Is Israel a result of the colonial past?

Israel has no rights to Palestinian land

The legitimacy of the Zionist movement, seeking to return Jews to the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), is rooted in the Jewish people’s descent from the ancient Israelites, predating the emergence of Arabs as a nation by thousands of years. The Jewish people have a religious, legal, and historical claim to the land. They have always looked toward Zion (Jerusalem) in prayer, maintained a deep connection to the land, and sustained a presence there despite repeated expulsions. During their long exile, Jews were treated as outsiders and often persecuted.

Claims that today’s Palestinians descend from Canaanites, Jebusites, and other biblical peoples don’t hold much weight, as these assertions are based on the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), which itself documents Jewish life in the region and specifically names Abraham as the common ancestor of the Jews and the Arabs.

The claim that Palestinians have a greater right to the Land of Israel due to their continuous presence there after the Jewish exile 2,000 years ago is as valid as claiming that Jews have a right to the land because Palestinians were displaced 80 years ago

Israel was created as a result of British colonialism, with Zionism imposed on the Palestinians starting with the Balfour Declaration as part of Britain’s imperial agenda

While Britain had its own imperial interests, its support for Zionism emerged well after the movement’s founding in the 1890s and quickly diminished. This is reflected in events like the creation of Transjordan in 1922, the Passfield White Paper in 1930, and other actions. By 1939, with the White Paper, Britain had fully distanced itself from the Balfour Declaration and shifted toward a pro-Arab stance. Despite this, Zionism thrived in opposition to British colonial policy, not as a product of it. The true driver of Zionism was antisemitism, which Herzl recognized as a persistent reality in any society where Jews lived as a minority.

History has since proven Herzl’s instincts tragically correct, with antisemitism reaching its apex in Nazi Germany, where six million Jews were brutally murdered. Though the specific accusations against Jews have changed over time, they’ve never disappeared. Today, such claims may seem irrational, but in every era, many people accepted them as truth. Unfortunately, not much has changed—Jews continue to face new baseless accusations, and many still believe them thus reinforcing the need for the Zionist movement.

The natural homeland for the Jewish state is the Land of Israel, where Jewish roots trace back thousands of years, long before the Arab nation emerged. Zionism itself began decades before the distinct Palestinian identity developed, distinguishing it from other Arab groups. Zionism reached its goal in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel. This occurred after World War II, as Western nations, including Britain, were shedding their colonies and beginning the process of disengagement. Britain left India and Pakistan in 1947 and announced its withdrawal from Palestine in 1948. Therefore, the creation of Israel was a product of the end of the colonial era, not a part of it, exemplified by the Exodus ship incident, which underscored the struggle against British opposition to Zionism.

The Western world supports Israel because it is connected to its own values, such as Christianity and liberal democracy, rather than solely for moral or legal reasons

The Jewish people faced centuries of persecution in Europe, culminating in the Holocaust during the first half of the 20th century. Antisemitism had grown so intense that it led to the genocide of six million Jews. Therefore, Claim that the West supports Israel because of its ties to Christianity rather than moral or legitimate reasons, contradicts common sense.

It also contradicts the claim that Israel was established out of guilt over the Holocaust and antisemitism, as this implies a conflicting “love-hate” dynamic. You can’t have it both ways.

As for liberal democracy: in Israel’s early days, it wasn’t clear whether the country would align with the communist or democratic bloc. Therefore, it’s unfounded to assume that, in 1947, Europe saw Israel as inherently “closer” to its values than the Arab world. Of course, this has evolved over time, and today Israel and the Western world do share many common values, including democracy, freedom of speech, the value of human life, and human rights. As a result, these shared principles did strengthen their bond.

The Western world supports Israel largely out of guilt over the Holocaust. Since Palestinians were not involved in the Holocaust, there is no justification for compensating Israel at their expense

The severe impact of antisemitism may have led some nations to support UN Resolution 181. However, the impact primarily resulted in a rare instance where morality and legitimacy were prioritized over unrelated political interests. While the issue is contested, Israel has at least as much right to the land as the Palestinians. Therefore, it is both natural and just that the Jewish people would establish their nation on the Land of Israel.