The Colonization of Palestine Part 1: From the Pale to the Settlements

Zionism, the nationalist movement to establish a Jewish state, was born out of the broken promise of European Liberalism and enlightenment values. As pogroms and anti-semitic conspiracy theories spread throughout Europe, Jewish intellectuals inspired by Nationalism set out to create a “New Jew” in Palestine. But Palestine is already inhabited by Arabs, including Arab Jews and Sephardim, who ask that their European brothers and sisters learn rather than destroy the local culture. The Arab masses are forced into wage labor after being dispossessed of their land by European and Arab capital, who proceed to sell the land to European Jewish settlers. Without political control of their own land, Palestinian intellectuals begin to assert themselves and build a modern nationalism of their own. Jewish socialists split over the question of Zionism, as revolutionaries denounce the emergence of Zionism in the movement for rejecting worker internationalism in favor of ethnic chauvinism. As more Jews immigrate to Palestine and Arabs barred from employment, the logical conclusion to “the Arab Question” becomes more and more clear.The Movements is a leftist history and politics podcast. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Transcripts may be requested for accessibility reasons by e-mailing [email protected]. Find us on facebook and twitter @movementspod and support the show by donating at https://www.patreon.com/movementspodSupport the showSupport The Movements on PatreonSubscribe to the PodcastApple PodcastsGoogleSpotifyStitcherTwitter @movementspodSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/movementspod)