The usage of the words: colonialism or apartheid or occupiers for Israel in the mainstream is technically Incorrect! And it’s not about me being partial, but, pointing out the wrongful usage of words in the layman’s language.
Now, colonialism means establishing forceful settlement over indigenous people, whereas, apartheid means segregation in terms of race. But in the Israel-Palestine conflict, technically, Israelis themselves too are original indigenous people according to the ancient history books; who once left their homeland during invasions by Romans, Greeks, and especially during Arab era; got dispersed globally, until post WW-1 & 2, wherein eventually started returning back to their homeland i.e. present day Israel, which their ancestors fled once, during earlier invasions.
Whether you call them Zionists or Jews or Anti-Zionists Jews, their roots were always connected to the present-day location of Israel, which is indeed a fact. Thus, by saying that, Israelis are the occupiers or colonizers today, is technically wrong, because when someone’s ancestors already occupied the land thousands of years back, and who further fled due to invasions/proselytism, & later came back to their own homeland only; how can then one technically colonize its own land? Whereas, w.r.t. apartheid, one can witness that in Islamic nations as well, by the mere fact of the existence of 57+ proud Islamic Nations representing Islamic thoughts (segregation by race?).Now, how could we define Israel-Palestine conflict then? It’s basically two indigenous sections in discord, claiming to be the original indigenous; wherein Israel considers Palestinians being descendants of Arab Invaders (who came much later), whereas, Palestinians consider Israelis being descendants of occupiers of the last one hundred years or so only with the help of Brits. Further, the two-state solution too won’t change the status quo, ever; whereas, the one state solution would create a contrived diversity, wherein mismatch in evolutionary traits would bring more discord than ever. Philosophical Fact!
© Pranav Chaturvedi 2023