Across the hills of the West Bank, a disturbing trend has emerged where settlers adopt elements of Palestinian culture, from music and clothing to architecture and farming, to fabricate a sense of rootedness in lands long inhabited by Palestinians. Social media amplifies this performance, showing settlers playing traditional instruments, hosting imitation weddings, and imitating daily rural life. These orchestrated displays are more than cultural appropriation; they serve as a strategic attempt to erase Palestinian identity and legitimise land seizure.

Experts describe this as a deliberate method to obscure reality. Settlers, supported by both state structures and Western backers, mimic Palestinian traditions while simultaneously confiscating land, livestock, and resources. Events such as traditional cooking, camel herding, and agricultural demonstrations are staged to attract international sympathisers and reinforce the illusion of historic ties. Meanwhile, real Palestinian communities face attacks, dispossession, and erasure, with hundreds of incidents documented in a single month alone.

This cultural manipulation is rooted in ideology. Many settlers draw inspiration from religious schools and texts, embedding Torah-based myths into their fabricated narratives while appropriating Palestinian customs. Observers note that this systematic theft of heritage is not incidental but a strategic extension of occupation, aimed at claiming historical legitimacy and rewriting collective memory. Each adoption of Palestinian dress, song, or tradition becomes a tool in a wider campaign to falsify history, marginalise the indigenous population, and cement control over the land.