Performance by Santiago Sierra

On 22 September 2026, A/POLITICAL presents Israeli State Crimes in Palestine since 14 May 1948, a new durational performance by Santiago Sierra. Performers read aloud the names of Pales­tini­ans killed in historic Palestine by the Israeli state, its forces and settlers since the estab­lish­ment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948.

The reading is performed at A/POLITICAL London, and continues 24 hours a day until the list is complete. It began at 7 pm (Belgian time) on 22 September. The livestream is presented here for the duration of the performance.

The project is in partnership with a research institution based in Palestine, who have requested to remain anonymous. The names have been compiled from established sources: the Gaza Ministry of Health lists via Iraq Body Count, B’Tselem, the Palestinian Information Centre via WAFA (The Palestinian News and Information Agency), The Shireen Observatory, and The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre, alongside ongoing research drawing on historical monographs, scholarly pub­li­ca­tions, academic journals (including the Journal of Palestine Studies), UN records, legal files, published registers and archival material. These records exist largely because of the work of the Palestinian people and their commitment to documenting and remembering the lives and deaths of their people.

The ongoing genocide, dis­place­ment, destruction of archives and restric­tions on access to records mean that gaps remain in what can be recovered. Where a person’s identity has not been recorded, the reading represents that individual by the Arabic word مجهول) Majhul), meaning ​"Unknown". This is not a final or complete account. It forms part of an ongoing process of gathering and checking names. A detailed methodology and full source list accompany the launch of the performance. The list read during the performance will be published at its conclusion.

Israeli State Crimes in Palestine since 14 May 1948 follows the methodology of The Names of Those Killed in the Syrian Conflict Between the 15^th March 2011 and the 31^st December 2016 (2017) and extends a series that includes 1549 State Crimes (2007), naming disappeared and murdered Mexican activists; 2205 State Crimes (2015), naming those killed during Israel’s assault on Gaza in July and August 2014; and 697 State Crimes (2018), naming Pales­tini­ans killed between 26 July 2014 and 30 August 2018. Sierra has worked in this durational form before, in the 2004 performance 120 Hours Of Continuous Reading Of A Telephone Book, and pays tribute to the minimalist treatment of time and scale in On Kawara’s One Million Years.