Many Americans were surprised and mystified by the outbreak of pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas, and antisemitic protests on college campuses across the nation earlier this year. What on earth was going on? Why were American college students in such large numbers marching and occupying buildings in favor of Hamas (identified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization) and chanting “Palestine from the river to the sea” (the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea)?
The fact that approximately 8 million Israelis live in that geographical space meant that they would have to be removed or subjugated to accomplish this goal.
Recently, I encountered a volume that explained the ideological and intellectual origin of this movement. It is called “settler colonialism” and it is an academic thesis that posits that certain countries are “inherently and permanently illegitimate because of the way they were founded.” Adam Kirsch, On Settler Colonialism. Ideology, Violence, and Justice (2024).
Kirsch’s brilliant and insightful book traces the rise and influence of this toxic academic theory and the alarming cultural consequences its widespread acceptance would portend for America in particular and the West in general.
Settler colonialism’s central premise is that settlement is not a past historical event, but instead a “present structure.” In other words, every inhabitant of a country like America who is not descended from the original indigenous population will always be an interloper, not a legitimate inhabitant.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at The Christian Post)
