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Does Israel's occupation of Gaza constitute settler colonialism?

TY Mathers · 2025-09-08T18:17:47.105101+00:00

This is a follow up to a conversation @hibrettt and @itai_maimon were having which I think warrants its own thread at this point. The point of debate the two had ended up at basically amounts to the title question: @hibrettt was of the belief that Israel's actions in Gaza are part of a colonial agenda, while @itai_maimon was of the opinion that Israel giving Gaza to Palestinians in 2005 shows that Israel does not have this agenda, and that they're acting in a good faith attempt at regional stability. @itai_maimon also suggested that it's only settler colonialism if the nation attempts to ethnically cleanse a region and replace them with that nation's people. So we end up with a couple questions here: Is Israel a country with intentions of expanding its territory? Has it in the past engaged in activities one could call "settler colonialism"? Why did Israel give Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005? Was it a good faith attempt at peace or was it a form of "retreat"? Does Israel currently have an intention of recolonizing Gaza (if we can call it that), or let's say more precisely moving back to the way things were pre-2005, e.g. long term military occupation, settlements, etc.? Also tagging @kyle_thackston because he was involved in the prior discussion