Mobs of Israeli settlers have rampaged through the occupied West Bank attacking Palestinians and their property, killing two people. The latest violence was sparked by the disappearance of a 14-year-old boy from an illegal outpost, whose body was later found.
I don’t get why so many people on here think “settlers” is a benign word.
During colonization settlers were responsible for genocidal massacres and land theft in Australia, Canada, US, Brazil, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Including some pretty famous ones like Trail of Tears.
What we are seeing in Palestine is what Settlers look like during the active colonization phase.
“settlers” is the perfect word to describe their social role. Far better than “Nazi” or “fascist” which ditch precision for emotional weight.
They are behaving as genocidal maniacs because of their social role within settler colonialism, not because each person believes in fascism or because they’re just behaving “fascistly” or whatever.
They may be indistinguishable at times, but the word “settlers” paints quite an accurate picture of what is happening: Manifest Destiny or Lebensraum.