The Enduring Blueprint of Dispossession
The recent announcement by Israeli authorities to restart land registration in Area C of the occupied West Bank is being presented as a technical or administrative measure. This process, applying to the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control, aims to formally catalog property ownership, ostensibly to resolve disputes. Mainstream reporting often frames this through a lens of legal
expediency, ignoring the deeper historical currents at play. However, this is not a novel development but a revival of a tactic first initiated by the British Mandate in 1928, paused under Jordanian rule in 1967, and briefly resumed by Israel in the 1960s. The stated goal remains the same: to formalize land ownership. Yet, in practice, this bureaucratic exercise has consistently served as a
precursor to expansion. From 1928 through 1948, British Mandate land laws often dispossessed Palestinian villagers through complex registration processes, paving the way for Zionist settlement. This current iteration will apply Israeli property law, fundamentally disadvantaging Palestinians whose ancestral land often lacks formal Israeli documentation, turning a customary right into a legal
vulnerability. Historically, similar land registration schemes elsewhere, such as in French colonial Algeria, systematically disinherited indigenous populations, cementing territorial control under the guise of legal order. The current Israeli government's plan, backed by nationalist factions, is not merely about titling deeds; it is an instrumental step towards solidifying control over