on indigeneity



"Jews are indigenous to Israel!"

Zionists who make this claim are, in my experience, almost always white Americans or Canadians, and not actually Indigenous to the land those nations occupy. It's a covert way for settlers to "play Indian," and I have even seen people who do this cite 23andMe unironically.

It's not that Jews have no historical connection to that region. It's that the people who say "Jews are indigenous" are motivated by the Zionist project of erasing Palestinians who also have real connections to the same land. The implication is that Jewish settler-colonialism is justified because "we're just taking back what's ours," even though the reasons Israel even exists right now in the first place are genocide and theft. It is impossible for Zionists to be in solidarity with Indigenous people, because Zionism is fundamentally colonial. They are only appropriating the trappings.

Condemnation of the genocide essential to Israel's existence must be put in context of how "indigeneity" is being twisted into an excuse and justification.

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