[RobbyS]

The Muslim conquest of Palestine, Syria, Irak, and Egypt was a colonizing movement. The Arabs came in and imposed their rule over a largely Christian population. They then forbade taxed them to death, and made free exercise of their faith impossible. Most of the vaunted achievements of the "Arab golden age" were actually those of the oppressed Christian Assyrian populations. As they converted to Islam, the glory faded.

[redgolum]

In that respect, yes. The only real "colonies" set up by European powers were the various trading centers built by the Italian republics such as Genoa and Venice. They set up small centers, like the Genoaese quarter in Constantinople, for trade rights, and often warred with each other over them.

The Fourth Crusade ended so badly because the Dogde (sp?) of Venice wanted to put a pretender on the Byzantine throne that would grant him exclusive trade rights. So the who enterprise ended up sacking a Christian city (ask any Orthodox Christian about it sometime) and not attacking Jerusalem or Alexandria.