What to make of ethnic cleansing in Palestine?

In 2005, when Israel was forced to withdraw from Gaza, settlers also evacuated their illegal settlements. Ariel Sharon played a major role in this decision. The departure of Zionist settlers from Gaza was a significant development. However, after this, Zionist Israel began implementing a new plan: Gaza was placed under blockade. Even the food supply for Palestinians was calculated, and every possible measure was taken to make life difficult. The Zionists believed that Palestinians would not be able to endure the hardships of the blockade and would eventually leave Gaza. In fact, the very idea of the blockade was born from this belief. To them, Palestinians had failed to become a nation and could be driven off their land. This would allow them to recolonize Gaza and take another major step toward their vision for historic Palestine.

This belief was not new. As early as the 1920s, Zionists described Palestine as “a land without a people for a people without a land.” This same mindset shaped colonial policies, yet discussions about Orientalism have often overlooked its colonial dimensions—at least in our circles. Instead, Orientalist studies have been understood primarily through the lens of academic credibility and misconceptions about “us.” In reality, the core motivation of Orientalism was colonial ambition, with the East itself as its object. The goal was to claim the East, which meant that its native inhabitants had to be removed. This is what the concept of the "Eastern Question" was about—the struggle to seize control of the East. Edward Said, in his critical approach to Orientalism, particularly in Culture and Imperialism, exposed how the elimination of Eastern peoples was an inherent objective. The phrase “a people without a land” reflected this very desire for removal.

At the risk of digressing, it’s important to highlight that even the concept of civilization itself was born out of colonialism. Zionists embraced Orientalist notions of civilization, which is why they subscribed to the idea of “a people without a land.” Terms like savage, barbaric, uncivilized, and semi-civilized all stem from the same ideology. These labels were used to refer to those who did not live like the British, French, or Germans. Such beliefs are rooted in a deeply racist worldview. More importantly, this worldview dictated all actions. Karl Marx, when he said, “They are Easterners; they do not know suffering,” revealed that he, too, shared this belief. It’s no surprise that scholars like Bryan Turner and, years later, Robert J. C. Young argued that the Marxist tradition needed to be decolonized. The “European Left” inherited colonial perspectives wholesale. To them, the East was a place to be conquered, and its people were obstacles to be removed.

This is why the concept of ethnic cleansing is fundamentally a product of the colonial mindset. It becomes clear when we look at the use of terms like savage, barbaric, uncivilized, and semi-civilized. The British, in their campaigns against Indigenous peoples in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, believed they were “civilizing” the land by removing its native inhabitants. Since these Indigenous peoples were not considered civilized, they were thought to be incapable of suffering. This justified ethnic cleansing without moral conflict. They were seen as incapable of longing for their homeland because they had supposedly failed to form a nation.

We saw echoes of this mindset after October 7, when claims like “Palestinians sold their land, so they deserve this” surfaced. Those making such arguments were, perhaps unknowingly, channeling the same colonial impulses that once drove the British and the French. They assumed that Palestinians had no deep attachment to their land. To internalize Orientalist judgments this deeply requires a high degree of mental colonization. Of course, these same people have never objected to Zionists settling on historic Palestinian lands.

Colonial ambitions also drive U.S. President Trump. He, too, understands ethnic cleansing as the removal of Indigenous peoples from the land that colonial powers seek to claim. His plans for Gaza epitomize this view. It’s obvious that when Trump refers to Gaza’s current state, he isn’t talking about the destruction caused by U.S. and British-supplied weapons. He wants to seize the East—the Orient—and remove the Easterners standing in his way. His perception of Gazans as uncivilized people makes this clear.

Yet, for the first time, Gazans are experiencing the exhilaration of reclaiming historic Palestinian lands despite these colonial ambitions. This is the last thing Zionists and the British wanted—because, in doing so, Palestinians are proving, beyond any doubt, that historic Palestine was never “a land without a people.”