“By "colonialism," I’m referring not just to the 19th-century era when European powers divided and controlled Africa, but also to the earlier colonialism of ancient and medieval times—by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs,” Halevi explained. “The Jewish people, too, freed ourselves from colonial rule. Like Africa, Israel was conquered and oppressed by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Turks. And, like many others, we also lived under British colonial rule in the 20th century.””