Introduction to the Palestine, National Liberation, and Self-Determination Special Issue

Rather than treating the question of Palestine as part of a “religious conflict,” solely a response to October 7th, or a situation eliciting only pity and despair, this special issue argues that the current genocide in Palestine is part of a longer, historical arc of British, and later, US imperialism and the era of Western colonialism with internal and external mechanisms that perpetuate the Zionist project. The special issue demonstrates that violence, ethnic cleansing, and genocide are core to the foundation and ongoing maintenance of the state of Israel and details that, despite decades of repression, Palestinian resistance and the solidarity of people around the globe has endured. This resistance is not one separate from academia but is intimately connected with what it means to be a student, a researcher, a professor, an intellectual, and ultimately human. The pieces in this special issue include analysis of police communications, theoretical analyses, and legal analyses within the context of international law and Israeli law. In addition, we include a media review, an original work of art, and an interview with Palestinian Scholar, Muhannad Ayyash.