From Balfour to the Nakba: The settler-colonial experience of Palestine (Middle East Eye)
Professor Ilan Pappe writes: "The late prominent scholar of settler-colonialism, Patrick Wolfe, reminded us repeatedly that it is not an event, it is a structure. While settler-colonialism in many cases has a historical starting point, its original motivation guides its maintenance in the present."
"By and large, settler-colonial projects are motivated by what Wolfe defined as “the logic of the elimination of the native”. Settlers’ wish to create a new homeland almost inevitably clashes with the aspirations of the local native population."
"In some cases, this clash leads to the physical elimination of native populations, as seen in the Americas and Australia; in others, such as South Africa, settlers enclave the indigenous population in closed areas and impose an apartheid system."
"Zionism in Palestine is a settler-colonial project, and Israel remains to this day a settler-colonial state."
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Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native (Journal of Genocide Research)
Patrick Wolfe (2006) Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native, Journal of Genocide Research, 8:4, 387-409, DOI: 10.1080/14623520601056240
Patrick Wolfe writes: "Settler colonialism destroys to replace. As Theodor Herzl, founding father of Zionism, observed in his allegorical manifesto/novel, “If I wish to substitute a new building for an old one, I must demolish before I construct.”
"In sum, then, settler colonialism is an inclusive, land-centred project that coordinates a comprehensive range of agencies, from the metropolitan centre to the frontier encampment, with a view to eliminating Indigenous societies."
"Its operations are not dependent on the presence or absence of formal state institutions or functionaries. Accordingly—to begin to move toward the issue of genocide—the occasions on or the extent to which settler colonialism conduces to genocide are not a matter of the presence or absence of the formal apparatus of the state."
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Israel is a settler colony, annexing native land is what it does (Al Jazeera)
Mark Muhannad Ayyash writes: "Since its early days of colonising Palestine, the Zionist movement has always aimed to establish a Greater Israel."
"So, what makes a settler colony a settler colony? The answer to this question cannot be reduced to specific characteristics but must instead be sought in a general principle. Simply put: all settler colonies constitute a continuous process of land annexation, whereby native inhabitants are removed and settlers from elsewhere are brought to occupy the land."
"To be sure, all modern nation-states have annexed land in certain respects, but the settler-colonial state’s distinguishing feature is that it does not come into being and cannot continue to exist without claiming sovereignty over land that is forcefully taken from its native inhabitants. In short, the settler colony can only claim its sovereignty through the eradication and erasure of native sovereignty."
"The methods of annexation certainly vary, but this variety should not detract us from naming and highlighting their underlying logic: the expulsion of native people from their lands. This is the core problem of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. And nowhere is this logic more visible than in the expansion of settlements on occupied Palestinian lands."
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Peace is war: Israeli settler-colonialism and the Palestinians (Al Jazeera)
Joseph Massad writes: "Ever since its colonial project was set in motion, Zionism has insisted that it seeks to colonise Palestine “peacefully”, indeed that its colonisation of the country will not only not harm the native population, but that it would be of benefit to them."
"The movement’s founder, Theodor Herzl himself, provided two visions of this future: A fictional, public vision, advertised in his futurist novel Altneuland, where Palestine would become a Jewish state allowing coexistence with the native Arabs who would be happy and grateful for being colonised and civilised by European Jews; and a secret, logistical and practical strategy to evict the Arab population out of the country, which he spelled out in his Diaries."
"Herzl’s dual approach of declaring peaceful intentions for public consumption behind which he sought to hide Zionism’s violent strategy of conquering the land of the Palestinians would be adopted wholesale thenceforward and continues to be the cornerstone of Israeli policy to the present."
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Using Indigeneity in the Struggle for Palestinian Liberation (Al-Shabaka)
Ahmad Amara and Yara Hawari writes: "Cases of settler colonialism have their particularities, though they have much in common."
"Indeed, while there are characteristics unique to the colonial experience in Palestine, the Zionist project is not exceptional as it follows a pattern of European invasion and domination."
"Similar to other settler colonial movements, the early Zionists claimed European superiority. Yet at the same time they claimed to be indigenous returnees to Palestine based on biblical narratives."
"In this way they were able to put forward the narrative that they were the rightful owners of the land."
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"PCRF envisions a world where all children in the Middle East have access to quality medical care, regardless of nationality, religious or political affiliation, and specialized health services for children are independent and developed at the highest standards."
"Our Mission is to provide medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to Arab children throughout the Levant, regardless of their nationality, politics or religion."
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine with Rashid Khalidi
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