Israeli soldiers raided Birzeit University near Ramallah in the early hours of Monday, demolishing a stone memorial dedicated to students killed by Israeli forces. The incursion, which involved ten military vehicles and a bulldozer, resulted in the removal of the marble structure known as the Martyrs’ Monument, replaced by a planter containing a fig sapling with the inscription “Water it twice.”
Rania Washaha, 47, described experiencing renewed grief as her brother Fadi’s name was among the 38 inscribed on the pillar. Fadi Washaha, 34, was shot in the head by Israeli troops near the northern entrance to el-Bireh in May 2021. According to university officials, the most recent name added to the monument was that of Omar al-Naasan, who was killed on September 2 while confronting settler incursions east of Ramallah.
Nardeen al-Memi, the university’s public relations officer, stated that soldiers had photographed the monument during a previous daytime raid just days before the demolition. The structure, erected between 1994 and 1996, bears the names of alumni and students killed by Israeli forces since 1984.
Birzeit University administration condemned the raid as a violation of international law and an assault on national memory. In a statement, the university declared that “bulldozers won’t erase the memory of the martyrs” and affirmed its resolve to continue its academic mission despite the destruction.
The Monday raid marks the fifth incursion onto campus since the start of 2026 and the 28th since 2002. On Tuesday, students gathered at the site to protest the destruction, with many viewing it as an intimidation tactic ahead of the new semester.
Sami Adel, a student who requested anonymity due to fear of detention, told Al Jazeera that the memorial has been central to campus life since the 1990s. He noted that Israeli forces have increasingly suppressed commemorative activities, reporting that he was detained and threatened weeks prior after mentioning political student engagement.
The demolition aligns with a broader campaign by Israel’s far-right wing to remove Palestinian memorials across the occupied West Bank. In August, Knesset member Zvi Sukkot from the Religious Zionism Party destroyed a memorial in Madama using a sledgehammer. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich previously submitted a list of approximately 40 Palestinian memorials to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposing their destruction under the pretext of removing “symbols of incitement.”
Similar targeting has occurred in Jenin, where the “Jenin Horse” monument, a memorial to journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and a cemetery containing Iraqi soldiers from the 1948 war were all removed or raided.
Political analyst Mohammed al-Qeeq, who served as Birzeit University Student Council president from 2006 to 2007, stated that universities are key targets because they serve as pillars of Palestinian resilience and historical sites of anti-occupation activism. He argued that Israeli authorities aim to weaken social cohesion by fostering divisions among political factions on campus.
For Rania Washaha, the loss of the monument represents more than the destruction of stone. She recalled that her son, now a first-year student at Birzeit, received a threatening phone call from an Israeli officer shortly before the term began. The officer warned him against participating in student activities, adding, “Remember what we did to your uncle.”
I never realized this was the fifth campus raid this year. The frequency of these actions suggests a coordinated strategy, not random incidents.
My heart goes out to Rania. Being told ‘remember what we did to your uncle’ before her son even starts classes is terrifying.
Is this really about removing symbols of incitement, or is it a systematic erasure of Palestinian identity from the West Bank?
Replacing the monument with a plant that says ‘Water it twice’ feels like deeply ironic psychological warfare. Cold and calculated.
It is heartbreaking to see history being literally bulldozed. How do you replace decades of memory with a fig tree?