We have managed to create a national agreement about the concept of ‘two states for two peoples’.... more We have managed to create a national agreement about the concept of ‘two states for two peoples’. – Benjamin Netanyahu, 5 July 20091 This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his govern-ment’s achievements during its first hundred days should make most ob-servers of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict rub their eyes in disbelief. Could it be that the hard-line leader of Likud and the Jewish state believes in a peaceful two-state solution? This chapter sheds light on this putative policy shift by placing it within the changing political geography of Israel/Palestine, where two contradictory trends are evident. On the one hand, Zionist leaders are declaring their support for peace through Palestinian statehood accompanied by some incidents of Israeli territorial withdrawals. On the other hand, persisting colonial and oppressive practices are working to further Judaise contested space and deny Palestinians – on both sides of the Green Line – their legitimate rights.2 My ...
The paper analyzes the regime in Israel/Palestine using a political geographical perspective. It ... more The paper analyzes the regime in Israel/Palestine using a political geographical perspective. It demonstrates how a combination of colonial, national, capitalist and liberal forces have put in train a process of “deepening apartheid” in the entire territory controlled by Israel—between River and Sea. This undeclared regime has been established to guard the 'achievements' of settler colonial Judaization of the land and the domination of the Jewish minority. As described by the Rome Statute, it has become an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one group over others, with the intention of maintaining that regime. Hence the political geographical analysis shows clearly that the wide description in academic and international circles of Israel as “Jewish and democratic,” is based on a denial of the clear racialized hierarchy of civil statuses. This setting enhances Jewish supremacy (using different methods) it in all regions, while Palestinians are ...
Among the most contested facets of the conflict between the state and the Bedouins are land owner... more Among the most contested facets of the conflict between the state and the Bedouins are land ownership and recognition of 46 “unrecognized” or partly recognized localities. This chapter completes the picture by addressing the question of planning and the Bedouin unrecognized villages. Since 1948, the Israeli government has persistently and forcefully attempted to urbanize the Bedouins and concentrate them in a few urban centers. Such practices involved displacements, house demolitions, and zoning practices that produced an “illegal” geography and “gray spacing” that exposed the Bedouins to constant threat of demolition and eviction. The chapter outlines the various plans, commissions, and development and zoning plans introduced by the government, as well as the alternative plans and visions offered by the Bedouins communities, in an effort to protect their homes, localities and lands. Such alternative planning serves as a foundation for long-term reconciliation and coexistence betwee...
Oren Yiftachel argues that consociational patterns of authority among elites, the restricted stat... more Oren Yiftachel argues that consociational patterns of authority among elites, the restricted state authority, and the internal boundaries for rival communal groups open up a possibility of maintaining state borders intact with high levels of democratic stability. The author focuses on three bi‐ethnic states: Lebanon from 1943 to 1985, Cyprus from 1960 to 1974, and Belgium from 1963 to 1993. Theoretically, the author brings together discussion of public policy towards ethnic groups —particularly accommodation and consociation—and the role of ethnic geographies that highlight special factors of state integrity and cohesion.
This paper uses a critical political-geographical perspective to account for the high centrality ... more This paper uses a critical political-geographical perspective to account for the high centrality of power found in Israel. It suggests that the concentration of power have not been solely caused by national solidarity and integration or by metropolitan development, as commonly explained, but also by the territorial `fracturing' of the main social and ethnic groups in Israel/Palestine. This has prevented
... state control and ethnic resistance ... Given the longevity of the struggle, and the consider... more ... state control and ethnic resistance ... Given the longevity of the struggle, and the considerable resources and energy devoted by all sides, it has now become ... The common use of control policiesagainst indigenous peoples in 'pure' settler states had two main and related rationales ...
On February 14, 2002, the Israeli government sent several light planes to spray 12,000 dunams of ... more On February 14, 2002, the Israeli government sent several light planes to spray 12,000 dunams of crops in the southern Negev region with poisonous chemicals. The destroyed fields had been cultivated for years by Bedouin Arabs, on ancestral lands they claim as ...
The words of this Palestinian writer are apt to open this short essay as part of the timely MIT D... more The words of this Palestinian writer are apt to open this short essay as part of the timely MIT DRAN blog symposium. My piece converses with the other contributors and draws on three decades of work with displaced groups in Israel/Palestine, Australia and beyond. It highlights the value of a 'southeastern perspective'; points to the emergence of new urban colonial regimes; and introduces the concept of 'displaceability' as a foundation of contemporary urban citizenship.
This reflective paper offers the metaphor of 'Aleph'—the 'place of all pl... more This reflective paper offers the metaphor of 'Aleph'—the 'place of all places'—as well as the material city of Jerusalem, as points of departure for rethinking critical urban theories. In the paper, Jerusalem is 'prized open' as a site of learning—exposing the diversity of structural forces shaping this—and any other—city. The 'Aleph approach' draws attention to the relational and often changing nature in which structural forces interact as they produce urban space and society. This is highlighted by a 'guided tour' of Jerusalem that reveals an array of colonial, capitalist, religious, gendered and political forces of domination and their fluctuations through time and place. As such, the paper offers a 'South-Eastern' perspective, framed by 'dynamic structuralism' as foundation for new and engaged CUTs—critical urban theories. Such theories, it is suggested, should be informed by the multiple and uneven nature of oppression and resistance, and by new concepts and categories that emerge from the analysis, without treating the city as simply 'chaotic' or 'self-orga-nized'. Urban theory should move beyond the numbing theoretical dominance of 'globaliz-ing' or 'neoliberal' capitalism, and deal seriously with simultaneous forces, movements, agents and politics that co-produce the nature of contemporary urbanism.
Studies of nationalism have only rarely explored the intra-national stratification associated wit... more Studies of nationalism have only rarely explored the intra-national stratification associated with the politics of nation-building. The paper focuses on these processes from a spatial perspective, by studying the population of 'internal frontiers' in settler societies, focusing on the case of Israel. The settlement of the frontiers in the Israeli 'ethnocracy' exacerbated the marginalised incorporation of Mizrahi (Eastern Jews), as many of them were settled in peripheral, low status and segregated localities. These structural conditions help explain the persisting disparities between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews. The case of Israel thus exposes a paradox: the very frontier settlement promoted as essential for nation-building, may cause intra-national fragmentation and conflict. Biographical Note Dr. Oren Yiftachel teaches political-geography at Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel and is a research fellow at the Negev Center for Regional Development. He studied urb...
This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his government’s achievements during ... more This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his government’s achievements during its first hundred days should make most observers of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict rub their eyes in disbelief . Could it be that the hard-line leader of Likud and the Jewish state believes in a peaceful two-state solution? This chapter sheds light on this putative policy shift by placing it within the changing political geography of Israel/Palestine, where two contradictory trends are evident . On the one hand, Zionist leaders are declaring their support for peace through Palestinian statehood accompanied by some incidents of Israeli territorial withdrawals . On the other hand, persisting colonial and oppressive practices are working to further Judaise contested space and deny Palestinians – on both sides of the Green Line – their legitimate rights .2 My main contention is that these seemingly contradictory movements are part of a new phase, framing a situation of ‘neither two states...
The context is the unresolved land and planning disputes between the Bedouin Arabs surrounding th... more The context is the unresolved land and planning disputes between the Bedouin Arabs surrounding the city of Beer Sheva and the Israeli state. The minister asks the indigenous Bedouin in no uncertain terms to leave their ancestors land, where they reside in “unrecognized” (and in the eyes of most Israeli planners “illegal”) villages and towns, and relocate into modernized, legal, and well-serviced localities. Beyond the colonialist disregard of indigenous rights embedded in the minister’s visio..
We have managed to create a national agreement about the concept of ‘two states for two peoples’.... more We have managed to create a national agreement about the concept of ‘two states for two peoples’. – Benjamin Netanyahu, 5 July 20091 This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his govern-ment’s achievements during its first hundred days should make most ob-servers of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict rub their eyes in disbelief. Could it be that the hard-line leader of Likud and the Jewish state believes in a peaceful two-state solution? This chapter sheds light on this putative policy shift by placing it within the changing political geography of Israel/Palestine, where two contradictory trends are evident. On the one hand, Zionist leaders are declaring their support for peace through Palestinian statehood accompanied by some incidents of Israeli territorial withdrawals. On the other hand, persisting colonial and oppressive practices are working to further Judaise contested space and deny Palestinians – on both sides of the Green Line – their legitimate rights.2 My ...
The paper analyzes the regime in Israel/Palestine using a political geographical perspective. It ... more The paper analyzes the regime in Israel/Palestine using a political geographical perspective. It demonstrates how a combination of colonial, national, capitalist and liberal forces have put in train a process of “deepening apartheid” in the entire territory controlled by Israel—between River and Sea. This undeclared regime has been established to guard the 'achievements' of settler colonial Judaization of the land and the domination of the Jewish minority. As described by the Rome Statute, it has become an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one group over others, with the intention of maintaining that regime. Hence the political geographical analysis shows clearly that the wide description in academic and international circles of Israel as “Jewish and democratic,” is based on a denial of the clear racialized hierarchy of civil statuses. This setting enhances Jewish supremacy (using different methods) it in all regions, while Palestinians are ...
Among the most contested facets of the conflict between the state and the Bedouins are land owner... more Among the most contested facets of the conflict between the state and the Bedouins are land ownership and recognition of 46 “unrecognized” or partly recognized localities. This chapter completes the picture by addressing the question of planning and the Bedouin unrecognized villages. Since 1948, the Israeli government has persistently and forcefully attempted to urbanize the Bedouins and concentrate them in a few urban centers. Such practices involved displacements, house demolitions, and zoning practices that produced an “illegal” geography and “gray spacing” that exposed the Bedouins to constant threat of demolition and eviction. The chapter outlines the various plans, commissions, and development and zoning plans introduced by the government, as well as the alternative plans and visions offered by the Bedouins communities, in an effort to protect their homes, localities and lands. Such alternative planning serves as a foundation for long-term reconciliation and coexistence betwee...
Oren Yiftachel argues that consociational patterns of authority among elites, the restricted stat... more Oren Yiftachel argues that consociational patterns of authority among elites, the restricted state authority, and the internal boundaries for rival communal groups open up a possibility of maintaining state borders intact with high levels of democratic stability. The author focuses on three bi‐ethnic states: Lebanon from 1943 to 1985, Cyprus from 1960 to 1974, and Belgium from 1963 to 1993. Theoretically, the author brings together discussion of public policy towards ethnic groups —particularly accommodation and consociation—and the role of ethnic geographies that highlight special factors of state integrity and cohesion.
This paper uses a critical political-geographical perspective to account for the high centrality ... more This paper uses a critical political-geographical perspective to account for the high centrality of power found in Israel. It suggests that the concentration of power have not been solely caused by national solidarity and integration or by metropolitan development, as commonly explained, but also by the territorial `fracturing' of the main social and ethnic groups in Israel/Palestine. This has prevented
... state control and ethnic resistance ... Given the longevity of the struggle, and the consider... more ... state control and ethnic resistance ... Given the longevity of the struggle, and the considerable resources and energy devoted by all sides, it has now become ... The common use of control policiesagainst indigenous peoples in 'pure' settler states had two main and related rationales ...
On February 14, 2002, the Israeli government sent several light planes to spray 12,000 dunams of ... more On February 14, 2002, the Israeli government sent several light planes to spray 12,000 dunams of crops in the southern Negev region with poisonous chemicals. The destroyed fields had been cultivated for years by Bedouin Arabs, on ancestral lands they claim as ...
The words of this Palestinian writer are apt to open this short essay as part of the timely MIT D... more The words of this Palestinian writer are apt to open this short essay as part of the timely MIT DRAN blog symposium. My piece converses with the other contributors and draws on three decades of work with displaced groups in Israel/Palestine, Australia and beyond. It highlights the value of a 'southeastern perspective'; points to the emergence of new urban colonial regimes; and introduces the concept of 'displaceability' as a foundation of contemporary urban citizenship.
This reflective paper offers the metaphor of 'Aleph'—the 'place of all pl... more This reflective paper offers the metaphor of 'Aleph'—the 'place of all places'—as well as the material city of Jerusalem, as points of departure for rethinking critical urban theories. In the paper, Jerusalem is 'prized open' as a site of learning—exposing the diversity of structural forces shaping this—and any other—city. The 'Aleph approach' draws attention to the relational and often changing nature in which structural forces interact as they produce urban space and society. This is highlighted by a 'guided tour' of Jerusalem that reveals an array of colonial, capitalist, religious, gendered and political forces of domination and their fluctuations through time and place. As such, the paper offers a 'South-Eastern' perspective, framed by 'dynamic structuralism' as foundation for new and engaged CUTs—critical urban theories. Such theories, it is suggested, should be informed by the multiple and uneven nature of oppression and resistance, and by new concepts and categories that emerge from the analysis, without treating the city as simply 'chaotic' or 'self-orga-nized'. Urban theory should move beyond the numbing theoretical dominance of 'globaliz-ing' or 'neoliberal' capitalism, and deal seriously with simultaneous forces, movements, agents and politics that co-produce the nature of contemporary urbanism.
Studies of nationalism have only rarely explored the intra-national stratification associated wit... more Studies of nationalism have only rarely explored the intra-national stratification associated with the politics of nation-building. The paper focuses on these processes from a spatial perspective, by studying the population of 'internal frontiers' in settler societies, focusing on the case of Israel. The settlement of the frontiers in the Israeli 'ethnocracy' exacerbated the marginalised incorporation of Mizrahi (Eastern Jews), as many of them were settled in peripheral, low status and segregated localities. These structural conditions help explain the persisting disparities between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews. The case of Israel thus exposes a paradox: the very frontier settlement promoted as essential for nation-building, may cause intra-national fragmentation and conflict. Biographical Note Dr. Oren Yiftachel teaches political-geography at Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel and is a research fellow at the Negev Center for Regional Development. He studied urb...
This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his government’s achievements during ... more This statement made by Israel’s prime minister in reviewing his government’s achievements during its first hundred days should make most observers of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict rub their eyes in disbelief . Could it be that the hard-line leader of Likud and the Jewish state believes in a peaceful two-state solution? This chapter sheds light on this putative policy shift by placing it within the changing political geography of Israel/Palestine, where two contradictory trends are evident . On the one hand, Zionist leaders are declaring their support for peace through Palestinian statehood accompanied by some incidents of Israeli territorial withdrawals . On the other hand, persisting colonial and oppressive practices are working to further Judaise contested space and deny Palestinians – on both sides of the Green Line – their legitimate rights .2 My main contention is that these seemingly contradictory movements are part of a new phase, framing a situation of ‘neither two states...
The context is the unresolved land and planning disputes between the Bedouin Arabs surrounding th... more The context is the unresolved land and planning disputes between the Bedouin Arabs surrounding the city of Beer Sheva and the Israeli state. The minister asks the indigenous Bedouin in no uncertain terms to leave their ancestors land, where they reside in “unrecognized” (and in the eyes of most Israeli planners “illegal”) villages and towns, and relocate into modernized, legal, and well-serviced localities. Beyond the colonialist disregard of indigenous rights embedded in the minister’s visio..
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