Settler-colonial incorporation of new territories demands new legitimacy claims

Evidence

The gradual incorporation of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 into the settler-colonial project, and the continued policies toward the Palestinian community within Israel – a community that became stronger over the years – engendered different processes within the same structure. While the question of the legitimacy of Israel as a state was sidelined, particularly with the PLO recognition of Israel in the 1993 Oslo Accords, two major issues related to the question of legitimacy emerged. The first was how to legitimize the aggressive project of incorporating the West Bank or parts of it (including East Jerusalem), geographically, demographically, politically, and psychologically as an integral part of the Land of Israel (Lustick 1993). The second was Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a Jewish state (A. Bishara 2005; Ghanem 2014; Rouhana 2018). — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 550

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state represents a legitimacy demand — one that, if met, arguably would constrain rather than empower the incorporated Palestinian minority. — connects to: Settler-colonial states facing unresolved legitimacy needs keep manufacturing legitimation — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 469; Secular settler-colonial projects increasingly need religious legitimation to sustain expansion. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 527; Territorial sovereignty over a diaspora required settler colonization. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 477 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Unapproved colonizers must perform legitimacy rather than act at home #expands (0.82)
• Territorial sovereignty over a diaspora required settler colonization. #expands (0.78) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 477