Settlers or invaders? Are we using the wrong terms in the West Bank?

Like many Millennials, I played the video game “Oregon Trail” as a kid at school. It was fun until you “died of dysentery” or experienced another tragic outcome that often befell actual settlers who went westward. The idea of the game was to teach kids about how hard it was for Americans to travel across the country into a land that was harsh and unforgiving but held the promise of a better life and opportunity.  

However, as we all grew older, we in one way, shape, or form acknowledged that with the movement of settlers into the American West, there were also a lot of atrocities inflicted upon the indigenous peoples that already lived there. It is a touchy subject for many, especially those that descend from those settlers.

It’s hard to reconcile that your ancestors came to the U.S. and set off across the land in a story of perseverance while also knowing that the Indigenous people here had their land taken from them, had their families murdered or raped, were forced to abandon their cultural and religious traditions, and eventually pushed into near oblivion or reduced to a second-class status.

Many Americans struggle to understand the difference between an immigrant and a settler because many Americans had ancestors that were both. Coming into the U.S. and assimilating to our culture is what most immigrants do. Moving into sparsely inhabited land or claiming land in a new territory and making it your own is what settlers do.

But what if there are people already there and the land is already established? 

The West Bank is not a new frontier or........

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