Amal Jamal

Nationalizing States and the Constitution of ‘Hollow Citizenship’: Israel and its Palestinian Citizens

Abstract This paper claims that nationalizing states adopt political, economic and cultural policies that hollow out the citizenship of national minorities, rendering them devoid of substantive meaning, since these minorities, often by their mere existence, tend to challenge the basic vision of the state. To demonstrate these claims, this paper examines the relationship between the Israeli state and its Arab-Palestinian minority. Based on analysing recent political, economic and cultural policies, which make multidimensional analytical frameworks necessary in explaining nationalizing states–minority relations, the paper demonstrates that, in opposite to the liberalization thesis, common in certain Israeli academic circles, the Israeli state has emphasized its nationalizing character rendering the citizenship of the Arab-Palestinian community devoid of substantial meaning. The nationalizing policies of the Israeli state have led to the intensification of Arab demands for a comprehensive transformation in the structure and policies of the Israeli state, thereby feeding the conflict between the state and its minority.

Strategies of Minority Struggle for Equality in Ethnic States: Arab Politics in Israel

This paper challenges existing theories of radicalization and secession that are presented as “natural” tendencies of minority nationalism. It demonstrates the affinity between the strategies of national minorities and those of social movements, claiming that excluded minorities seek to reframe and expand the meaning of their citizenship, as do social movements, by utilizing the structures of opportunities available to them through citizenship and by mobilizing whatever resources possible to improve their status. Minorities utilize the opportunities embedded in their citizenship, despite its shortcomings, before ever moving to alternative strategies that may jeopardize the valued incentives that were achieved so far as citizens. The paper demonstrates its theoretical hypothesis by examining the changes taking place in the strategy adopted by the Arab minority in Israel. This minority has chosen to abandon accommodative politics and is adopting a more active and challenging strategy vis-à-vis the state. In contrast with common claims that conceive Arab politics as a tendency towards strategies of radicalization and confrontation with the state, this paper demonstrates that recent changes in Arab politics seek to expand the meaning of citizenship beyond liberal limits and adapt it to new conditions in order to meet the minoritys expectations of full and equal citizenship.

The counter-hegemonic role of civil society: Palestinian–Arab NGOs in Israel

This paper deals with the causes and impact of the rise in the number of Palestinian–Arab Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Israel in the last two decades. It provides a multi-level model that combines economic, political and cultural factors to explain the shifts in Palestinian-Arab political mobilization in Israel and as a result to the rise of a complex network of Arab NGOs. The paper demonstrates the way in which the civil institutions and their intensive involvement in public social affairs generate social capital that has internal as well as external political impact. Arab civil society institutions, which operate mainly separately from civil institutions of the Jewish majority, assist in the empowerment and the development of Arab society. They provide services in different fields, such as education, health, and planning. They also advocate and lobby for the rights of the Arab citizens inside Israel and internationally. Arab civil society institutions also provide information necessary for political mobilization, identity formation, and cultural preservation. In this framework the paper claims that they play a counter-hegemonic role vis-à-vis the Israeli state. However, the paper also claims that the broad advocacy and lobbying activity of Arab civil institutions did not manage to fully democratize Israeli policies towards Arab society, demonstrating the centrality of state identity and power structure when it comes to democratization processes. On a different level, the paper reveals that, although the Palestinian–Arab NGOs network has managed to lead to a liberalization process within Arab society, this process is partial and selective.

State-Building, Institutionalization and Democracy: The Palestinian Experience

Formal democratic procedures such as a separation of powers, a transparent legislative process, an independent judiciary and competitive elections are usually considered a formal institutional manifestation of functioning democratic regimes. However, the experience of several countries demonstrates that informal practices such as clientelism and patronage can impair the positive role of these institutions. Although the Palestinian Authority (PA) is not yet independent and functions under conditions of quasi-occupation, this theoretical avenue forms a suitable point of departure for examining the character of the emerging state structures in Palestine. The article concludes that the pervasiveness of informal institutions encouraged by the dominant role of a strong founding-father has had devastating consequences, not only for the future of democracy in Palestine, but also for the political stability of the Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Media: An Obedient Servant or a Vanguard of Democracy?

This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examination of the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the media. After providing an overview of the media under Israeli occupation, the author examines their development and transformation under the PA, including the PA9s means of control both formal and informal. While noting the PA9s vulnerability to outside pressures and the need for the press itself to be more assertive in claiming its freedom, the author concludes that the PA9s record with the media thus far does not bode well for a democratic political culture in Palestine.

THE AMBIGUITIES OF MINORITY PATRIOTISM: LOVE FOR HOMELAND VERSUS STATE AMONG PALESTINIAN CITIZENS OF ISRAEL

The article sheds light on minority patriotism in ethno-national states. It utilizes the experience of the Arab minority in Israel demonstrating that patriotism develops in clear interdependence with the dominant ethos of the state. The ethnic citizenship model dominant in Israeli political culture does not incorporate the national or cultural identity of all Israeli citizens equally, rendering Israeli patriotism among Arab citizens more questionable. As a result, Arab patriotic attachment has gradually shifted from civic Israeli to Palestinian patriotism.

Democratizing state–religion relations: a comparative study of Turkey, Egypt and Israel

This article examines the complex relationship between state, religion and democratization in Turkey, Egypt and Israel. It demonstrates that binary and static models of separation and integration between state and religion are not sufficient to understanding the complex relationship between them and chances of democratization. Based on examining the democratization processes in the three Middle Eastern countries, the article argues that separation or integration between state and religion, although different, does not precondition democratic transformation and democratization. It is the form, the measure and the direction of separation or integration that makes the difference. The article demonstrates that democratization is not a one dimensional linear model, but rather can take two opposing directions when it comes to religion and state relations. Whereas in some cases the public return of religion and the subsequent representation of religious groups reflect democratization, in other cases, where state and religion are tightly integrated, democratization means the decoupling of state and religion and the downgrading of religious control of public institutions and individual personal status. Moreover, the examination of the three Middle Eastern countries demonstrates that democratization could involve the return of religion to the public sphere, as part of the basic democratic right of social groups to be represented and their right to participate in determining their cultural and ideological environment. It could also involve the deinstitutionalization of religion as exclusive authority and identity in the public sphere and in the private life of individuals. Based on such understanding the article claims that dynamic models of state–religion relations are necessary in order to anticipate the chances of democratization and consolidation.

State-Building and Media Regime: Censoring the Emerging Public Sphere in Palestine

This article analyses the complex mechanisms of media censorship, produced through both external and internal pressures, that are at work within Palestinian society. The article argues that there is an ongoing struggle for an open public sphere which is vital to Palestinian national development.

Illusive Pluralism and Hegemonic Identity in Popular Reality Shows in Israel

The present study aims to examine the pluralistic potential of reality shows, which might allow minorities to shape the programs script and to gain recognition for their particularistic identities. For this purpose, two prime-time reality shows were chosen— The Ambassador and Seeking a Leader—broadcast in Israel in 2005. The analysis of the programs included identification and deconstruction of their metanarratives and exposure of several mechanisms of stigmatization and othering used against minorities. In addition, the authors analyzed the tactics utilized by minorities to maneuver the script and steps taken by the majority to maintain its cultural dominance. The research reveals that the ostensibly pluralistic nature of reality shows is limited a priori by the hegemonic forces. Although the hegemonic discourse in reality shows is highly sophisticated and disguised, the sense of equality and pluralism that these programs inspire constitutes an even more powerful mechanism of exclusion and cultural domination.

Conflict Theory, Temporality, and Transformative Temporariness: Lessons from Israel and Palestine

This article examines the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in an effort to theorize the centrality of time in the inception and resolution of conflict. It argues that since time and temporality, which are central dimensions of all power relations and conflict, remain insufficiently explored on theoretical and practical levels, it is worth exploring how time is utilized as a central avenue of domination and resistance, and as a result has to be reconstructed in any reconciliatory process. It also argues that such a process between conflicting parties must address the mutual constructions of time, as history and memory, and as continuous flow of the present, before addressing their material manifestations. Since temporal perceptions are spheres of conflict reflecting power relations, parties in conflict develop and utilize different conceptions of time in their competing narratives. This is mostly apparent in asymmetric conflicts, where the powerful party seeks to rob the weak party of its time and its control, seeking to institutionalize temporal hegemonic schemes. Dominated parties resist not only through their efforts to return to history, but also by delegitimizing the time frame of their opponents and rendering it temporary. For reconciliation to take place, it is argued that conflict resolution must entail transformative temporality as a form of accommodating historical oppression, deconstructing past injustices and addressing existential threats. Transformative temporality refers to acknowledgement and action based on the notion that there is no fixed direction of the flow of time, nor is there a rigid ahistorical and apolitical beginning that orders events and the developments following it, granting these events and developments natural legitimacy or historical factuality. Rigid and fixed time frames that determine the relationships between groups or individuals are human constructions that, in conflict, should be replaced by more flexible and fluid ones that enable mutual recognition and understanding. The shift to transformative temporality is about admitting that there was no coherent self-identity prior to conflicting temporalities and that conflict that is based on this assumption can be overcome if such temporalities are reconstructed. This change questions one of the basic principles of national time expressed in all theories of nationalism, something that makes post-national formulas the only path to reconciliation in such conflicts. To demonstrate this argument and explain its complexities and its social, political, and existential implications, I analyze the Israeli–Palestinian dispute. I shed light on the meaning and implications of the temporal dimension for each of the parties, without claiming to write their history or to establish a parallel or equal picture of both. On the contrary, this is a modest contribution to understanding one of the reasons behind the negative dialectics between these two movements, pinpointing the dissimilarity in their historical circumstances, while emphasizing the consequential resemblance in their exclusive, mutual, and temporal selfconstructions. The rise of critical discourses of time on both sides of the conflict helps demonstrate the importance of transformative temporality for conflict resolution.