Stuck Between Palestinian Identity and Israeli Citizenship, Learning from Palestinians in Israel

This chapter argues that policies of settler colonialism cannot tolerate the identity discourse of native Palestinians and will conflict with it, spurring further policies to restrain it whether by force or soft power. To do so, the author explores the nature of the Israeli settler-colonial policies, which are characterised with increasingly religious and nationalist elements in Israeli society, in addition to the internal adherence of the “48 Palestinians” (also known as “Palestinians within the Green Line” or “Palestinians in Israel”) to the elements of their religious and national identities. The chapter indicates that Israeli policies of economic peace and the individual integration of the Palestinians inside the Green Line, regardless of their collective identity, are complicated and largely unsuccessful. It also shows that the Palestinians inside the Green Line have reached a greater consensus about their collective issues and are more willing to sacrifice for them than before. These events showed the Palestinians’ adherence to their identity despite these Israeli policies. It also illustrates the penetration of Jewish national religious discourse and how it became a political force on the ground that transcends its natural boundaries in the settlements to reach Arab communities that officially support it. Secular-liberal powers have also been silent towards, or shown support for, dealing with Palestinian protests in Israel using authoritarian and popular violence. At the same time, a state of shock and desire for vengeance appears in a way that exhibits a lack of awareness of the reality that Israeli policies have imposed upon the Palestinians, especially with the penetration of the idea of Jewish supremacy.