Structural violence in Gaza reflects decades of colonial planning and settler-state policies
Original framing: “Gaza is not an aberration - Israel planned this genocide decades ago” — Middle East Eye
The current conflict is part of a continuum of violence since 1948, with policies of land confiscation, house demolition, and population transfer forming a consistent strategy of ethnic cleansing. Similar patterns were used in the U.S. during the Trail of Tears and in Australia with the Stolen Generations.
The violence in Gaza is not an aberration but a predictable outcome of a colonial system designed to dispossess and dominate.
This system is upheld by legal, economic, and military structures that have evolved over decades, with international support. Indigenous resistance, global solidarity movements, and international legal mechanisms offer pathways to accountability and justice. A just resolution requires dismantling the settler-state apparatus and recognizing Palestinian rights to self-determination. The role of international actors, particularly the U.S. and European states, in enabling this violence must be confronted through political and economic pressure.