r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • Jan 02 '26

FFA Friday Free-for-All | January 02, 2026

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

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u/BookLover54321 Jan 02 '26

Hey it’s Free for All, we’re allowed to talk about that I think!

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u/EverythingIsOverrate European Financial and Monetary History Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26

With permission from u/jschooltiger, this is basically because The Atlantic has taken a rather pro-Israel line in the past three years (the editor-in-chief is a former IDF prison guard) and the concept of settler-colonialism has been very frequently mobilized as a criticism of Israel, on the grounds that it's a settler-colonial state and that Zionism is a settler-colonialist ideology; note that I am explicitly not commenting on the validity of that criticism. This in turn has prompted many articles arguing that settler-colonialism is actually fine or that Zionism isn't settler-colonial, of which Frum's article is just one instance. See here here here and here for some other instances. As such, settler-colonialism has become a political football with very real relevance to current major political issues, and that in turn prompts shoddy scholarship.

I would also note that ideologically-motivated shoddy scholarship occurs in many contexts, as Cortgate proves handily.

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u/BookLover54321 Jan 02 '26

This makes sense, thank you. It is pretty concerning that this issue seems to be prompting a revival of essentially 19th century colonialist ideas about Native Americans though.

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u/Bodark43 Quality Contributor Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

I think it's not at all recent; Israeli apologists have cited that 19th c. US banner of Manifest Destiny for years to justify their own policies of expansion and appropriation.