.
