Changing the Paradigm

In a very short academic statement letter uploaded to the website, Academia, Mitri Raheb writes:

Describing the realities in Palestine and Israel as a “conflict” is misleading. There is a dire need for a new framework. The prevailing situation in Palestine since the Balfour Declaration is most accurately and completely described as settler colonialism. While the term is starting to be used in several academic disciplines, it is still absent in the theological debate. It is time for a paradigm shift. [emphasis added]

and

The unfolding events in Sheikh Jarrah, an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, is an >expression of settler colonialism: replacing native people with new colonizers. The ongoing Judaization of Jerusalem is another manifestation: erasing Arab and Palestinian presence from the city. The invasion of Al-Aqsa is still another example: replacing an Arab Muslim shrine and its worshippers to make room for a third Jewish temple and its worshippers.