PFW Palestinian Database




SETTLER COLONIALISM IN 
PALESTINE GUIDE


Timeline & quick facts


Below is a truncated timeline of how “Israel'' and its occupation of Palestine came to be. We’re working on a more comprehensive timeline that includes information about ancient Palestine, the several empires that ruled the land over time, as well as the rise of post-occupation resistance. In the meantime, you can reference Palestine Remix, an Al Jazeera project that offers a more in-depth look at the land’s history, dating back two centuries.

1896: Theodor Herzl, an atheist founder of the Zionist movement, calls for “restoration of the Jewish State”.

1917: The Balfour Declaration promises a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine”.

1917-1947: British rule of Palestine, gained during WWI, lays the groundwork for the creation of the colonial, Zionist, political project known as “Israel”.

1947: In 1947, after World War II and the Holocaust, the newly-established United Nations sanctioned a plan to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. This decision was made against the wishes of the predominant indigenous Palestinian Arab population. The proposed Jewish state was allocated 56% of the territory, despite the fact that Jews owned only approximately 7% of the private land in Palestine and constituted roughly 33% of the population, with a substantial number of recent European immigrants. The Palestinian Arab state was designated to occupy just 42% of Palestine, even though the Muslim and Christian Palestinian communities formed the majority of the population and had deep-rooted ties to the entire land. Furthermore, Jerusalem was to be placed under the administration of a special international authority.

1947-1949: Zionist militias and the “Israeli” army carry out the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic. It refers to the systematic expulsion of Palestinians to make way for a Jewish majority state on their land. Over the course of three years, Zionist forces:
  • Violently displaced about 75% of Palestinians (between 750,000 and one million people).
  • Massacred hundreds of Palestinians —  men, women, children, elders. More than 400.
  • Destroyed more than 400 Palestinian cities, including homes, places of worship, businesses, agriculture. The Zionists then repopulated them. 

As a result of this, more than 100,000 Palestinians who remained inside the newly-formed “Israeli” borders were internally displaced. That means, despite holding “Israeli” citizenship, they were stripped of their land and rights, were subject to discriminatory laws and lived segregated, as second-class citizens in their native country. Before the Nakba, Jews, Christians and Muslims coexisted in Palestine. 

All of this despite the UN General Assembly’s passage of Resolution 194 in 1948, which called on “Israel” to allow the return of displaced Palestinians. It said:

“Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

1967: In the course of the June 1967 war, “Israel” conquered several territories —  Syria’s Golan Heights, Egypt’s Sinai, as well as the remaining 22% of historic Palestine, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. 

Immediately after this war, both the UN General Assembly and Security Council tried to establish terms of resolution for what they called “the Israel-Arab conflict.” The basic components of these terms are outlined in U.N. Resolution 242, they are:

  1. It’s inadmissible to conquer a territory through war. In accordance with that, Israel would be obliged under international law to withdraw from the territories it conquered in the course of the June 1967 War (Golan Heights, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, and the Egyptian Sinai).

  2. Every state in the UN system had a right to live in peace with its neighbors. This component was a quid pro quo: Arab states had to recognize Israel's right to exist as a state in the region, in conformity with the principles of the U.N. Charter. 

The Zionist state’s response was that “Israel will not withdraw to the pre-June 1967 lines.” 

Since then, “Israel” has violated international law by relocating more than 500,000 colonial settlers (Zionists from all over the world, but mainly of European and Western background) into the occupied territories. This being part of a larger plan to prevent the establishment of a viable, unrestrained Palestinian state. 

This war is a precursor to much of what is happening in Palestine today. In an early October teach-in, Norman Finkelstein and Mouin Rabbani discuss pivotal events and moments in history  that led to the October 7 resistance, starting with the 1967 war. Listen and read more here.

What is Gaza?


Gaza is a small, 25-mile strip of Palestinian land where “Israel” has held more than two million people hostage, under an illegal and brutal land, air and water siege over the last 16 years. In the 56 years before the siege, Gazans —  like other Palestinians —  were subject to violent military rule. 

Think Detroit if its population was quadrupled. Still having trouble visualizing it? Check out Gaza Everywhere, a simple app that compares Gaza’s size to other countries, cities,  towns and neighborhoods around the world. 

About half of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza are children. Its population is composed mainly of Palestinian refugees —  the elders whom “Israel” expelled during the Nakba and their descendants. Gaza has eight refugee camps, home to more than 1.5 million, one third, of Palestinians who are internally displaced as a result of “Israeli” airstrikes, shelling and bombardment over nearly eight decades. 


Where to start




Decolonize Palestine
A collection of resources for organizers and anyone who wants to learn more about Palestine.

The Palestine Academy
Learn about our history & decolonization moment.

Not that Complicated
A 101 course to understanding Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people by US campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)

Obliterated Families Project
The stories of families whose lives shattered during the 2014 siege on Gaza.

Further reading:
Listening:     
    Canadaland:


What is Zionism? 


According to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute, settler colonialism can be defined as a system of oppression based on genocide and colonialism, that aims to displace a population of a nation (oftentimes indigenous people) and replace it with a new settler population. Settler colonialism finds its foundations on a system of power perpetuated by settlers that represses indigenous people’s rights and cultures by erasing it and replacing it by their own.

Settler colonialism is based on the theft and exploitation of lands and resources that belong to the indigenous. History and current conflicts have shown that this ongoing system of oppression is mainly based on racism and white supremacy.

A guide to settler colonialism in Palestine

Zionism, anti-Semitism and colonialism by Joseph Massad
Zionist leaders consciously recognised that state anti-Semitism was essential to their colonial project, writes Massad.

The End of Zionism: Thoughts and Next Steps
A conversation on the end of Zionism with Ali Abunimah, Philip Weiss, and Nada Elia

Reading: On Zionist Colonialism in Palestine - by Fayez A. Sayegh, 1965


Joe Biden's long history of pro-Israel statements


Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions


The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a Palestinian-led movement that uses nonviolent tactics to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.

BDS National Committee
The Palestinian BDS National Committee is the broadest Palestinian civil society coalition that works to lead and support the BDS movement for Palestinian rights.

BDS Toolkit and Videos
USPCR put together this toolkit to help you organize effective BDS campaigns in your communites in support of Palestinian rights.

Freedom Within Reach

An action tool-kit by the Palestinian Feminist Collective.

A working list of brands and companies supporting apartheid and genocide of Palestinians

DEMOCRATIZING THE ECONOMIC SPHERE: A CASE FOR THE POLITICAL BOYCOTT is a WV Law Review article by Theresa J. Lee. It details legal attacks classifying political as harrassment, the counter-argument of the attacks’ unconstitutionality and explanation of how boycott movements are democratically critical petition tools necessary. “Operating alone, one individual consumer boycotting has no impact. Boycotts must enlist others, persuade others to action on the strength of the idea or the cause being advocated. Furthermore, boycotts demand constant decisions by a large number of people across a long period of time.”

U.S. states with laws against anti-Israeli boycotts

* Outdated re: the states that have anti-BDS laws, but this article from Human Rights Watch details how they’re detrimental to responsible business that operate in those states.

Fighting Antisemitism and Islamophobia


How Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are manufactured through disinformation


Book by JVP at Haymarket Press: On Antisemitism


On Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and Dangerous Conflations

Social media post: Principles for Dismantling Antisemitism


We are all in this together


The Long History of Black and Palestinian Solidarity

Palestine as a Queer Struggle: Learn About Pinkwashing and More

Latin America and Palestine with Hussein Sameh - Al-Shabaka

Reading: Angela Davis, Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement

“The Shape of the Wrath to Come”: James Baldwin’s Radicalism and the Evolution of His Thought on Israel


Misinformation in the media


PODCAST: Canadaland: The truth about media coverage of Palestine
The Israel Project’s PR Global Language Dictionary

Pinkwashing: Mini guide to some of Israel’s propanganda


Hundreds of journalists sign open letter condemning the killing of journalists in Palestine and calling for integrity in western media coverage of “Israel’s” atrocities against Palestinians. 

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