Settler

Abstract: This essay takes a comparative perspective, looking at both Ireland and Palestine in order to assess the term "settler." It argues that the planting of settlers in Ireland and Palestine was intended by Britain to subjugate their peoples and take control of their land, while providing a loyal local garrison for the colonial power, all of this under the rubric of a noble "civilizing" mission to tame and uplift the natives. Stripped of its ideological baggage, and placed in context, whether that of Ireland, North America, or Palestine, the term "settler" reeks of aggression toward, and disdain for, the native.