Israeli state archaeology functions to legitimize an exclusive claim to the land

Evidence

Nadia Abu El-Haj points out that the Israeli investment in archaeology as a national interest represents not just a fascination with the past as pastime. Rather, it serves to stake an originary claim to the land, an unbroken material link to the antique imaginary, a legitimation of belonging, and the anchoring ground of the right to return. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 627

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Goldberg’s own renaming point in the previous paragraph — both are technologies of territorial legitimation. — connects to: Israel’s right-of-return discourse asymmetrically privileges Jewish over Palestinian claims. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 582; Religious injunctions directly legitimize land expropriation and permanent Jewish-only ownership. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 503