Issue 11 · Spring 2025

Objects of History

On Settler Colonialism

Tony Fels 

Adam Kirsch, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice. W.W. Norton, 160pp., $25 cloth

Adam Kirsch’s new book, a powerful critique of the concept of settler colonialism as applied to the history of Israel, could not have arrived at a more timely moment. Kirsch outlines a number of essential points that collectively show the shallowness of viewing the establishment of the state of Israel through the lens of this concept, one that has become ubiquitous on college campuses. Moreover, he demonstrates how the concept has been adopted by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli activists not for its value as a term of scholarly analysis, but rather as a component of a political ideology aimed at undermining Israel’s legitimacy. At a length of a mere 140 small-sized pages, the book’s brevity and lucidity make it readily assignable for undergraduate and graduate courses (and even for high school social studies classes), thus addressing exactly the audience of idealistic, yet naïve and hot-headed students (and teachers) who today are most in need of reading it. Along with these achievements, however, Kirsch’s book exhibits two shortcomings that point in the direction of further work needed to complete the task the author has so forcefully begun.

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This article appears in Athenaeum Review Issue 11 (Spring 2025), pp. 67-71. Download a PDF copy.