ZIONISM AS COLONIALISM In order to establish a Jewish state on land populated by non-Jews, the Zionist movement concluded that the indigenous population must be expelled. Early Zionist thinkers and planners were well-aware that historic Palestine was well- populated by an indigenous people. There was no pretence of an empty land except in statements of propaganda. Not only was there frank recognition of an existing population on the land, but Zionist planners were clear-eyed that the population would resist being displaced. Throughout the early-to-mid 20th century, localised expulsions and displacements were already occurring as Jewish settlers arrived in the first waves and Zionists bought up land under the British mandate. In fact, the very first waves of settlement were already occurring in the late 19th century. But it was not until the 1930s, with the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany, that Zionist settlement began to increase dramatically. This process and the expulsion and displacement which it entailed reached a high point in 1948, when the state of Israel was formally declared and around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs were ethnically cleansed from the land. Zionists see this moment as the culmination of their project and their most significant victory. But the rupture of 1948 demonstrated the violence and dispossession that Zionism necessitated for the Palestinian population, the indigenous people already inhabiting the land and thus the chief obstacle to Zionism’s colonial endeavour.
Jewish population in Palestine
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
1918
1922
1939
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