Zionism as settler colonialism

Zionism has been described by several scholars as a form of settler colonialism in relation to the region of Palestine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This paradigm has been applied to Zionism by various scholars and figures, including Patrick Wolfe, Edward Said, Ilan Pappe, Noam Chomsky, and others who view zionism as a form of settler colonialism. Many of Zionism founders and leaders described their project as a colonial project, and major Zionist organizations and agencies central to Israel creation held names reflecting colonial identity. The settler colonial framework on the Palestinian struggle emerged in the 1960s during the decolonization of Africa and the middle east, and re-emerged in Israeli academia in 1990s led by Israeli Palestinian scholars and new Historians who refuted some of Israel's foundational myths and reinterpreted Nakba as enduring. This perspective contends that Zionism involves processes of elimination and assimilation of Palestinians, akin to other settler colonial contexts such as the United States and Australia.

Critics argue that Zionism does not fit traditional colonial frameworks, seeing Zionism as the repatriation of an indigenous population and an act of self-determination. This debate is part of the broader tensions over the historical and contemporary narratives surrounding Israel foundation and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.