Zionist erasure is not without contradictions. The myth of the barren land, which Masalha expands to include the colonial narrative of land whose inhabitants are unworthy of any consultation, ran into obstacles which exposed the limitations of Zionism itself, such as having to Hebrew-ise Arabic village names as the biblical tradition was inadequate to accommodate the alteration of Palestinian toponymy. What could not be destroyed was altered or appropriated, the latter framed as natural occurrences or manipulated into a selective process of reconstruction that served Zionist settler policies.
As with all of Masalha’s books, the attention to detail, as well as the rigorous explanation is impeccable. Every reading, or re-reading, of this book, will provoke new contemplation due to the diverse themes and their analysis, in particular concerning the detachment of the indigenous from their history, enforced by Zionism, to accommodate the colonial project. Palestine has always been capable of self-defining itself, while Zionism and Israel have sustained each other by plunder, alteration, appropriation and replacement.