Israel’s founding fathers were clear about the settler colonial and racist nature of the Zionist project, says prof

“Settler colonialism is based on the theft and exploitation of lands and resources that belong to Indigenous people. History and current conflicts have shown that this ongoing system of oppression is mainly based on racism and white supremacy,” stated Viqar Husain, paraphrasing Cornell Law School’s definition of settler colonialism.

Husain made the remarks at the panel, “Palestine: Zionism as Modern Colonialism,” on Nov. 1 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

Husain is a professor of Mathematics at the University of New Brunswick Fredericton and an organizer with Fredericton Palestine Solidarity. For Husain, settler colonialism is rooted in European superiority and the complete destruction and replacement of Indigenous people and their cultures by the settler’s.

Husain described three examples of settler colonialism: “French” Algeria (1830-1962), where approximately 825,000 Indigenous Algerians were killed; “German” South West Africa (Namibia), where a genocide was perpetrated in response to an uprising by the Herero and Namaqua people from 1904 to 1907, killing nearly 100,000; and The Indian Removal Act (1830) that was used to displace thousands of Native Americans to the west of the Mississippi River in a process now recognized as genocide.

In the context of Zionism, Husain pointed out that Israel’s founding fathers were clear about the settler colonial and racist nature of the Zionist project in Palestine.

One of the founding fathers was Theodor Herzl, who wrote to British imperialist Cecil Rhodes that the Zionist plan was colonial. “We must expropriate gently the private property assigned to us […]. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly,” Herzl wrote in his diaries.

The other example Husain used was David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister. In his journals (1948-1953), Ben-Gurion writes about having Mizrahi Jews surveilled, trying to get Palestinian refugees to leave and details rapes committed by soldiers.

The creation of Israel was preceded by the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba. “This was an objective of the Zionist movement, the exodus resulted from a planned ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” Husain emphasized, citing Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé’s book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.

Husain recommended Pappé’s Ten Myths about Israel, which debunks commonly accepted ideas such as there is no difference between Zionism and Judaism, that Zionism is not a colonial project of occupation, and that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.

Husain urged the audience to watch the documentary, The Law in these Parts, which has a series of interviews with Israel’s military legal corps that set up the apartheid system in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He also suggested reading French sociologist Didier Fassin’s book, Moral Abdication: How the World Failed to Stop the Destruction of Gaza, which provides a record of the first six months of the war waged by Israel after the October 7th attacks.

Thoughts of a Palestinian-Canadian

Joining Husain on the panel was Chantelle Paiu, a second generation Palestinian born in Canada. Paiu is an organizer with Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and a birth worker.

Paiu spoke from her experience as an Israeli Arab: “I’m fortunate that I can visit my family and see places like Bethlehem, unlike those in Gaza and the West Bank.” Palestinians require permits from Israeli authorities and navigate a maze of check points to travel within the occupied territories.

“My life’s work is to make sure children don’t grow up with the confusion that I grew up with,” Paiu said referring to stereotypes of Arabs as being terrorists, savages and the assumption that all Arabs are Muslims. “Jesus was from Palestine,” she added.

Paiu said she was taught to assimilate in Canada, “no one taught me about colonization and apartheid, even though it exists here.”

“When I go to Tel Aviv, there are guns, check points and bag checks in grocery stores. Is this a normal democracy?” Paiu asked. She recalled her first triggering experience at a mall in Tel Aviv, where she saw a hiring sign for a salesperson with required military service: “I can’t work there. They’re selling jeans and soap. Why does this need military service?”

Questioning the perception of Israel as a safe haven, Paiu noted that there were many examples of erasure and discrimination in the state: “What about Ethiopian Jews? Women were given shots to prevent reproduction. They’re often deported.”

Paiu contrasted her upbringing with the “hate and racism” in Israeli society: “We never said we hate the Jews. We have Jewish friends and visitors. My parents grew up with them. It’s not Jews, it’s the system of colonial oppression.”

“Jew” is not an ethnicity, Paiu pointed out. “Jews were there prior to Israel, they were also Arab, they spoke Arabic. We shouldn’t make that distinction or conflate the Jews with the Israeli state,” she said.

In the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, 7 out of 11 examples relate to the criticism of the state of Israel. “This is weird, me being alive as a Palestinian is resistance to Israel, is that antisemitic?” she asked.

Paiu clarified that the term “Semite” relates to geography and language. “We’re all Semites, all Arabs are. How can we be antisemitic?” she said. “Antisemitism is a European concept that was weaponized using the trauma of the holocaust for propaganda. Now, we’re stuck with debating the antisemitism of resistance to genocide,” she lamented.

Paiu concluded that both the federal and New Brunswick government use the IHRA definition of anti-semitism while the city of Fredericton is considering it. She requested the audience talk to their councilors, MLAs and MPs to oppose the definition.

“A good alternative is the Jerusalem declaration, which makes a clear distinction between antisemitism and Zionism,” she said. “Definitions won’t solve the problem, but they make it easier to call out oppressive systems and helps vulnerable communities.”

Antisemitism, complicity and protest

An audience member from Independent Jewish Voices mentioned the no IHRA campaign. “IHRA is dangerous for Palestinians because it criminalizes protest and for Jews because they have to behave like they support Israel’s actions,” they said. They also stressed the importance of seeing Zionism as a system of propaganda. “The idea that this is an exceptional situation going on from biblical times is false, this is just colonialism. It is a dangerous nuclear, military and environmental threat,” they added.

A student asked about young people’s experience in Palestine. “My cousins learn Arabic, Hebrew and English in school with everyone but the discrimination is normalized and calling it out has repercussions. They have to fight harder for everything and priority is given to European Jews,” Paiu responded.

Paiu’s father, Botros Misheal, who was born in the occupied territories near Haifa, was in the audience. He mentioned that his neighbor was a Jew and was like family. “His religion didn’t matter. He served in the army when apartheid came. My family had an advantage because of him,” Misheal recalled.

Misheal went to Acadia University to get a diploma in 2015, “we weren’t allowed to use the word apartheid for Israel. I grew up in apartheid!” he exclaimed. Misheal expressed his frustration over the current war, “Canadian leaders, the UN, they say never again as they watch and enable genocide. what does it mean?”

The discussion turned to protests. “Arguments around antisemitism and safety are often used to silence voices but we have tangible power to change things locally, the UNB divestment campaign and the BDS movement are good examples,” Paiu said. She emphasized the need for “solidarity on all fronts.”

“We must be resourceful, we can collectively reject capitalist and imperialist structures,” Paiu added.

An audience member asked about indoctrination in Israeli schools. Paiu responded by referring to the “culture of entitlement.”

“They’re teaching kids to take what is not theirs. I’m scared of teenage boys who carry weapons. They can do anything, the IDF will back them. They learn entitlement and there is a lot of impunity,” she said.

Husain pointed out that every student in Israel gets military training after high school, adding, “imagine what that does to young minds.”

Husain is concerned about the “pattern of silencing voices.”

“Describing what’s happening makes you an extremist. Human rights organizations and news outlets that cover the occupation are accused of being corrupt, or are silenced, or labeled terrorist,” said Husain.

Canada has been a longstanding supporter of Israel and several Canadian charities financially support the occupation. After decades of grassroots campaigning, the charitable status of one such organization, the Jewish National Fund was revoked by the Canadian government on August 10.

This panel was part of a panel series being organized by the UNB Student Organizing Collective. The next panel in the series will be on “The War on Climate: Fossil Fuels and the Military Industrial Complex” on November 22 at 2 p.m. at Carleton Hall room 106 at UNB Fredericton, with speakers Tracy Glynn and Daniel Tubb. Learn about future events by following the SOC on Facebook and Instagram: @socunb.

Nomaan X is an organizer with the Saint John Community Coalition and Fredericton Palestine Solidarity. He also teaches at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.