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Roots of
Settler-Colonial Project
Settler-Colonial Project
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be shifted away from a simple "conflict" between two equal sides towards an understanding of Israel's actions as part of a broader settler-colonial project.
1. Continuation of Settler-Colonialism
The assault on Gaza is framed as a continuation of Israel's settler-colonial project, which involves the displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people from their land. Viewing the current events through this lens emphasizes the historical and ongoing nature of Israeli colonization rather than portraying it as a mere conflict between two opposing sides.
2. Rejecting the Two-Sides Framework
The prevailing framework of viewing the situation as a "conflict" between Israel and Palestinians suggests that this framework obscures the power dynamics inherent in the colonial relationship between Israel and the Palestinians. By rejecting the two-sides framework, the focus should be shifted towards understanding the asymmetrical power relations at play.
3. Peace Process as a Veil for Land Theft
The peace process, particularly during the 1993-2000 period has served as a cover behind which Israel continued its expansionist policies, including the growth of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. This suggests that peace negotiations were used as a tactic to legitimize and further entrench Israel's control over Palestinian territories rather than genuinely seeking a resolution to the conflict.
4. Expansionist Nature of Zionism
The Zionist project is inherently expansionist, it seeks to expand Israeli control over land historically inhabited by Palestinians. Israel's actions, including its settlement policies, reflect this expansionist agenda, which is not effectively concealed by the rhetoric of peace negotiations.
"Colonial"
"Colonial"
How Early Zionists named their communal enterprises
How Early Zionists named their communal enterprises
1. Fashionable Terminology
During the time of the early Zionist movement, the term "colonial" was commonly used in Western discourse to describe ventures involving the establishment of settlements or enterprises in foreign territories. This terminology was influenced by the colonial expansionism of European powers during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
2. Ideological Alignment
The Zionist movement aimed to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which involved the establishment of settlements, agricultural communities, and various communal enterprises. In many ways, these endeavours resembled colonial projects in other parts of the world, with European settlers arriving in a land inhabited by indigenous peoples.
3. Political Context
The Zionist movement emerged during a period of heightened European colonialism and imperial expansion. Many early Zionists were influenced by the nationalist and colonial ideologies prevalent in Europe at the time, which framed the establishment of Jewish settlements in Palestine as a legitimate endeavour.
Israel's Masterplan for
Israel's Masterplan for
Ethnic Cleansing
Ethnic Cleansing
Behind the Nakba
Behind the Nakba
On November 2nd, 1917, Britain's Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, penned a letter that echoed into a conflict resonating over a century later. It was a proclamation of favour by His Majesty's government for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. But at that time, 90% of the population there weren't Jewish. Just 31 years later, most were gone.
This was World War I, an era of grand pledges. In addition to promising a Jewish homeland, they assured Arab leaders of independence if they rose against the Ottoman Empire, now a Hollywood film subject.
A month after Balfour's letter, British troops took Palestine, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule. The residents were primarily Arabs—Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted with a small number of European Jews who had begun settling there to escape persecution in Europe.
To understand the significance of this letter, it's crucial to step back. In the late 1800s, Europe witnessed a surge in anti-Semitic atrocities, prompting some European Jews to seek refuge in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. This growing movement was coined "Zionism," a response to the persecution faced by Jewish communities across Europe.
The Zionist ideology gained considerable momentum through Theodor Herzl, whose 1896 publication, "The Jewish State," laid the groundwork for a fundamental shift in Jewish aspirations. Herzl's vision wasn't merely about fleeing persecution; it was about the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state.
This movement gained momentum, facilitated by unexpected supporters within the British government. Some saw it as a religious calling, believing that gathering Jews in Palestine would herald the return of Jesus Christ. Others, like Balfour, viewed it as a means to relocate Jews out of Europe—a beneficial move.
The convergence of European anti-Semitism, Zionism, and British imperialism culminated in the Balfour Declaration—an assurance to build a homeland for Jews in Palestine.
The aftermath of World War I saw the League of Nations introduce the Mandate system, placing former Ottoman and German territories under the tutelage of advanced nations. Britain was granted a mandate over Palestine without consulting its inhabitants.
The mandate incorporated clauses that mandated Britain to ensure the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine, a move highly accommodating to the Zionist cause. Consequently, Jewish immigration to Palestine surged, and the Jewish community grew with its schools, factories, and a militia known as the Haganah, led by David Ben-Gurion.
To Palestinians, Britain's rule didn't signify independence; rather, it was a surrender of their land. A strike in 1936 escalated into conflict, met with brutal suppression by British forces. The Peel Commission was dispatched as a solution but proposed a partition that further agitated tensions. The Palestinian revolt continued until 1939, leaving a considerable portion of the population devastated, killed, injured, or displaced.
As tensions brewed, the British government sought resolution. A report on the 20-year-old Jewish settlements in British-mandated Palestine led to the 1939 White Paper, initiating a conflict. Rejecting partition, it proposed Palestinian independence within a decade, emphasizing shared living. Crucially, it imposed severe limits on Jewish land purchases and immigration, felt as a betrayal by Zionists. In response, some resorted to bombing across the country, resulting in the deaths of numerous Palestinians.
However, the eruption of World War II overshadowed these conflicts. Over 60 million lost their lives, including 6 million Jews in Nazi death camps. Survivors sought refuge in Palestine, despite British restrictions on Jewish immigration, sparking a more direct confrontation between Zionists and the British, often targeting Palestinians.
By 1947, after three decades of occupation, Britain announced its withdrawal, seeking UN intervention. This period became pivotal. Under Ben-Gurion's leadership, the Jewish population soared to 30%, owning 6% of the land. The Jewish Agency functioned as a quasi-government, backed by well-equipped militias, while Palestinians were devoid of self-administration or military.
The UN, comprising only a fraction of nations, voted for Palestine's partition in November 1947, designating 55% for a Jewish state. Yet, this plan was perplexing, allocating a Jewish state in a land inhabited by half Palestinians. Predictably, Palestinians and Arab nations rejected this, but Zionists, anticipating a military advantage, prepared to seize more territory than allocated by the UN.
Violent events, notably the Deir Yassin attack in April 1948, led to 250 deaths, triggering widespread panic and mass exodus. As the British mandate ended on May 15th, 1948, David Ben-Gurion announced Israel's founding, himself as its first Prime Minister, standing beneath a portrait of Herzl, fulfilling the prophecy made 51 years prior.
The newly formed Israeli Defense Forces ensured Israeli military superiority. Arab forces intervened but lacked coordination and support, leading to the displacement of thousands from towns designated for Palestine.
Following the UN's armistice, three-quarters of Palestinians became refugees, terming this calamity the Nakba. Israel constituted 78% of historic Palestine, with the remainder annexed by neighboring countries.
Efforts to resolve the conflict through partition have led to the continual shrinkage of Palestinian territories. Ironically, Israel's struggle to maintain its population advantage from 1948 intensified with the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, subjecting millions to rule without rights or citizenship.
More than a century after Balfour's promise, Israel controls the land but maintains an apartheid-like system, as observed by international human rights groups. This enduring struggle for Palestinian rights persists amidst a conflicted land shaped by history.
Tactics employed by Zionist propagandists to
demonize the Palestinian people and
advance the Zionist agenda.
Tactics employed by Zionist propagandists to
demonize the Palestinian people and
advance the Zionist agenda.
1. Weaponization of Historical Events
Zionist propagandists have often cited historical events such as al-Hajj Amin al-Husseini's collaboration with the Nazis during World War II to demonize the Palestinian people. However, they obscure the fact that groups like the Stern Terror Gang, led by Yitzhak Shamir, also sought collaboration with the Nazis against the British Mandate during the same period. This selective presentation of history aims to vilify Palestinians while whitewashing the actions of Zionist groups.
2. Manipulation of Tragic Events
The Holocaust and the Bible have been weaponized to serve the Zionist agenda. The Holocaust is exploited to portray Palestinians as Nazis, deflecting attention from the core issues of the conflict. Similarly, the Bible is cited to justify the establishment of a "Jewish state" as a divine prophecy, despite not being used to mobilize Jewish communities during historical genocides like the Crusades.
3. Exploitation of Media
Zionist propagandists leverage resources like Hollywood to demonize Arabs and Muslims, perpetuating negative stereotypes and narratives that further marginalize Palestinians.
4. Suppression of Facts
The deliberate suppression of facts, such as the collaboration of Zionist groups with Nazi Germany, within Jewish communities worldwide. These facts are crucial for a fair and balanced understanding of the historical context and dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The manipulative tactics employed by Zionist propagandists to advance their agenda, distort historical narratives, and vilify Palestinians while whitewashing the actions of Zionist groups.
May 1948, Jaffa Palestinians were being pushed into the sea
https://www.palestineRemembered.com
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Haifa, Palestinians are crowded on ships to take them to Acre soon after they were ethnically cleansed by Zionist Jewish forces, April 1948.
1930 Palestinian women protest in Jerusalem against the British Mandate.
The controversial agreement facilitated the emigration of German Jews to Palestine while allowing them to retain some of their wealth by transferring it in the form of German goods to Palestine to ease the boycott campaign against them.
The Haavara (Transfer) Agreement, negotiated between David Ben-Gurion and representatives of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, was a complex financial arrangement with several key objectives and implications:
1. Relieve Nazi Germany from the worldwide boycott
After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, there was a global boycott against German goods in protest against Nazi policies. The Haavara Agreement aimed to mitigate the economic impact of this boycott by facilitating the sale of German goods in the Middle East and North Africa.
2. Stimulate the German economy
By allowing the export of German goods to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the agreement sought to stimulate the German economy and address the rising unemployment caused by the boycott.
3. Implementation of Nazi racial policies
The agreement also served the interests of the Nazi regime by facilitating the emigration of Jews from Germany to Palestine. This was consistent with Nazi policies aimed at "cleansing" Germany of its Jewish population and confiscating their wealth.
4. Liquidation of Jewish wealth for Zionist purposes
In return for facilitating Jewish emigration, the Zionist movement agreed to channel a portion of the liquidated wealth of German Jews to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. This allowed Zionists to build the foundation of their future state with resources obtained from the emigration of German Jews.
It's important to note that the Haavara Agreement was controversial both at the time and in retrospect. Critics argue that it involved collaboration with the Nazi regime and prioritized the interests of the Zionist movement over the welfare of all Jews. Additionally, the agreement is seen as part of a broader strategy by Zionist leaders to create a Jewish refugee crisis that would ultimately strengthen the case for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
Is one-state the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
To understand how Zionist forces planned to destroy villages
Not Allowed to Return to Their Homes
Not Allowed to Return to Their Homes
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