Quick thread on why disentangling this is important from a Pakistani perspective. There are religious dimensions to the Palestinian struggle against Israel, but it is fundamentally a national liberation struggle v. Imperialism, which Pakistan is also struggling against. 1/n https://twitter.com/_merajhasan/status/1391909828189200384

Many early Zionists certainly wanted to establish their homeland in Palestine and not elsewhere (though they did consider alternative options) because of a religious/Spiritual connection to the land. So in this way, yes there is a religious dimension. 2/n

But they are not concerned with invading Palestine to defeat Muslims. Theodor Herzl, the main Zionist guy, had this View of (European) Jews migrating to Palestine and enlightening the local natives. That is racist in its own way, But it's not Islamophobia as we understand it. 3/n

This view obviously changes as Zionist colonists come into conflict with Arabs and realize that to create a Jewish national state they will need to expel Arabs. As they are doing that they are not discriminating between Muslims and Christians to specifically target Muslims. 4/n

But did Muslims articulate their resistance in a religious idiom? Did they see it as an obligation to defend life, property, which is also enjoined by religion? In many cases, yes. So we can agree that there is a religious dimension here but ... 5/n

this was part of and subsumed in an understanding of independence struggle against European colonists backed by Europeans and Americans. Often this is a direct and immediate defense of land, which may well be Beyond ideology of the kind we are discussing. 6/n

To the extent discourse of jihad exists it is very quickly overtaken and subsumed by a discourse of national liberation. Palestinians are represented by secular nationalist and leftist groups, the fighters are known as fedayeen, no religious connotation. 7/n

Main opposition to the Zionists also comes from secular nationalist leaders like Nasser who coordinate two wars (and lose both). The Zionist discourse is incredibly racist, but it is not exactly anti-Muslim in a specific way, though definitely anti-Arab. 8/n

That changes in the 1980s, as Islamist ideology becomes increasingly popular, And Islamic groups increasingly influential. The discourse of jihad becomes more important and so does a specifically Islamophobic form of Zionism. 9/n