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Palestine: Buried Genocides in our current world

  • Eshal Uzair
  • 21 hours ago
  • 6 min read

By: Eshal Uzair

Edited By: Elizabeth Coupe


Note: It is important to remember that there is a distinct differentiation between Judaism and Zionism. Judaism is the monotheistic and Abrahamic religion of the Jewish people. In contrast, Zionism was (originally) a movement for the “re-establishment” and (now) development of a Jewish Nation, it is a Nationalistic and Political ideology, completely separate from the religion of Judaism.



1948. The end of British rule on Palestine as they renounced control to the United Nations, so that their 1947 Partition Plan could finally commence. For decades, Zionist leaders pursued statehood through European diplomacy, and when British rule in Palestine came to an end, that long campaign found its political reward. 



The History of Zionism

To understand the ideological roots of the modern conflict, it is necessary to look to Europe at the turn of the twentieth century. Theodor Herzl, an upper-middle-class Viennese journalist, came to political Zionism through his experiences of entrenched antisemitism. Educated in Vienna after leaving Budapest due to an antisemitic school environment, Herzl trained in law but pursued a career in literature and journalism, later serving as a Paris correspondent for Neue Freie Presse. 


There, he became convinced that antisemitism was a structural and enduring feature of European society, one that could not be overcome through assimilation alone. In response, he articulated a new political solution: Jewish statehood. This vision was formalised in his 1896 pamphlet Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), which framed Zionism as a diplomatic and territorial project requiring international support. 



While ideas of Jewish self-determination predated Herzl; notably in Leon Pinsker’s Auto-Emancipation which was one of the first to explicitly voice the notion of emigration to Palestine and the formation of colonies there, Herzl’s contribution lay in transforming these aspirations into a coherent political movement which would later focus its ambitions on Palestine. 


The Obstacle to Zionism


However, Herzl’s ideology remained theoretical. Palestine, at the turn of the twentieth century wasn’t a stage for European diplomacy, but rather a governed and protected province of the Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Abdulhamid II. Muslims, Christians and Jews lived within an imperial system that, whilst hierarchical, allowed religious communities autonomy. It is important to note that the Ottoman sultan ensured that his Caliphate did not pursue any antisemitic policy, with Abdulhamid II himself distinguishing between European antisemitism and Ottoman governance. Abdulhamid II’s opposition to Zionist settlement wasn’t rooted in hostility towards Jews, but rather in concerns over Imperial sovereignty and fear of foreign encroachment.


Abdulhamid II was far from welcoming Zionist settlement in Palestine, resisting relentless foreign intervention and explicitly rejecting any proposals that would benefit his empire but would allow Zionist migration to Palestine. Herzl himself had offered to pay off all the debt of the Ottoman empire, with figures £150 million in gold or £20 million being mentioned in negotiations - all declined. By the early 1900s major Zionists had understood; as long as the Ottoman empire held the upper hand, Zionist statehood was effectively impossible. It was only with the political upheavals that followed the Young Turk’s revolution that this barrier began to erode.



The Solution to Abdulhamid II


Whilst Abdulhamid II’s rule provided stability and secured the empire from its previous eroding state, the selfsame policies put him at odds with reformist movements. Amongst these were the Young Turks, and a prominent member was not only a member of this movement but a lawyer, Emmanuel Carasso. Raised in Thessaloniki, Carasso became an Ottoman citizen in order to run for Parliament. The Young Turk Revolution, led by ideologically driven, politically intelligent men like Emmanuel Carasso (who was integral to this movement, affluent and well-educated) promised constitutionalism, reform and renewal. 


In deposing Abdulhamid II the following year, the movement dismantled the imperial authority that had long resisted foreign intervention in Ottoman territories. Following the Young Turk revolution, WW1 occurred, the Ottoman empire participated, and lost control of Palestine. Palestine had become the British Mandate of Palestine. 


The Nakba (catastrophe)


What followed was not a neutral administrative transition, but a radical restructuring of land, power and population; one whose consequences are still unfolding. The word Nakba translates to catastrophe in Arabic and the event refers to a mass displacement and dispossession of Arabs (Palestinians). In November 1947, the Arab states rejected the UN’s Partition Plan, arguing that it was unfair and violated the UN Charter. Zionist militias launched attacks against Palestinian villages, forcing thousands to flee. Between 1947 and 1949, approximately 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes, and over 400 villages were depopulated or destroyed. What began as mass expulsion has since become a permanent refugee crisis, with over 5 million Palestinians today registered as refugees. 



Zionist leaders euphemistically referred to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine using the word “transfer”. Over 400 towns were destroyed, accompanied by numerous civilian massacres, yet the violence did not end in 1948. after what is termed the “Arab-Israeli War”. However, the persistent and intentional harm and cruel disposition of Palestinians bleeds heavily into our current world.


The Current Genocide


The patterns of displacement, violence, and erasure that began with the Nakba continue in Gaza today, magnified by blockade, warfare, and targeted attacks on civilians and infrastructure. Gaza is not an anomaly, but a concentration of this history: a space where displacement, enclosure, and violence have been intensified rather than resolved. Palestine has long been revered as holy by all three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, a land historically shaped by co-existence. Yet in the modern era, this shared sanctity has been hollowed out by political projects that weaponise religion in the pursuit of power and territory.


An article by Brown University states, “As of 3 October 2025, according to the Gaza ministry of health 67,075 people have been killed and 169,430 people have been injured out of the approximately 2.2 million people living in the Gaza strip in July 2023”. This ever-increasing death toll is a result of the destruction of infrastructure - agriculture, energy, water, housing, electricity, all vital for human survival - and direct attacks using weaponry. With over 20,000 children reported killed in Gaza since October 7 2025, humanity begins to wonder where it has blundered, defying the basic right to life of the one most vulnerable group the world had collectively vowed to protect: children.



The human toll is mirrored by the destruction of cultural and religious heritage, reminding the world that Gaza’s suffering extends beyond its people to its shared history - for example - the destruction of the world’s 3rd oldest church, the Church of Saint Porphyrius. With a 1,600 year old history, the church rooted in its name-sake, the 5th century Bishop of Gaza was rebuilt during the crusades. On the 19th of October, 2023, the church was hit with an airstrike in one of its buildings. Despite this, the clergy and nuns, whilst warned to evacuate, remain inside the Church of Saint Porphyrius stating that it would be “no less than a death sentence” to leave such a sacred and historic site. Its damage stands as a stark reminder that Gaza’s destruction is not confined to one people or one faith, but extends to a shared human and religious heritage that once defined the land as sacred. 



This is the Church of Saint Porphyrius, after the attack and before.


What makes Gaza’s suffering particularly stark is not only its scale, but its erasure. The Nakba is often treated as a historical footnote rather than a foundational trauma, despite the fact that its consequences are still ongoing, 77 years later. Displacement did not end in 1948; it was merely formalised. To speak of Gaza without acknowledging the roots of Zionism and the Nakba is to discuss violence without its origin and crisis without its cause. In order to understand Gaza today, one must trace its tragedies from the ideological ambitions of Europe to the displacements of 1948 - and recognize that history is not past, but ongoing. Awareness then, is not an act of sympathy, but rather of historical importance. 



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