The Nuseirat camp is the painful epitome of the Israeli settler-colonial state. Palestinians living under the occupation face extreme violence and military aggression on a systematic basis. The lack of safe refuge and the deliberate targeting of civilians who have nowhere to escape the bombing starkly illustrate the dire living conditions and the constant threat of violence that Palestinians endure. The deliberate targeting of civilians and the scale of the casualties in the Nuseirat massacre can only be described as genocide. The aim is to instill fear and discourage resistance by making the cost of rebellion unbearably high. This tactic is one part of a broader strategy to dehumanize Palestinians and undermine their claims to the land, such as Benjamin Netanyahu calling Palestinians “children of darkness.” The rhetoric used by some Israeli officials, describing Palestinians in dehumanizing terms, reinforces this perception and justifies extreme measures against them.
Despite the hardships and violence, the Nuseirat camp also represents the resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people. The root word of Nuseirat in Arabic is نَصِر, and it most reflects the English words of supporter or ally.