Zionism and Settler Colonialism in Israel

Is Zionism a colonial movement? This question has long been a subject of debate and was the title of the classic article by Derek Penslar, professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, nearly two decades ago. Prof. Penslar will join Yael Berda, professor of Sociology at Hebrew University, to discuss this still-contentious issue, in a conversation moderated by Dartmouth’s Jonathan Smolin, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies. #####. Prof. Penslar has argued that Zionism and the State of Israel do not reproduce classic European colonialism but represent a case of settler colonialism that is constantly shifting, therefore challenging the usefulness of static concepts such as “colonial.” Yael Berda’s book Colonial Bureaucracy and Contemporary Citizenship presents the state of Israel in comparative context, asking how the legacy of European colonialism functions after the empire has withdrawn. She compares three former British colonies, Israel, India, and Cyprus, to see how colonial-era laws and bureaucracies continue to dominate the post-colonial state.