Absent Masudiya
Thousands of Gush Emunim supporters marched in Sabastiya four decades ago demanding that the Israeli government establish settlements in Samaria. The Occupation movement started at Masudiya station, a legacy from the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876 - 1909). In the winter of 1976, a compromise was reached between the settlers and the Israeli government in the main hall of Sabastiya railway station. Occupiers are guided and separated into temporary units, as the units expand, gradually forming a permanent settlement, such as Beit El, Shavei Shomron, Qedumin, etc. The Sabastiya agreement was a turning point that opened up the northern West Bank to Jewish settlement. The research looked at how settlement started, developed, and the impact of settlement on Palestinian villages, such as Palestinian land confiscated for checkpoint construction and settlement expansion purposes, how Palestinian residents struggle to pass checkpoints, etc.
By examining collected materials, Gush Emunim, a religious-messianic right-wing group, which is founded to promote the Jewish settlement and seek a return to the «promised land» related to Israeli history. Biblical history has been taken as an excuse to rationalize the occupation movement from the past until now, which is not the full picture of history. The Palestinian station is erased from its own history. This void functioned as a gap that the Israeli storytellers sneaked into. The station, heavy and coarse in texture, has been polished into another story in history. Yet, by material analysis and spatial mapping, fragmental clues are stitched together to reveal and reflect the historical event. Based on this, a negative model of a historically forgotten station is made. Highly reflective material revealed a mapping drawing of a relative historical event beneath the model, as if how history has been manipulated.
The abandoned station lingered on the white rough earth for a long time under the green shade of pines. Heavy in texture while light in writing. Four decades have passed, few know what happened, few remember, yet some tamper with the past, some try to control the future. But history is always vigilant enough to leave a few clues. By connecting these clues, some other side of the event is reflected.
Ponderous, Light
Coarse, Smooth
Ostensible, Invisible
Above, Beneath
Absent, Present
Latent, Established
…
Which side are you looking at?
