Last week, Harvard University Jewish studies professor Derek Penslar and Hebrew University sociology and anthropology professor and former human rights lawyer Yael Berda discussed “settler colonialism” — and whether the academic term can be used to describe Zionism.
Approximately 60 attendees gathered in Loew Auditorium on May 1 for the event titled “Legacies of Empire: Israel, Palestine and the Quest for Just Peace.” The Dickey Center for International Understanding hosted the event, which was a part of the ongoing Dartmouth Dialogues initiative.
Berda began by noting the difficulty of discussing the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“We have the privilege of thinking and speaking away from the violence, but we have to acknowledge it at the same time,” Berda said. “We have to acknowledge the thousands of people who have been dead and injured and taken hostage after October 7. We have to acknowledge tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza that are dead and injured and displaced and fearful.”
Penslar offered historical comparisons between Zionism and global settler-colonial regimes throughout history, including South Africa, French-occupied North Africa and Puritan New England.
Penslar emphasized the need for analytical precision in using contested terms such as “colonialism,” “apartheid” and “indigenous.”
“I’ve seen the word ‘colonialism’ used so often that it simply loses meaning,” he said. “The purpose of comparison is to highlight differences.”
Berda urged the audience to reflect on the politicization of academic language.
“Right now in Israel, to even talk about colonialism is perceived as something that delegitimizes the state,” she said. “When states fear certain concepts, we have to ask why they fear them.”
She also warned against giving analytical categories too much weight.
“You won’t go anywhere if you refuse to talk about something because you don’t like how something is being categorized,” Berda said.
Berda ended the event by discussing her involvement with “A Land for All,” a social organization which calls for a two-state confederation and “freedom of movement” between Israel and Palestine.
“[We are] acknowledging that for Palestinians, all of historic Palestine is their homeland and for many Jews on a spiritual level, on a religious level,” she said.
During a Q&A after the discussion, one community member raised concern about the Israeli focus of the conversation, which he believed did not discuss “responsibility on the other side.”
Berda responded by acknowledging the asymmetry of her presentation towards Israel but emphasized that a broader discussion was “outside the purview of what [she] wanted to talk about today.”
Attendee Deven Carkner ’28 said he appreciated the discussion about the power of language.
“In my opinion, you’re gonna have much more power and ability to solve the issues you care so immensely about — that you’re willing to protest about — by sitting in this room and listening to people and understanding the history behind it,” Carkner said.
