Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine

Jeff Halper

Description

'Extremely convincing' - Electronic Intifada

For decades we have spoken of the ‘Israel-Palestine conflict’, but what if our understanding of the issue has been wrong all along? This book explores how the concept of settler colonialism provides a clearer understanding of the Zionist movement's project to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, displacing the Palestinian Arab population and marginalizing its cultural presence. 



Jeff Halper argues that the only way out of a colonial situation is decolonization: the dismantling of Zionist structures of domination and control and their replacement by a single democratic state, in which Palestinians and Israeli Jews forge a new civil society and a shared political community.

To show how this can be done, Halper uses the 10-point program of the One Democratic State Campaign as a guide for thinking through the process of decolonization to its post-colonial conclusion. Halper’s unflinching reframing will empower activists fighting for the rights of the Palestinians and democracy for all.

Foreword by Nadia Naser-Najjab

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Colonist Who Refuses, the Comrade in Joint Struggle

PART I ZIONISM AS SETTLER COLONIAL PROJECT

1. Analysis Matters: Beginning with Settler Colonialism Acknowledgements

2. Zionism: A Settler Colonial Project

PART II THREE CYCLES OF ZIONIST COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT

3. Settler “Invasion” and Foundational Violence: The Pre-State Cycle (1880s–1948)

4. The Israeli State Cycle (1948–67)

5. The Occupation Cycle (1967–Present): Completing the Settler Colonial Project

PART III DECOLONIZING ZIONISM, LIBERATING PALESTINE

6. Decolonization: Dismantling the Dominance Management Regime

7. Constructing a Bridging Vision and Set of Acknowledgements

8. A Plan of Decolonization

9. Towards Post-coloniality

10. Addressing the Fears and Concerns of a Single Democratic State

A Last Word: Being Political

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Political Advocacy
• Political Process
• Political Freedom
• Human Rights
• Political Science
• Civil Rights
• Middle Eastern
• HISTORY
• Israel
• History of the Middle East
• Decolonization
• General officer
• Civil and political rights
• Middle East
• Imperialism
• Activism
• Palestine
• World
• Impérialisme (jeu vidéo)
• General
• Décolonisation

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780745343419
• Langue: English

Extrait

Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine
Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine
Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State
Jeff Halper
Foreword by Nadia Naser-Najjab
First published 2021 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright Jeff Halper 2021
The right of Jeff Halper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 4340 2 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4339 6 Paperback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4343 3 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 0 7453 4342 6 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 0 7453 4341 9 EPUB eBook
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Simultaneously printed in the United Kingdom and United States of America
Contents
Foreword by Nadia Naser-Najjab
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Colonist Who Refuses, the Comrade in Joint Struggle
Positionality: Activist/Scholar, Colonist Who Refuses, Comrade
Focusing on Decolonization
PART I ZIONISM AS SETTLER COLONIAL PROJECT
1. Analysis Matters: Beginning with Settler Colonialism
What is Settler Colonialism and How Can It be Ended?
The Logic and Structure of Settler Colonialism
The Role of Indigenous Agency
2. Zionism: A Settler Colonial Project
Natives, But Not Natives
How Does Zionist Settler Colonialism Work?
Zionism s Dominance Management Regime
The Three Cycles of Zionist Expansion
PART II THREE CYCLES OF ZIONIST COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT
3. Settler Invasion and Foundational Violence: The Pre-State Cycle (1880s-1948)
Foundational Violence: The Pre-State Cycle
Population Management: The Pre-State Cycle
Land and Management: The Pre-State Cycle
Economic Management and Consolidation: The Pre-State Cycle
The Management of Legitimacy: The Pre-State Cycle
The Arab Revolt and the Transition to State-Level Security Organization
4. The Israeli State Cycle (1948-67)
The Management of Security
Population and Land Management: The Israeli Cycle
The Management of Legitimacy: The Israeli State Cycle
5. The Occupation Cycle (1967-Present): Completing the Settler Colonial Project
Foundational Violence/Management of Security: The Occupation Cycle
Population and Land Management: The Occupation Cycle
Economic Management: The Occupation Cycle
Hasbara : The Management of Legitimacy
Inching Towards Decolonization
PART III DECOLONIZING ZIONISM, LIBERATING PALESTINE
6. Decolonization: Dismantling the Dominance Management Regime
Forms of Palestinian Resistance and Agency
Summoning Power and the PLO: Decolonization versus Conflict Resolution
Back to Decolonization - and the Search for Appropriate Forms of Power
The Progression of Agency from Resistance to Summoning Power
7. Constructing a Bridging Vision and Set of Acknowledgements
8. A Plan of Decolonization
The ODSC Program for One Democratic State Between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River
9. Towards Post-coloniality
Strategy: How Do We Get There?
Dismantling the Regime of Population Control
Dismantling the Regime of Land Control
Dismantling the Regime of Economic Control
Reframing: Dismantling the Management of Legitimacy
Dismantling - or Reframing - Security
10. Addressing the Fears and Concerns of a Single Democratic State
A Last Word: Being Political
Notes
Index
Foreword
Nadia Naser-Najjab
Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
On first receiving Jeff s proposed solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, many readers will undoubtedly reflexively dismiss it as utopian. It is considerably less likely that they will acknowledge that it only appears this way when perceived from the confines of a pernicious orthodoxy that refuses to acknowledge, let alone engage with, possible alternatives. This is increasingly recognized by the Palestinian and Israeli peace activists who are seeking to retrieve the one-state solution and explore its possibilities and potentials. They have not necessarily accepted this solution on its own merits but have instead realized that Israel s ongoing colonization of the West Bank makes the two-state solution impossible.
Jeff s willingness to engage with the one-state solution clearly distinguishes him from those Israelis who are reluctant to renounce the privileges and entitlements that derive from the colonial state. These Israelis are at some level aware that their privilege was attained through various forms of oppression, and this creates a deep cognitive dissonance that they have never managed to fully resolve. Accordingly, their mentality, words and practice remain deeply, and perhaps irredeemably, colonial.
Jeff therefore stands apart from the Israeli mainstream. This was not the case when he emigrated to Israel (from the US) in 1973, with the aim of finding his Jewish roots in the Zionist state. Although he was a Leftist and peace activist from the beginning, it was only after he saw a Palestinian house being demolished in Jerusalem that he began to comprehend the colonial and irreversible nature of the Zionist project. In 1997 he co-founded the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), which rebuilds Palestinian homes demolished by Israel as acts of political resistance , not humanitarian gestures. Jeff has been arrested on several occasions for attempting to stop demolitions, as well as for other resistance activities (like sailing into Gaza with the Freedom Flotilla in order to break the siege).
It was in this context that he realized that the issue at hand was settler colonialism, not a conflict of nationalisms or merely occupation, and that the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel was never in the cards. After initially opposing and resisting occupation - a place where most Israeli Leftists remain - he shifted to becoming an anti-colonial activist, committed to transforming colonial relations between Palestinians and Israeli Jews. With a view to this end, he holds up coexistence between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Arab countries as a model for the single state.
Although Jeff and I have not always agreed when discussing the one-state solution, I have always been impressed by his insistence on Palestinian rights, including the Right of Return, and recognition of their central role in any future solution. He is also clear (in this book and on other occasions) that he cannot speak on behalf of Palestinians, and that their voices must be foremost. He knows that he is a privileged colonizer. But he simultaneously accepts and rejects this status and this confirms him, to borrow Albert Memmi s phrase, as the colonizer who refuses. 1
As a refuser, Jeff can speak to Palestinians, while as a colonizer he can engage with Israelis on issues of identity, national narratives and nationalism. The colonizer who refuses is therefore not conflicted but is instead uniquely well placed to challenge and undermine colonial power. In addressing the Right of Return, Jeff accepts that it is not fair to expect Palestinians to live alongside those who were responsible for their expulsion and subsequent suffering. He proposes that this injustice could be addressed by the redistribution of resources and land. I believe, however, that such questions of justice can only be answered by those who were dispossessed. Jeff, throughout the book, underlines and reiterates his commitment to live alongside Palestinians on the basis of an equality that actively seeks to address and resolve past injustices. This vision is embodied in the One Democratic State Campaign (which he co-founded) and its specific commitment that no group or collectivity will have any privileges, nor will any group, party or collectivity have the ability to leverage any control or domination over others.
Jeff s book helps the reader to think about how Palestinians and Jews can live alongside each other in a single state that upholds human rights and the broad principle of equality. He makes it clear that one of the elements of a shared life is reconciling narratives that do not seek to negate the o ther s narrative and aspirations. Palestinians may be disconcerted by this proposed reconciliation when they think back over years of dispossession, oppression and humiliation, but I believe it will help them to sustain a constructive and productive debate of the past, present and future.
Jeff s book is more than just a vision or open proposition, as it also sketches out a clear and concrete plan for future action that will work towards decolonization. He does not therefore just wish to apologise for the past and present actions of the settler state but instead sets out a clear program for the dismantling of the colonial structure and the establishment of an alternative grounded in pluralism and equality.
I view his book as the starting point of a discussion that will work towards, and ultimately produce, a genuinely inclusive alternative to a deeply pernicious status quo.
Acknowledgements
My analysis is informed by my interaction with real world comrades and insights gathered from struggles on the ground. It is to my partners-in-crime in the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), especially Linda Ramsden of ICAHD UK, and the One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC), headed by Awad Abdelfattah, that I owe the intellectual and political interaction out of which this book s analysis emerges. To the thousands of ICAHD supporters and political activists who hosted my many speaking tours throughout the world over the years - my equivalent of students and professional colleagues - I owe a g