'The way Israel "administer" Palestine is outright colonialism'

SHAH ALAM - Social media influencer and trainer on anti-racism, bias, and privilege, Joris Lechene, says the way Israel "administers" Palestine is outright colonialism.

Explaining that colonialism was a global system of oppression that sought to establish the dominance of eurocentric knowledge hierarchies and ways of being in the world at the expense of other forms of existence on earth.

In proving his point, he said the official Israel map released by its government showed the colonisation of Palestine in the past, whereby many parts of the country have been taken over by Israel over a century-long dispute.

"That is colonialism! In action, right now! Israel and Palestine, indigenous or settler, colonialism happens regardless.

"Regardless of who's indigenous to that land, one of the two powers described by this map is recognising the other," he said in a video posted on his Instagram.

He also noted that he did not use the "dissapearing Palestine" map, which he knows could be contested.

Lechene was responding to a comment on his page from a user who asked to explain why Israel is colonialism if Jews are indigenous to the land and were not an empire with the ability to colonise.

He added that a global power that has complete control over the bodies and resources of 2 million people of colour does not recognise them as its own and calls them animals, exemplifying colonialism.

The video, which was posted on Wednesday, has garnered over 7,000 likes since.

He added that "Israel's own description of the way they "administer" Palestine fits the accepted definition of colonisation.

As an Afro-Caribbean, he also highlighted the importance of avoiding his own definition of colonialism and emphasising indigeneity.

"Just because people were brought across the Atlantic did not mean they did not experience colonisation because they were not native to the Americas.

"The issue of who's indigenous to the lands of Palestine and Israel is a debate that I'm aware of but that I am absolutely not qualified to participate in, and my point is not actually concerned with it because my definition of colonialism is the taking of land without the consent of the indigenous people who originally inhabited it.

"Regardless of who's indigenous to that land, one of two powers as described by this map is recognising the other," he added.

According to reports from Gaza, the latest Palestinian casualty figures are estimated at 700 people, with an additional 2,300 reported as injured as a result of Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire response.

The conflict between Palestinian fighters and Israeli military forces is ongoing in the cities of Gaza, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, Jabalia, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Rafah, and the border areas with Israel and Egypt.