Settler Colonialism and Resistance Historical Roots of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Abstract

The paper is the historical trace of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, within the larger contexts of the colonization, settler projects, and world geopolitics. Starting with the emergence of political Zionism in late 19th century Europe, the paper reviews how antisemitism, imperialism, and frequent betrayals by world powers all came together to form a century of dispossession, violence and rebellion. The article studies critical turning points using a historical-ana-lytical methodology, including the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate, the Nakba of 1948, the six-day war, the Oslo Accords, and the ongoing human-itarian disaster in Gaza (2023- 2025). Rooted in settler-colonial and postcolo-nial theory, the discussion proves the way Zionism was both a national move-ment and a European colonial project. The conclusions outline that the Gaza crisis that has taken place today is not the singular battle, but rather the result of a 100 years-long process of displacement and subjugation. The paper ends by restating the moral, political, and scholarly urgency of re-forming Palestine as an incomplete project of decolonization of the world.