A colony is usually founded on a #BigLie : a strategic untruth on which an edifice of mendacity can be presented as truth. The biggest is "#TerraNullius ", the notion of an empty land which may lawfully be grabbed. For 4 decades after 1948, #zionism 's lie of an "empty land" dominated in Europe & America. Then a new generation of #Palestinian & #Israeli scholars documented the #Nakba , destroying #GoldaMeir 's Big Lie. #EdwardSaid is right. #Israel was created by #EthnicCleansing of #Palestine .