I’m not arguing that Jews were treated always and everywhere by all Arabs. I’m arguing that in general they fared better in Arab countries than they did under European ones. I’m pushing back on your earlier assertion that painted the Arabs as a monolith.
Moving to a land and setting up communities and industries that discriminate against the local population, and expelling them from the land is colonization. By definition.
Calling a land your homeland because some of your ancestors lived there 2000 years ago, when most of your other ancestors from 2000 years ago lived in Europe, is a very weak claim compared to that of the local inhabitants who are almost entirely descended from the ancient indigenous population.
I don’t think there would have been anything wrong with European Jews immigrating to Palestine with the intention of living peacefully with the Palestinians. But the early Zionist leaders were clear about their intention to expel them and create a state exclusively for themselves.
If this were true then the Jewish diaspora would be ethnically homogeneous across the Mediterranean and Europe, which it isn’t. Jewish communities intermarried and made converts among local populations wherever they settled.
It absolutely happened and the early zionist leaders were very open about their colonial intentions. That’s how 19th / early 20th century Europeans commanded respect. They weren’t shy about it at all.
No. I said that the Ottoman Empire was known as a safe haven for Jews, which it was, for most of its history. The rise of nationalism in the 18th and 19th centuries was terrible for people everywhere.
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We were persecuted for centuries. Returning to our homeland to form a place we wouldn't be persecuted isn't "colonialism".
It isn't that *most* of our ancestors lived there, *all* of our ancestors are from there.
No, our ancestors are not from Europe, that's where they fled to after Islamic conquest of our homeland.
No, Arab Palestinians are not descended from the ancient indigenous population.