Zionism was a settler-colonial project from its inception, rooted in dispossession and replacement. This analysis is supported by extensive scholarship and aligns with the Palestinian historical experience.
Zionism, as a political movement, emerged in a colonial world order and operated within its logic: land acquisition, demographic engineering, and the erasure of native presence—all justified through a narrative of “return” to a “land without a people.”
Extensive research confirms this: scholars like Gershon Shafir and Areej Sabbagh-Khoury show that from the start, Zionism sought not coexistence, but the conquest of land and labor, with Palestinian displacement built into its structure. As Shafir argues, “Israel” fits the model of a “pure settlement colony”—one that aims to eliminate, not just exploit, the indigenous population.