About the project

How can we archive against genocide, occupation and colonialism in Gaza, elsewhere in Palestine, and neighbouring Lebanon while avoiding the pitfalls of white guilt and paternalistic benevolence? How can we engage colonized and besieged populations in knowledge production and heritage practices to articulate a robust decolonial archival praxis (Ghaddar and Caswell 2019)? These questions are at the centre of the RPA Decolonial Futures Seed Grant “Fighting Erasure: Digitizing Gaza’s Genocide and the War on Lebanon” led by Prof. Jamila Ghaddar (Assistant Professor in Archival Information & Digital Humanities, AIHR). The Seed Grant launches the Lebanon component of Fighting Erasure project, co led by Dr. Ghaddar along with Dr. Hanine Shehadeh at NYU Abu Dhabi and Dr. Rami Zurayk at the American University of Beirut. Fighting Erasure, a comprehensive project aimed at archiving against and documenting genocide and settler colonialism from Gaza to South Lebanon and beyond, is a participatory action research, archival and teaching project housed at the Archives & Digital Media Lab and American University of Beirut, in collaboration with a constellation of Lebanese, Palestinian and global partners. These include leading professional associations like the Lebanese Library Association, Archival Community in Palestine, Middle East Librarians Association, and International Council on Archives. The project will help lay the groundwork for an oral history initiative to fill archival and documentary gaps, build resilient networks and transinstitutional governance structures for knowledge exchange and digital sovereignty, conduct a needs assessment of archival and library destruction and loss in South Lebanon, and organize consultative sessions to decide with local communities in fighting erasure and project planning. While supporting the documentation of the destruction of archives and cultural heritage collections in South Lebanon, the project draws resources to boost international support for indigenous researchers, scholars, and heritage stewards. It will also increase access and draw attention to the importance of cultural heritage collections in Lebanon.

"Fundamentals of Archival Management & Oral History for Lebanese & Palestinian Cultural Resilience"

In this first spotlight on “Fighting Erasure’”, we highlight two key events that have worked towards fulfilling these aims. Between the 10-19 November 2025, an in-person course on “Fundamentals of Archival Management & Oral History for Lebanese & Palestinian Cultural Resilience” was cohosted with Withaqiyya Archival Initiative at the American University of Beirut’s Jafet Library. Co-led by Dr. Jamila Ghaddar along with Wathaqiyya’s Director, Amani Rammal, and Dr. Ana Roeschley, this training was part 3 of an ongoing training initiative on emergency interventions for the safeguarding of archives and building resilience in Palestine, Lebanon and the Global South. The training initiative- designed for archivists, librarians and heritage professionals based in Lebanon- is grounded in a critical anticolonial and decolonial framework based on The Adelaide-Tandanya Declaration of the Expert Group on Indigenous Matters at the International Council on Archives. The Declaration, the archival corollary of the United Nations Declaraiton on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, goes beyond the Eurocentrism of the Western-dominated archival field to engage alternative practices emerging from and designed for communities and movements. The training focused on key components of planning and implementing oral history and digitization projects for archival collections and records, as well as knowledge-sharing and building resilience in regions where cultural heritage preservation is under threat.  It has laid the foundations for the unfolding work to establish a committee at the Lebanese Library Association for archives rescue and preservation in Lebanon. Click here more information on the topics covered in the course and the other training rounds in the Fundamentals of Archival Management & Emergency Mitigation in Palestine, Lebanon & the Global South. 

"Resilient Archives, Resilient Communities: Protecting Heritage & Memory in Palestine & Lebanon”

The second event took place on the 5- 7 of December 2025, in the form of a conference on "Resilient Archives, Resilient Communities: Protecting Heritage & Memory in Palestine & Lebanon”. The symposium featured seven keynotes, over 30 speakers, and nine panels focused on the work and perspectives of archivists, memory workers and cultural stewards in Palestine and Lebanon. It highlighted local voices in international debates on transitional memory, digital archiving in conflict zones, with a focus on community-centered models of heritage that contribute to a broader global shift toward ethical, equitable, and community-embedded digital preservation.

Together with the RPA Decolonial Futures (UvA), the training and conference were co-sponsored and supported by  the International Council on Archives’ Programme Commission, the International Council on Archives’ Palestine Archives Task Force, the Middle East Librarians Association (Archives & Records Advocacy & Training Group), the Archives & Digital Media Lab, the Archival Community – Palestine, the Lebanese Library Association, Litwin Books, and the Archival Technologies Lab at City University of New York.

For further updates on  “Fighting Erasure” keep an eye on our website, newsletter and LinkedIn.