No one was colonized

"The undertaking will be made great and promising by the granting of colonial rights. This is the tremendous attraction for the outlawed, enfeebled, and unfortunate Jewish people." - Theodor Herzl, "Father of Modern Political Zionism", in his diary

"You are being invited to help make history. That cannot frighten you, nor will you laugh at it. It is not in your accustomed line; it doesn't involve Africa, but a piece of Asia Minor, not Englishmen, but Jews. But had this been on your path, you would have done it yourself by now. How, then, do I happen turn to you, since this is an out-of-the-way matter for you? How indeed? Because it is something colonial." - Theodor Herzl, talking to Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony

"We should there [in Palestine] form a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should as a neutral State remain in contact with all Europe, which would have to guarantee our existence." - Theodor Herzl, in "The Jewish State"

"It is utterly impossible to obtain the voluntary consent of the Palestine Arabs for converting Palestine from an Arab country into a country with Jewish majority. My readers have a general idea of the history of colonisation in other countries. I suggest that they consider all the precedents with which they are acquainted, and see whether there is one solitary instance of any colonisation being carried on with the consent of the native population. There is no such precedent. The native populations, civilised or uncivilised, have always stubbornly resisted the colonists, irrespective of whether they were civilised or savage." - Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of Irgun, in "The Iron Wall"

"[The] iron law of every colonizing movement, a law which knows of no exceptions, a law which existed in all times and under all circumstances. If you wish to colonize a land in which people are already living, you must provide a garrison on your behalf. Or else, give up your colonization, for without an armed force which will render physically impossible any attempts to destroy or prevent this colonization, colonization is impossible, not 'difficult', not 'dangerous' but IMPOSSIBLE!...Zionism is a colonizing adventure and therefore it stands or falls by the question of armed force. It is important to build, it is important to speak Hebrew, but, unfortunately, it is even more important to be able to shoot – or else I am through with playing at colonization." - Ze'ev Jabotinsky, in "The Iron Law"

"What we wanted was a British Protectorate. Jews all over the world trusted England. They knew that law and order would be established by British rule, and that under it, Jewish colonizing activities and cultural development would not be interfered with. We could therefore look forward to a time when we would be strong enough to claim a measure of self-government." - Chaim Weizmann, President of Israel (1949-1952)

"We can reasonably say that should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in 20 to 30 years a million Jews out there, perhaps more; they would develop the country, bring back civilization to it, and form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal." - Chaim Weizmann in "Trial and Error"

"[I am] satisfied with part of the country, but on the basis of the assumption that after we build up a strong force following the establishment of the state, we will abolish the partition of the country and we will expand to the whole Land of Israel." - David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel (1948-1953, 1955-1963), in a 1938 speech to the Zionist Executive

"After the formation of a large army in the wake of the establishment of the state, we will abolish partition and expand to the whole of Palestine." - David Ben-Gurion, in a speech to the Zionist Executive

"The acceptance of partition does not commit us to renounce Transjordan: one does not demand from anybody to give up his vision. We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today, but the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them." - David Ben-Gurion in a 1937 speech

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" - David Ben-Gurion

"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country." - David Ben-Gurion in a 1938 speech

"If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel." - David Ben-Gurion

"It’s not a matter of maintaining the status quo. We have to create a dynamic state, oriented towards expansion." - David Ben-Gurion

"Let us not cast the blame on the murderers today. Why should we declare their burning hatred for us? For eight years, they have been sitting in the refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we have been transforming the lands and the villages, where they and their fathers dwelt into our estate." - Moshe Dayan, Chief of Staff of the IDF (1953-1958) and Israeli Defense Minister (1967-1974), in a eulogy for murdered settler Ro'i Rothberg

"I hope they all go. If we could achieve the departure of three hundred thousand without pressure, that would be a great blessing!" - Moshe Dayan, Chief of Staff of the IDF (1953-1958) and Israeli Defense Minister (1967-1974), talking about the Naksa

"We will turn Gaza into an island of ruins." - Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister

"It is an entire nation that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true." - Isaac Herzog, President

"Gaza will not return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything." - Yoav Gallant, Defense Minister

"Hamas has turned into ISIS, and the residents of Gaza, instead of being appalled, are celebrating. Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water, there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell." - Ghassan Alian, Major General and Head of COGAT

"We are dropping hundreds of tons of bombs on Gaza. The focus is on destruction, not accuracy." - Daniel Hagari, IDF Spokesman