Palestinian erasure in Alberta schools

Abstract

While extensive research has been conducted on the concepts of dehumanization and settler colonialism, this thesis draws connections between the two concepts, highlighting how they empower and perpetuate each other to justify and maintain the erasure of Palestinians in alberta schools. The purpose of the thesis is not to prove Palestinian erasure, as facts speak for themselves, but to make visible the extent of it, by highlighting dehumanization and settler colonialism as the underlying factors advancing this erasure. Therefore, this thesis serves to address the following questions: How has Palestinian erasure been justified? Why is Palestinian erasure necessary, according to (Zionist) settler colonial logics? And how has Palestinian erasure come to dominate school and curricular discourse in alberta? I address these questions using a framework of interdependence to shed light on the dependence of Palestinian erasure on dehumanization and settler colonial violence. This sets the stage for the conversation of how Palestinian erasure has come to dominate school and curricular discourse in alberta. I refer to this dominant discourse in alberta schools as the Official Story. I conducted qualitative interviews with three Palestinians who attended high school in alberta (February, 2026); the narratives shared by these participants serve as the Counter-Story to the dominant Official Story. Therefore, I used a counter-storying methodology throughout the thesis to highlight the extent of the erasure faced by Palestinians in alberta schools. To further highlight this erasure in the Official Story, I conducted a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of various alberta school and curricular documents, coding for various discursive strategies: Normalization; Assimilation; Implicature; Framing; Repetition; Ambiguity and Manipulation of Truth; and, Passive Voice. These discursive strategies are the technologies of power that can turn dehumanization into material acts of physical and psychological settler colonial violence, thereby perpetuating the erasure and oppression of Palestinians in alberta schools. Alongside participants’ counter-narratives, this thesis provides insights and recommendations for teachers, administrators, and school boards on how to live up to what they call “safe spaces” and “inclusive education,” and strategies to challenge anti-Palestinian racism (APR) in alberta schools. This thesis is written with the intention of influencing curricular documents and decisions, as well as challenging administrators, teachers, and policymakers more broadly to end Palestinian erasure in alberta schools.