Decades before the Zionist movement’s inception in the late 19th century, the German Jewish thinker Moses Hess proposed in his contentious manuscript Rome and Jerusalem: The Last National Question (1862) that a Jewish state be established through settlements in Palestine as “socialist agricultural communities”.
He promoted the colonisation of Palestine, viewing the Holy Land as a forgotten corner of the Ottoman Empire; merely an empty land that should be utilised in the interests of the “Jewish nation”.
Twenty years later, in 1882, the Russian Jewish thinker Leon Pinsker published a pamphlet titled “Auto-Emancipation”, in which he pronounced: “The land which we are about to purchase must be productive and have a good situation, and an area sufficient to allow the settlement of several millions.”
Among major Zionist theorists, there is no mention of the indigenous Palestinian nation. In their view, Palestine was “an empty land”.
Even for Pinsker, there is no indication of whom he intended to buy the land from. The primary intention was to build a Jewish settler-colonial state through violence and terrorism.
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Paramilitary organisations, such as Haganah and Lehi, which were terrorist in nature, paved the way for the establishment of Israel in Palestine. The ethnic cleansing, mass killing, genocide, and total destruction of more than 500 Palestinian cities and villages unfolded during the Nakba, in which most of historical Palestine was lost, and more than 750,000 forced to flee their homeland.
When Israel was established in 1948, these terrorist organisations, along with their members and leaders, merged into what is now known as the Israeli army.
Rights denied
By 1948, through terrorism and violence, Israel had already colonised 78 percent of historical Palestine. Less than two decades later, particularly during the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel colonised the remaining Palestinian territories: the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Israeli commanders viewed this as completing the work left unfinished in 1948. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has continued uninterrupted since 1967, even during the so-called “peace process” with the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
For typical mainstream Israelis and Zionists, Israel must be a purely Jewish state that controls all Palestinian land. Naturally, the West Bank is no exception in this regard. Zionist theorists find it largely ridiculous to imagine Israel, or the so-called Greater Israel, without a complete subjugation and full colonisation of the West Bank.
Classical Zionist theorists denied the existence of the Palestinian nation long before the establishment of Israel
Legally speaking, Israel has never recognised its military control and colonisation of the Palestinian territories as an occupation, claiming that these territories - Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - are disputed zones, where Palestinians are just residents, not citizens.
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the subjugation of Palestinians has progressively intensified through military orders, more than 2,500 of which have been issued to confiscate Palestinian land, build and expand Jewish settlements, close streets, and regulate all aspects of life. The intent is to strip Palestinians of their basic rights, including movement, education and freedom.
Over the past decade, Israel has significantly increased its illegal confiscation of Palestinian land and settlement expansion. Around 750,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. This expansion is achieved not only through individual acts of violence and terrorism, but more notably with the state’s full financial and military support.
Since 7 October 2023, the West Bank has experienced an extraordinary escalation of settler terrorism, with the full support of the Israeli army. Organised campaigns of settler terrorism, accompanied by substantial state changes to the territory’s colonial administrative and legal structure, have led to the displacement of Bedouins, the spread of pastoral outposts, and the increasing fragmentation of Palestinian communities.
Process of dehumanisation
Across the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlements isolate and fragment Palestinian villages and cities. This situation is exacerbated by state policies and procedures, including the installation and monitoring of hundreds of military checkpoints, gates and other roadblocks.
These conditions make it near-impossible to link a single Palestinian city or village to another, undermining any prospects for peace or a viable future Palestinian state.
Settlers steal Palestinian land and prevent its cultivation, all under the protection of the Israeli army. Human Rights Watch says some of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories amount to crimes against humanity, including apartheid and persecution.
How Israeli settler terrorism threatens the basics of Palestinian survival
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Israel’s ultimate objective is to prepare for the complete annexation of the occupied territories, and the displacement of all Palestinians from their homeland - or, alternatively, their concentration in scattered and segregated geographical enclaves.
Classical Zionist theorists denied the existence of the Palestinian nation long before the establishment of Israel. Nowadays, Israeli policy and settler terrorism continue to deny Palestinian existence and identity through an ongoing process of dehumanisation.
This was remarkably expressed by former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, when he ordered a complete siege of Gaza in October 2023, noting: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”
Early Zionist thinkers - from Hess, to Pinsker and Zeev Jabotinsky - paved the way for colonising Palestine through terrorism and violence against the indigenous population. Today, organised Israeli settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank, bolstered by state policy, has led to the displacement of more Palestinians and the further expansion of Jewish settlements.
The question is, for how long can Palestinians bear this harsh and racist Israeli apartheid and aggression? Based on the modern history of the West Bank, one might argue that the tremendous and mounting pressure on Palestinians could ultimately lead to a new intifada.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
