Zahi Zalloua, Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature and Director of Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies at Whitman College, discusses the relevance of Edward’s Orientalism in the face of the current genocide in Gaza as he addresses the challenge of our times in “unlearning Zionism in fascist times,” which necessitates an “ontological upheaval.” Zalloua discusses the racial logic at the heart of the Zionist project which is a reproduction of colonialism and European racism which, he argues, not only still has purchase, but which also undergirds the historical horrors of what Europe allowed to happen on its soil, whereby the mass dispossession and subjection of Palestinians became the byproduct of European guilt. Addressing the problems of Western feminists who perpetuate the racist fantasy of the “black rapist” that has plagued feminist communities for decades, noting how, during the height of the MeToo movement, white women were shocked by black women who resisted joining this movement, entirely oblivious to the racist backdrop of Empire and of false rape accusations historically levied against men of colour. Arguing that we need to stop seeing Palestinians merely as victims, as this leads to numerous actors being blamed for their victimhood (eg. Hamas, the extremist politicians in Israel) while eliding the major structure responsible for the situation into which Palestinians were forced in 1948, Zalloua underscores the need to directly address the settler-colonial framework in both its historical inception and current practices.

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