The Shofar Is Silent, Remember to Breathe
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Native American, Maori, and Apache leaders are pushing back against the "settler colonialist" label, calling Israel the most successful land-back story in modern history.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on academics to boycott Israeli universities, professors, and students, claiming that Israeli schools are “complicit” in the supposedly “settler colonial” nature of Israel. Wikipedia’s entry on “Zionism as Settler Colonialism” asserts that Jews can never legitimately live in the land of Israel and that even the ancient Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judea were examples of “settler colonialism” 4,000 years ago.
Israel's enemies often call it a settler colonialist state, an illegitimate group of newcomers occupying land where they don't belong.
What these mischaracterizations get wrong is the fact that Jews have called the Land of Israel home for 4,000 years. The Jewish Kingdom of Judea existed for over a thousand years until it was destroyed by Roman forces in the year 70, and ever since, Jews have maintained a presence in the Land of Israel, with Jews who lived overseas maintaining hope that one day they would return to their homeland.
Indigenous people around the world, those who have experienced colonialism and outside settlement firsthand, routinely describe Israel as an inspiring example of an indigenous people returning to their homeland.
Three times a day for millennia, Jews pray facing Jerusalem, asking God to return them to their home. When the modern State of Israel was established in 1948 as a Jewish state with full rights for all, regardless of race or religion, it was a momentous example of an Indigenous people returning to their homeland.
Far from being an illegitimate colonialist project, Israel is something else entirely to many who know colonialism best. Indigenous people around the world, those who have experienced colonialism and outside settlement firsthand, routinely describe Israel as an inspiring example of an indigenous people returning to their homeland.
Karen Restoule, the director of Indigenous Affairs at the Canadian think tank The Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and an Ojibwe from Dokis First Nation, warns against the current trend to co-opt “Indigenous identity.” The term is “increasingly being treated as a universal political language, borrowed when convenient and deployed in conflicts that arise from very different histories. Indigenous identity is being used a branding exercise, a political strategy. Indigeneity isn’t any of that; it is a lived reality rooted in specific people and place.”
For Ms. Restoule, it’s inspiring to witness the return of Jews to their ancient homeland: “Jews are Indigenous Peoples of the Land of Israel from time immemorial.”
For Maori activist Dr. Sheree Trotter, the State of Israel is “the most successful land-back project, the greatest decolonization project.” The fact that even under foreign occupation, Jews maintained a presence in the Land of Israel is inspiring for Dr. Trotter and other Maoris. “From a Maori perspective, a key point is that there was always a continuous Jewish presence in the land; they kept the fires burning, and that is what indigeneity looks like to us.”
Santos Hawk Blood, an Apache activist, admires the way Israeli Jews love and defend their homeland of Israel. “It is a part of Apache culture to stand up for oppressed people and respect all people who cherish their ancestral land,” he explains. “I admire the people who take a stand, and that’s why I admire the people of Israel: They’re people who stand up to defend their homeland.”
Justice Harry LaForme is Anishinaabe, a member of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation in Canada. and is a judge on the Ontario Court of Appeals. He, he was the first Indigenous appellate court judge in all of Canada. He’s blasted those who inaccurately smear Israel as a colonizer, accusing them of spreading “false narratives and ideologies of hate.”
For Justice Harry S. LaForme, “Indigeneity is demonstrated by historical, collective continuity with a distinct ethnic identity, language, culture, rituals or traditions, social, legal, and religious and spiritual belief systems that predate subsequent invaders or colonizers.” Israel, he explains, embodies indigeneity in all these realms.
He notes, “In my view, Israel is the product of the greatest decolonization project in modern history.”
David Sickey, a leader with the Sovereign Nation of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, has noted that his Native American tribe has experienced many of the same tribulations – “Banishment from our homelands, adversity and persecution” – that Jews underwent after Roman forces destroyed the kingdom of Judea.
David Sickey
In 2008, Sickey spearheaded cultural and investment links between the Coushatta Tribe and Israel. “When I came to the tribe with my idea to establish relations, they took an interest because the Coushatta value sovereignty and nationhood much like the Jewish people, and autonomy is something to be embraced… We decided to explore ways of reaching out to Israel to celebrate their independence and recognize that achievement.”
Ryan Bellerose, an activist member of the Metis Nation in northern Canada, rejects attempts to link Indigenous people’s struggles for liberation to the violence and repression in so much of the anti-Israel movement. The pro-Palestinian struggle “is not our fight. We natives believe in bringing about change peacefully,” he explains, “and we refuse to be affiliated with anyone who engages in violence targeting civilians. I cannot remain silent and allow the Palestinians to gain credibility at our expense by claiming commonality with us.”
Bellerose sees parallels between the Metis Indigenous people and Jews who live in Israel:
The Jews also suffered genocide and were expelled from their homeland. They were also rejected by everyone and forced to wander. Like us, they rebelled against imperial injustice when necessary and, despite their grievances, strived for peace whenever possible. Like us they were given a tiny sliver of their land back after centuries of suffering and persecution, land that nobody else had wanted to call home until then. Like us, they took that land despite their misgivings and forged a nation from a fractured and wounded people. And like us, they consistently show a willingness to compromise for the good of their people.
In September 2025, a wide coalition of Indigenous Peoples from Across the Pacific Rim issued a strongly worded statement expressing solidarity with the Indigenous Jews who live in the Land of Israel.
Groups including the Ainu of Japan, Indigenous groups in Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Latin America, Australia, United States, Canada, the Maori, Native Hawaiian Knaka peoples and others “represent a chorus of voices from every corner of the Pacific, declaring (their) unwavering love, admiration, and commitment to the Jewish state.
“We recognize the Jewish people as the Indigenous stewards of the land of Israel, their ancestral homeland, where their history, culture, and spiritual legacy have been rooted for millennia. This indigeneity resonates deeply with our own connections to land, tradition, and resilience, forging a sacred bond between our communities and the Jewish people. We honor Israel not only as a homeland but as a beacon of morality, kindness, and grace – nation that exemplifies the highest standards of humanity in the face of unparalleled challenges.”
For these Indigenous peoples, the experience of Jewish people returning to the Land of Israel is an inspiration: “We applaud the Jewish people that they have been able to retain their religion and culture, revive their language, and decolonize their land with the rebirth of the state of Israel in 1948 forming the only democracy in the Middle East.”
For many Indigenous peoples around the world, the return of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel is nothing short of miraculous. Flourishing modern Israel, a Jewish democracy with full rights for all citizens, is a beacon of hope to many of the world’s dispossessed Indigenous peoples who long to build up their own nations once more.
Yaama and Shalom. A great article. My name is Eran Abulafia, and I am also known as Yindyamarra. I was born to a Jewish Israeli father and an Aboriginal Wiradjuri mother. My mother converted to Judaism before I was born, making me Jewish and Aboriginal Australian. I face a lot of challenges being both Jewish and Aboriginal. I face discrimination from all sides. From general Jew haters to Aboriginal people brainwashed by the leftists to believe that Jews are the colonisers and the Palestinians are the Indigenous ones to the land. I am either not Jewish enough or not black enough. If I show support for Israel, my posts are bombarded with hate. Anti-Semitism is very real in Australia, and it is bad. It is time for me to come home to Israel. That is the only place I feel where I belong.
Welcome Home, Eran-Yindyamarra! Whenever you decide, you've got Family here..8 million of us. We're waiting for you, Son!
This is so true. Colonialism, which is a mode of Imperialism, starts its conquests by first destroying as much of the local or indigenous culture and language as they can. This is to break their identity and sense of community and belonging. Then it becomes easy to impose their own culture and language ,making it easy to exploit. For example, Imperialist Span did it in Latin America and Imperialist England did it in India, Australia and north America. Imperialistic Islam did the same.
Islam came from the Arabian peninsula then spreading out to establish its ideology in the Middle East, India, southern Europe and Northern Africa, often severely reducing, if not totally eradicating (ethnic cleansing) the local or indigenous cultures, traditions and languages. Then imposing its own.
The younger generation doesn't because they have issues with what happened in Argentina. I'm part of the older generation and it's sad to see such contention. It's really a loss of joy. Lots of Jews are part Native as well and it's been an uphill battle
Fot thousands of years, nations have been conquering other countries and then making it their own. But they all are screaming against Israel, calling it illegal, but what they did is okay.
Yes Israel is the promised land and how blessed by God's promise are the Jewish people!
I wanted to explain why linking Israel to every group world-wide that claims indigenous privilege is not necessarily wise, but the system advised me my thoughts were too long.
The indigenous people are proofing a point, that they believe Jews are the indigenous people of Israel, wise or not a lot of the world is siding with Arab Muslim terrorists countries so thankfully they are reaching out to Jews and Israel
This is a fascinating perspective!
I'm grateful for this article.
Whenever the discussion talks about Jews & the land of Israel - & how we came to live here & protect our right to be here. People forget to include that - it was "G-D HIMSELF' - WHO GAVE Abraham & his descendants - this land - that HE G-D - TOOK from the other nations - FOREVER. And - it was G-D - who pronounced the blessing - those who bless us - will be blessed - those who curse us - will be cursed. Also - Jews NEVER WENT TO WAR AGAINST ANOTHER PEOPLE - UNLESS - IT WAS AT THE COMMAND OF G-D - TO DO SO. When we've been attacked by other people/nations - we've responded to their aggression & with the help of G-D - will continue to do so successfully.
I think there is a great opportunity to have a 'global' conference on indigenous peoples worldwide. This could make prominent the overwhelming archeological, written and genetic data confirming that Jews are the indigenous population of Israel (much of the data from the oppressors of Jews), along with the other indigenous and oppressed peoples discussed in this article broadcast on a big platform.
The extensive evidence in the case of Jews and Israel is detailed brilliantly in Judge Roy Altman's book Israel on Trial and in the writings of Alan Dershowitz and others. Joining intellectual forces in defense of indigenous peoples first nations in USA, Canada, the Maori and Jews in Israel could stand as a powerful refutation of the incessant lies about Jews as 'occupiers' of Israel.
It's always nice to hear the truth emanate from varied sources. Sadly, the racist, leftist, Jew-hating LOSERS really don't care much about the truth, even if it comes from one of their "protected" classes. Anti-Zionism/Jew-Hate (yes, they ARE the same thing) is simply a new veneer for the same old antisemitism, but one that finds a home with both Radical Islam and the rabid intersectional oppressor/oppressed Marxist LOSERS. We, meaning both Israel and the Diaspora Jewish community, have allowed these haters to take the narrative and we need to reclaim it. Articles like this do help, but the reach of AISH is not as far and wide as is needed.
The problem is that people don't realize if you start with the Jews and Israel, then eventually everyone also will be targeted too, and the real goal if Muslims is make everyone into a Muslim, if someone learned Arabic they would know this fact, that means no western values and Judeo- Christian values some parts of Europe already have Sharia Law ( Muslim Laws) in some countries, that will be very dangerous for anyone not Muslim, and don't think different types of Muslims get along either, it is scary that some states are going communist, and people escaped from this system from Russia and Cuba and other communist countries
The simple fact that Islam which was started 2000 years after Judism was established in the land of Israel has spread to over 30 countries throughout the world shows that they (the Muslims) are the colonizers. As the nazis said "if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it,*
Christianity and Islam came much after Judaism, these religions have a lot of nerve without Judaism there wouldn't be Christianity and/ or Islam, actually the one that said" if you repeat a lie often enough , people will believe it" was the Nazi ( Y"S) propaganda minister called Joseph Gobbels ( Y"S) from Nazi ( Y"S) Germany , and now the Muslims are using the same playbook as Gobbels ( Y"S)
The audacity of Mamdani is clearly spelled out in his own claim to be Ugandan. I am pretty sure he shares no heritage with the Ugandan people as his family were very wealthy Indian colonizers and now seeks to do the same to the already colonized U.S.A. I would be in favor of returning at least some of the settled lands to the indigenous under self-rule if that is what they seek.
How informative and refreshing to read this factual article about the connection of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. How deliberately blind and ignorant are the Zohran MamDUMMIES of this crazy world we live in these days! Thank you again, Bill
I agree with the comment 100%
Thank you, all! We stand with you too.
Do any Indigenous people have Jewish DNA codes by and chance, could they be from the list 10 tribes I am just thinking where is their homeland is it also Israel ir not, it is nice to know that Jews and Israel have friends in the world , also the native Australians like Jews and Israel too
When the Europeans colonized the New World, they put out theories as to the origin of the native peoples, one of which was that they came from the 10 Tribes. (This theory was even discussed in rabbinic literature as a possible reason to eat turkey, which was not native to the Old World.) However, since the natives themselves never claimed it as their origin, this theory has fallen away.
AFAIK, while some Jewish communities have origin stories that reference specific tribes from "the ten," DNA studies have not linked them to specific tribes. However, studies have linked some communities outside the middle east to the the middle east. Example: The Beta Israel of Ethiopia believe themselves to be descended from the Tribe of Dan. While DNA work does not support (or necessarily deny) this, it does show middle eastern Jewish ancestry.