The gruesome scenes of death and destruction in Gaza are a reminder that for Israel, violence is not incidental, accidental or coincidental. It is part and parcel of its colonial DNA, says Al Jazeera columnist Marwan Bishara.

Like the French in Algeria, the Dutch in Indonesia and South Africa, the Belgians in the Congo, the Spaniards in South America and the Europeans in North America, the Zionists have also dehumanised the natives of the land as a precursor to or justification for guilt-free repression and violence, Bishara says. But he notes that colonialism should not be conflated with Judaism. “If anything, the Jews have historically been the victims of racism for centuries, rendering many of them anti-colonialists,” he adds.

Still, “(f)or decades, Israel has used disproportionate force and carried out countless massacres against Palestinian civilians as a form of revenge, punishment and deterrence,” says Bishara.

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