The phenomenon of pro-Hamas activism by self-described “progressives” in the United States following the October 7 massacre demands an explanation. Kirsch partially provides this in his slim volume on the ideology of settler colonialism.
This set of convictions portrays America’s founding as “an unmitigated disaster” that, in the words of one prominent scholar, “should never have happened.” Israel is seen as a singular source of evil. In this sense, “The ideology of settler colonialism is founded on a ... sense that history is evil and deserves to be repealed.”
“Settler colonialism,” Kirsch reports, was initially developed to highlight the violent histories of the United States, Canada, and Australia—all nations “founded by European settlers on land taken from indigenous peoples.” Practitioners of this ideology regard these countries as permanently illegitimate because they were “created against the will of the people previously living there.” The implication is clear: given their permanent illegitimacy, the current inhabitants of these states, which now include Israel, are worthy of relentless attack and demonization.
Kirsch reports that this ideology has become ubiquitous on the far left, with multitudes embracing “the notion that the only way to think about injustice, or even basis historical phenomena like war and conquest, is by analogy with Palestine.” A homeless encampment taken down? It’s the Nakba! A pipeline under an Indian reservation? It’s Gaza!
These convictions, Kirsch warns, legitimize violence against Americans and Israelis. Rather than work to improve life for all the inhabitants of the United States and Israel, settler colonialism advocates have embarked on a campaign to “disrupt settler futures.” That can manifest itself as mildly as reciting “land acknowledgements” or as murderously as the events of October 7.
Kirsch concludes that it is a “sign of ignorance to turn any country into a symbol of evil.” He calls for accepting the reality of the United States and Israel, and working to improve them, not destroy them. It is comforting to think that such a baleful ideology can be defeated with appeals to the higher angels of its adherents, but recent events demonstrate otherwise. Settler colonialism, like other utopian ideologies, is more likely to be defeated on the battlefield—with great loss of life—than in college classroom. As the carnage in Gaza demonstrates, ideas and stories that sound good to college professors and their acolytes end up getting people killed when applied to the real world.
Dexter Van Zile
Managing Editor, Focus on Western Islamism
