Palestinian author and former political prisoner Basem Khandakji said the current destruction in Gaza is part of a decades-long settler-colonial project.
This perspective shifts the timeline of the conflict, suggesting that the violence is not a recent development but a continuation of historical displacement. By framing the current events as a long-term process, the argument challenges the notion that the crisis began solely with events in 2023 [2].
During an interview with Mansa Musa for The Real News Network, Khandakji said that the genocide in Gaza did not start in 2023 [2]. He said that the current actions are the result of a violent agenda aimed at displacing Palestinians from their homeland.
Khandakji linked these events to the Nakba, or "Catastrophe," which occurred in 1948 [1]. He described the situation as the culmination of a project that has sought the mass displacement of Palestinians, and the destruction of Palestinian society, over several decades.
The Real News Network noted in its description of the interview that the destruction of Gaza is the result of this settler-colonial project that dates back to 1948 [1]. The discussion emphasized that the systemic nature of the violence is rooted in the historical effort to remove Palestinians from the region.
Khandakji said that the ongoing events in the Gaza Strip are an extension of these historical patterns. The interview focused on the connection between the 1948 displacement and the current military actions in the territory.
“Genocide Didn't Start in Gaza in 2023”
The framing of the Gaza conflict as a continuation of the 1948 Nakba moves the discourse from a specific military clash to a broader historical analysis of settler-colonialism. By arguing that the violence is a decades-long project, the narrative suggests that a ceasefire or temporary truce would not address the underlying cause of the conflict, which is viewed as the systemic displacement of the Palestinian people.
