Response to a Muslim calling them “settler colonialists.”
There is no concept of “settler colonialism” in Islam. If anything, Islam itself is historically colonialist.
In terms of your screenshotted table, Israeli prime ministers, particularly from the early decades of the state, frequently adopted Hebrew surnames.
This was not a form of impersonation as you imply, but rather a means of shedding their inauthentic selves — Diaspora identities, formed of exile and state oppression — and embracing their real ones.
For a Jew, as is documented in the Torah, the self is tied indisputably to one’s Hebrew name and by extension the ancient Hebrew language.
As every Muslim who learns the Qur’an knows, Jewish roots in the Land of Israel date back to Biblical times and God’s promise of it to the Jewish people. See for example:
- Surah Al‑Ma’idah (5:21): “O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you…” (addressed to the Israelites)
- Surah Al‑Isra (17:104): “And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, ‘Dwell securely in the land (of promise).’”
- Surah Al‑Ma’idah (5:20‑21): Recounts Moses urging the Israelites to enter the land God ordained for them.
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 