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Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State
'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 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.
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 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.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published January 20, 2021
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About the author
Jeff Halper
10 books33 followersJeff Halper is an Israeli anthropologist, writer, speaker and human rights activist. He is the head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a founding member of the One Democratic State Campaign
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 5, 2024
After the Hamas attack and subsequent relentless bombings of Gaza this October, there's been much discussion on what are and aren't legitimate acts of resistance. While we should be in the streets supporting the cause of Palestinian liberation, there’s very little discussion as to what liberation actually looks like. Without a political program to rally around and fight for, we’re going to be stuck in the dead-end cycle of massacre-protest-massacre-protest. For this reason it’s essential to have manifestos like these, which begin the seemingly insurmountable task of sketching out the vision for a decolonized, free Palestine.
Halper starts the book on solid footing, essential for the political program that follows: the Israeli-Palestinian “conflict” is not one of symmetrical sides, where a resolution can be found by meeting in the middle. The situation is fundamentally one of settler colonialism, and he documents thoroughly how that has always been the explicit goal of the Zionist project from the beginning. It is only through this lens that we can understand the actual dynamics at play, and without that understanding we have no hope in resolving the conflict or stopping the violence. Thinking beyond moral terms, there is no chance that the killing will stop while the settler-oppressed relationship persists. As he writes early on,
The reality is that there is a single state controlling the entire territory today, and that’s Israel. In addition to its own “official” borders as established in 1948, it also occupies the supposedly sovereign West Bank, building more and more settlements that belong exclusively to Israeli citizens, and Gaza remains blockaded and completely dominated by the Israeli military (not to mention that, at the time of this writing, the IDF is preparing a ground invasion, whose ultimate outcome is anyone’s guess). Palestinians who lack Israeli citizenship have absolutely no say over the government that controls every aspect of their lives. There’s no hope that a two state solution can be achieved at this point, much less the common proposal that would leave Palestinians in control of a quarter of the land, with no connection between Gaza and the West Bank. The only possible solution is a single democratic state, after a thorough process of decolonization.
The American Palestinian solidarity movement is weak. Despite gradually shifting perspectives, especially among progressives and young Jews, the majority of our population strongly sides with Israel, and our government feels no significant pressure to taper its financial or military support. I believe at this time the principle task of American supporters of Palestine is to educate their peers, show up to demonstrations (especially those calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, sorely needed at the time of this writing), and demand an end of US military aid. The movement is too underdeveloped to advocate for any singular political vision, especially with the lack of institutional ties to people on the ground in Palestine. That said, it's very helpful to have a concrete example of what a free Palestine could be, and to counter the (bad faith) claim that it would necessarily mean the expulsion or murder of all Israeli Jews. Next I hope to read Ghada Karmi's One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel to see how her vision, and her perspective as someone in the Palestinian diaspora, differs.
When Halper describes the institutional political restructuring that may make cohabitation possible, I can’t help but be reminded of Fight the Constitution: For a Democratic Socialist Republic - Selected Writings from Marxist Unity Group, which centers the need for a new constitution that would establish a democratic republic in the US. Political structures can be so constricting and limit any substantial progress from taking place. While not currently in vogue, it’s essential that we start talking about issues of “high politics”, as they provide the only long-term avenue for liberation.
Nation building will be hard work. If a single democratic state were enacted tomorrow, hostilities between the two populations would not dissipate overnight. It will be a long process for the two sides to unlearn the generations-old biases that the colonial project has instilled in them. The process may not be linear, and the exact structure of a peaceful society may take generations to take shape. But we owe it to Israelis and Palestinians alike to struggle towards a shared vision of the future.
I'll close here with a section from Aurora Levins Morales's poem Read Sea, which was recently quoted in an article I read in Jewish Currents:
Halper starts the book on solid footing, essential for the political program that follows: the Israeli-Palestinian “conflict” is not one of symmetrical sides, where a resolution can be found by meeting in the middle. The situation is fundamentally one of settler colonialism, and he documents thoroughly how that has always been the explicit goal of the Zionist project from the beginning. It is only through this lens that we can understand the actual dynamics at play, and without that understanding we have no hope in resolving the conflict or stopping the violence. Thinking beyond moral terms, there is no chance that the killing will stop while the settler-oppressed relationship persists. As he writes early on,
“If the problem is a dispute between two countries or a civil war between two nationalisms, as the Palestinian/Israeli “conflict” is often phrased, then a conflict-resolution model might resolve it. But it cannot resolve a colonial situation. That requires an entirely different process of resolution: decolonization, the dismantling of the colonial entity so that a new, inclusive body politic may merge…. Only that will end “the conflict,” not limited Palestinian sovereignty over a small piece of their country.”
The reality is that there is a single state controlling the entire territory today, and that’s Israel. In addition to its own “official” borders as established in 1948, it also occupies the supposedly sovereign West Bank, building more and more settlements that belong exclusively to Israeli citizens, and Gaza remains blockaded and completely dominated by the Israeli military (not to mention that, at the time of this writing, the IDF is preparing a ground invasion, whose ultimate outcome is anyone’s guess). Palestinians who lack Israeli citizenship have absolutely no say over the government that controls every aspect of their lives. There’s no hope that a two state solution can be achieved at this point, much less the common proposal that would leave Palestinians in control of a quarter of the land, with no connection between Gaza and the West Bank. The only possible solution is a single democratic state, after a thorough process of decolonization.
The American Palestinian solidarity movement is weak. Despite gradually shifting perspectives, especially among progressives and young Jews, the majority of our population strongly sides with Israel, and our government feels no significant pressure to taper its financial or military support. I believe at this time the principle task of American supporters of Palestine is to educate their peers, show up to demonstrations (especially those calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, sorely needed at the time of this writing), and demand an end of US military aid. The movement is too underdeveloped to advocate for any singular political vision, especially with the lack of institutional ties to people on the ground in Palestine. That said, it's very helpful to have a concrete example of what a free Palestine could be, and to counter the (bad faith) claim that it would necessarily mean the expulsion or murder of all Israeli Jews. Next I hope to read Ghada Karmi's One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel to see how her vision, and her perspective as someone in the Palestinian diaspora, differs.
When Halper describes the institutional political restructuring that may make cohabitation possible, I can’t help but be reminded of Fight the Constitution: For a Democratic Socialist Republic - Selected Writings from Marxist Unity Group, which centers the need for a new constitution that would establish a democratic republic in the US. Political structures can be so constricting and limit any substantial progress from taking place. While not currently in vogue, it’s essential that we start talking about issues of “high politics”, as they provide the only long-term avenue for liberation.
Nation building will be hard work. If a single democratic state were enacted tomorrow, hostilities between the two populations would not dissipate overnight. It will be a long process for the two sides to unlearn the generations-old biases that the colonial project has instilled in them. The process may not be linear, and the exact structure of a peaceful society may take generations to take shape. But we owe it to Israelis and Palestinians alike to struggle towards a shared vision of the future.
I'll close here with a section from Aurora Levins Morales's poem Read Sea, which was recently quoted in an article I read in Jewish Currents:
We cannot cross until we carry each other,
all of us refugees, all of us prophets.
No more taking turns on history’s wheel,
trying to collect old debts no-one can pay.
The sea will not open that way.
This time that country
is what we promise each other,
our rage pressed cheek to cheek
until tears flood the space between,
until there are no enemies left,
because this time no one will be left to drown
and all of us must be chosen.
This time it’s all of us or none.
Read
March 16, 2024I'm far more interested in hearing about this topic from Palestinians but it was fine
June 23, 2024
Hasbara literally means “explaining”; when it was first coined it was used interchangeably with the word propaganda, just like when Public Relations (PR) was first created, it was also called propaganda. The art of forcing people to do what their conscience would NOT want them to do. Think of Hasbara as “soft power” - which is what Melania calls Donald’s penis.
Words Matter: “When a population arrives in a country with the intent of taking it over, that is an invasion.” “By classifying the natives generically as ‘Arabs’ instead of using the national term ‘Palestinians’, Israel de-territorialized them.” “Replacing the term ‘Palestinian’ with that of the generic ‘Arabs’ implicitly denies their very existence as a people.” Tom Segev wrote, “Disappearing the Arabs lay at the heart of the Zionist dream, and was also a necessary condition of its realization.” Zionists historically love to call ethnic cleansing by its euphemism, “transfer”; that’s like calling lynchings over a fire “swing dancing”. Israel “criminalized the Arabs and their resistance.” “Zionism is a kind of doubly exclusive regime. Not only do settlers claim exclusive rights to an Arab country, but they then restrict even the kinds of settlers who can come; they have to be Jews.” Because it is unjust and violent, settler-colonialism must conceal its own intentions and operations - the US called it Manifest Destiny, Hitler called it Lebensraum, Israel calls it Our Right to Defend Ourselves (against those land we stole by force).” Israel’s “Law of Return” applies only to Jews.
“Although most ultra-orthodox Jews are anti-Zionist and refuse to serve in the army, as Jews they cannot be denied equal civil, political or economic rights or political legitimacy.” Future Israeli prime minister Moshe Sharett said in 1914, “We have forgotten that we have not come to an empty land to inherit it, but we have come to conquer a country from a people inhabiting it.” Yep.
Turning Palestinians into Collaborators: “Thousands of Palestinians have been turned unwillingly into collaborators. Think of it as 5% of Palestinians under occupation presently acting as collaborators – if you want a driver’s license, a work or building permit, or even permission to take someone to a hospital, you may have to in return become a collaborator, it’s every bit as moral as Harvey Weinstein demanding a blow job in return for an acting job - and both leave an equally foul taste in the mouth.
Israel has veto power over all imports and exports to and from the OPT. This means Palestinians can’t import coriander, chocolate, ginger, wedding dresses, musical instruments, diapers, juice, potato chips, pasta, soccer balls, sheets, blankets, mattresses, shoes, pottery, wheelchairs, scissors, ultrasound equipment, crutches, A4 paper, and jam – imagine if Israel wouldn’t let you have ANY of this stuff – would YOU resist? Now you too are a terrorist, ha ha… Gaza has been intentionally “de-developed” (see Sara Roy’s books) and so it has the highest rate of unemployment in the world. “Israel’s fighting with Palestinians became a (paranoid) trope for Jews historically fighting for their existence” just as US settlers playing the victim while killing Native Americans to take all focus off the whites as invaders. The pretense that only the occupiers are the victims while only the occupied defending their land, are somehow the aggressors - it’s an intentional false symmetry – Palestinians have no rights, no army, not even drinkable water, while Israel’s army is supplied w/ every weapon you can think of.
Palestinian resistance is called “Sumud” (steadfastness or everyday resistance) – doing whatever it takes to not leave one’s land. Sumud can even mean, “breaching the separation wall to find work or going to the beach or rebuilding demolished homes.”
This book advocates “the decolonization of Zionism” and turning Israel into a “single democracy between the river and the sea.” The NYT ran an article in 2018 headlined, “As the 2-State Solution Loses Steam, a 1-State Solution Gains Traction.” Fun Facts: “Palestinians have become emblematic of oppressed people everywhere.” “Two-thirds of Israeli Jews don’t believe the West Bank is occupied at all.” “Portraying Native resistance as ‘terrorism’ is a quintessential colonial practice.” Franz Fanon wrote that, “Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon” (as is, of course, colonization). Israel presently depends on “substantial pacification”, and “substantial normalization of their settler state in the international community.” Israel presently is involved in four kinds of security management: Population Management (controlling non-Jews), Management of Legitimacy (pretending to be above international law), Land Management (controlling Palestinian land) and Economic Management (intentional de-development so non-Jews will leave). What Jabotinsky called “the Iron Wall” the author calls the “Dominance Maintenance Regime.” In 2019, Jewish Voice for Peace publicly stated it “is guided by a vision of justice, equality and freedom for all people. We unequivocally oppose Zionism because it is counter to those ideals.”
Israel as Rogue State: Imagine if Jews were forced to live on starvation rations in the Gaza Concentration Camp w/ undrinkable water, while the Palestinians lived in luxury in high-rises with beach and skiing resorts and fancy restaurants – there would be a ton of anti-Palestinian anti-Arab anger, yet today most Americans can’t fathom why conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism will also thus INCREASE perceived anti-Semitism worldwide. Israel’s occupation is governed by the Fourth Geneva Convention which gives Palestinians many rights that Israel intentionally deprives them. Israel knows well that international law says the OPT are illegally occupied. “It is inconceivable that the US and Europe would sanction Israel in any meaningful way for its violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention or other bodies of international law.” If not hamstrung by the US veto: The Security Council should send peacekeepers or force Israel to give up the OPT, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention should call a tribunal to impose sanctions against Israel.
Halper’s Solutions for Israel: There needs to be a one-state solution and the end of Israel’s occupation. Presently, Israel continues to exploit its feigned insecurity to gain and continue international support. Israel needs decolonization where ALL citizens have equal rights EVEN if they are Palestinian, or have never seen a Gal Gadot movie. Decolonization means “the dismantling of all structures of domination and control in the present system of colonization, occupation and apartheid, replacing them with a single democratic polity and an inclusive civil society.” “The ultimate goal should be justice, equality and ethical coexistence, not revenge.” “The State will sign and ratify all international treaties on human rights.” “Only when citizenship is deracialized (and normalized) can a level civil ‘playing field’ emerge.” A de-dichotomization. “In a democracy, the state ‘belongs’ to all its citizens.” The solution is Israel doing what South Africa did when it said, “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black or white.” Palestinians need right of return or compensation if they choose not to. “Conquest, displacement, violence and military domination cannot bring peace or security.” To give Palestinians equal rights and acknowledge past crimes. To completely dismantle what Halper calls Israel’s “Domination Management Regime”. Israel needs to affirm that its “Parliament will not have the authority to enact any laws that discriminate against any community under the Constitution.” “Additionally, the Constitution will deny Parliament the authority to pass laws that discriminate against citizens or collectives in any way.” Because “the income distribution in Israel/Palestine is more unequal than any country in the world”, Israel will need to dramatically change its economic policy. This includes letting Palestinian players on Israel’s football team – an act which could make Israel an actual World Cup contender rather than just a wannabe. I can picture die-hard Zionists then going, “That was a good goal scored – for a TERRORIST.” Halper’s solutions in this book aren’t crazy difficult: never forget that asshole settlers were historically and successfully expelled in Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya and Ireland.
Things for Islamophobes to bear in mind: “When the Inquisition forced Sephardi Jews to flee the Iberian Peninsula, they found refuge in the Muslim world.” “Nowhere in the Muslim world were Jews submitted to the type of discrimination exclusion and persecution found in Europe.”
“Neoliberalism replaces society with a collection of competing individuals.” According to Palestinian geographer Salman Abu Sitta, some 85% of the land taken from the Palestinians in 1948 is still available for settlement. It is either Israeli agricultural land or has been converted into national parks.” “While education under occupation or in refugee camps presents great challenges, Palestinians enjoy one of the highest literacy rates in the world (91 percent).”
This was a very good book read as #40 of the 82 books I’m reviewing on Israel/Palestine. It is the 1st of 3 Jeff Halper books I’ve set to read. It’s great that this book is more on Israel/Palestine SOLUTIONS than on diagnosis. And I’m a sucker for anyone writing about settler-colonialism. And Halper’s one-state solution works for us in the US, so why not for Israel? Oh, I forgot that while the US believes in separation of church and state, Israel sees both humorlessly fused together just like with its enemy Iran – and the US believes in equal rights for all while Israel believes in equal rights ONLY for Jews (and it will still hold its nose if you are Mizrahi, or a Jew of color). Congrats to the author.
Words Matter: “When a population arrives in a country with the intent of taking it over, that is an invasion.” “By classifying the natives generically as ‘Arabs’ instead of using the national term ‘Palestinians’, Israel de-territorialized them.” “Replacing the term ‘Palestinian’ with that of the generic ‘Arabs’ implicitly denies their very existence as a people.” Tom Segev wrote, “Disappearing the Arabs lay at the heart of the Zionist dream, and was also a necessary condition of its realization.” Zionists historically love to call ethnic cleansing by its euphemism, “transfer”; that’s like calling lynchings over a fire “swing dancing”. Israel “criminalized the Arabs and their resistance.” “Zionism is a kind of doubly exclusive regime. Not only do settlers claim exclusive rights to an Arab country, but they then restrict even the kinds of settlers who can come; they have to be Jews.” Because it is unjust and violent, settler-colonialism must conceal its own intentions and operations - the US called it Manifest Destiny, Hitler called it Lebensraum, Israel calls it Our Right to Defend Ourselves (against those land we stole by force).” Israel’s “Law of Return” applies only to Jews.
“Although most ultra-orthodox Jews are anti-Zionist and refuse to serve in the army, as Jews they cannot be denied equal civil, political or economic rights or political legitimacy.” Future Israeli prime minister Moshe Sharett said in 1914, “We have forgotten that we have not come to an empty land to inherit it, but we have come to conquer a country from a people inhabiting it.” Yep.
Turning Palestinians into Collaborators: “Thousands of Palestinians have been turned unwillingly into collaborators. Think of it as 5% of Palestinians under occupation presently acting as collaborators – if you want a driver’s license, a work or building permit, or even permission to take someone to a hospital, you may have to in return become a collaborator, it’s every bit as moral as Harvey Weinstein demanding a blow job in return for an acting job - and both leave an equally foul taste in the mouth.
Israel has veto power over all imports and exports to and from the OPT. This means Palestinians can’t import coriander, chocolate, ginger, wedding dresses, musical instruments, diapers, juice, potato chips, pasta, soccer balls, sheets, blankets, mattresses, shoes, pottery, wheelchairs, scissors, ultrasound equipment, crutches, A4 paper, and jam – imagine if Israel wouldn’t let you have ANY of this stuff – would YOU resist? Now you too are a terrorist, ha ha… Gaza has been intentionally “de-developed” (see Sara Roy’s books) and so it has the highest rate of unemployment in the world. “Israel’s fighting with Palestinians became a (paranoid) trope for Jews historically fighting for their existence” just as US settlers playing the victim while killing Native Americans to take all focus off the whites as invaders. The pretense that only the occupiers are the victims while only the occupied defending their land, are somehow the aggressors - it’s an intentional false symmetry – Palestinians have no rights, no army, not even drinkable water, while Israel’s army is supplied w/ every weapon you can think of.
Palestinian resistance is called “Sumud” (steadfastness or everyday resistance) – doing whatever it takes to not leave one’s land. Sumud can even mean, “breaching the separation wall to find work or going to the beach or rebuilding demolished homes.”
This book advocates “the decolonization of Zionism” and turning Israel into a “single democracy between the river and the sea.” The NYT ran an article in 2018 headlined, “As the 2-State Solution Loses Steam, a 1-State Solution Gains Traction.” Fun Facts: “Palestinians have become emblematic of oppressed people everywhere.” “Two-thirds of Israeli Jews don’t believe the West Bank is occupied at all.” “Portraying Native resistance as ‘terrorism’ is a quintessential colonial practice.” Franz Fanon wrote that, “Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon” (as is, of course, colonization). Israel presently depends on “substantial pacification”, and “substantial normalization of their settler state in the international community.” Israel presently is involved in four kinds of security management: Population Management (controlling non-Jews), Management of Legitimacy (pretending to be above international law), Land Management (controlling Palestinian land) and Economic Management (intentional de-development so non-Jews will leave). What Jabotinsky called “the Iron Wall” the author calls the “Dominance Maintenance Regime.” In 2019, Jewish Voice for Peace publicly stated it “is guided by a vision of justice, equality and freedom for all people. We unequivocally oppose Zionism because it is counter to those ideals.”
Israel as Rogue State: Imagine if Jews were forced to live on starvation rations in the Gaza Concentration Camp w/ undrinkable water, while the Palestinians lived in luxury in high-rises with beach and skiing resorts and fancy restaurants – there would be a ton of anti-Palestinian anti-Arab anger, yet today most Americans can’t fathom why conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism will also thus INCREASE perceived anti-Semitism worldwide. Israel’s occupation is governed by the Fourth Geneva Convention which gives Palestinians many rights that Israel intentionally deprives them. Israel knows well that international law says the OPT are illegally occupied. “It is inconceivable that the US and Europe would sanction Israel in any meaningful way for its violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention or other bodies of international law.” If not hamstrung by the US veto: The Security Council should send peacekeepers or force Israel to give up the OPT, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention should call a tribunal to impose sanctions against Israel.
Halper’s Solutions for Israel: There needs to be a one-state solution and the end of Israel’s occupation. Presently, Israel continues to exploit its feigned insecurity to gain and continue international support. Israel needs decolonization where ALL citizens have equal rights EVEN if they are Palestinian, or have never seen a Gal Gadot movie. Decolonization means “the dismantling of all structures of domination and control in the present system of colonization, occupation and apartheid, replacing them with a single democratic polity and an inclusive civil society.” “The ultimate goal should be justice, equality and ethical coexistence, not revenge.” “The State will sign and ratify all international treaties on human rights.” “Only when citizenship is deracialized (and normalized) can a level civil ‘playing field’ emerge.” A de-dichotomization. “In a democracy, the state ‘belongs’ to all its citizens.” The solution is Israel doing what South Africa did when it said, “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black or white.” Palestinians need right of return or compensation if they choose not to. “Conquest, displacement, violence and military domination cannot bring peace or security.” To give Palestinians equal rights and acknowledge past crimes. To completely dismantle what Halper calls Israel’s “Domination Management Regime”. Israel needs to affirm that its “Parliament will not have the authority to enact any laws that discriminate against any community under the Constitution.” “Additionally, the Constitution will deny Parliament the authority to pass laws that discriminate against citizens or collectives in any way.” Because “the income distribution in Israel/Palestine is more unequal than any country in the world”, Israel will need to dramatically change its economic policy. This includes letting Palestinian players on Israel’s football team – an act which could make Israel an actual World Cup contender rather than just a wannabe. I can picture die-hard Zionists then going, “That was a good goal scored – for a TERRORIST.” Halper’s solutions in this book aren’t crazy difficult: never forget that asshole settlers were historically and successfully expelled in Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya and Ireland.
Things for Islamophobes to bear in mind: “When the Inquisition forced Sephardi Jews to flee the Iberian Peninsula, they found refuge in the Muslim world.” “Nowhere in the Muslim world were Jews submitted to the type of discrimination exclusion and persecution found in Europe.”
“Neoliberalism replaces society with a collection of competing individuals.” According to Palestinian geographer Salman Abu Sitta, some 85% of the land taken from the Palestinians in 1948 is still available for settlement. It is either Israeli agricultural land or has been converted into national parks.” “While education under occupation or in refugee camps presents great challenges, Palestinians enjoy one of the highest literacy rates in the world (91 percent).”
This was a very good book read as #40 of the 82 books I’m reviewing on Israel/Palestine. It is the 1st of 3 Jeff Halper books I’ve set to read. It’s great that this book is more on Israel/Palestine SOLUTIONS than on diagnosis. And I’m a sucker for anyone writing about settler-colonialism. And Halper’s one-state solution works for us in the US, so why not for Israel? Oh, I forgot that while the US believes in separation of church and state, Israel sees both humorlessly fused together just like with its enemy Iran – and the US believes in equal rights for all while Israel believes in equal rights ONLY for Jews (and it will still hold its nose if you are Mizrahi, or a Jew of color). Congrats to the author.
July 21, 2021
Excellent book about the history of apartheid on Palestinian people and how to hypothetically get the Israeli government to stop its bigotry, and make amends.
November 13, 2021
I think this is by far the most recently published of the books I read on the palastine occupation, and while it was interesting to read a text from the perspective of an american/Israeli settler with more recent examples i also think its not the best written. I did learn a lot but for a lot of things he didnt really present any real new information (that i havent seen in other places at least)
Read
November 30, 2024im trying to develop some optimism for the world but damn is it tough
good book, though cant say my heart can believe in the gameplan it presents
good book, though cant say my heart can believe in the gameplan it presents
May 4, 2022
Insightful, informative and (for me anyway) an eye opener into the Zionist movements repression of the native Palestinian Arabs and the appropriation of their lands. Leaves me wondering why the international community (in the main) has quite rightly been highly vocal and active in denouncing Russia’s aggression against the people of Ukraine, condemned apartheid in South Africa and the ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war, however seems like we have been fairly silent on the plight and suffering of the Palestinian Arabs
July 20, 2024
Super helpful as a part of my education on the situation in Palestine- totally reframed how I think about Israel's occupation of Palestine. I definitely need a history of Palestine and a variety of Palestinian perspectives to read next.
The comparisons to South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle were helpful and just the language used to talk about the colonization of Palestine- calling it what it is - not a conflict which implies two distinct and more or less equal sides fighting but a colonization.
This left me better understanding political responses from other countries (like the US and why it's in their interest to continue supporting fellow colonizers), thinking more critically about resistance, and really examining my work as a Peace Corps volunteer working in economic development.
"As a strategy of pacification, 'economic development' functions as a form of counterinsurgency. It depoliticizes- and demotes- the struggle against occupation in favor of 'projects'. Infrastructure construction, job training, educating women, fostering businesses, alleviating poverty- all these are good things in and of themselves, but they are incapable of generating or sustaining genuine economic and social development in the absence of sovereignty and fundamental political freedoms."
Other highlights:
Fourth World peoples: small indigenous communities living within larger states
Sumud: steadfastness or everyday resistance
BDS campaigns: boycott, divestment, sanctions
"A neoliberal economy is incapable of offering equitable access to resources or providing social and economic security, regardless of how democratic it is, since neoliberalism replaces society with a collection of competing individuals."
The comparisons to South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle were helpful and just the language used to talk about the colonization of Palestine- calling it what it is - not a conflict which implies two distinct and more or less equal sides fighting but a colonization.
This left me better understanding political responses from other countries (like the US and why it's in their interest to continue supporting fellow colonizers), thinking more critically about resistance, and really examining my work as a Peace Corps volunteer working in economic development.
"As a strategy of pacification, 'economic development' functions as a form of counterinsurgency. It depoliticizes- and demotes- the struggle against occupation in favor of 'projects'. Infrastructure construction, job training, educating women, fostering businesses, alleviating poverty- all these are good things in and of themselves, but they are incapable of generating or sustaining genuine economic and social development in the absence of sovereignty and fundamental political freedoms."
Other highlights:
Fourth World peoples: small indigenous communities living within larger states
Sumud: steadfastness or everyday resistance
BDS campaigns: boycott, divestment, sanctions
"A neoliberal economy is incapable of offering equitable access to resources or providing social and economic security, regardless of how democratic it is, since neoliberalism replaces society with a collection of competing individuals."
January 11, 2024
This book was incredibly eye opening. I do wish that there was a slightly greater focus on how global capitalism plays into the struggle, though I get the vibe this may be something he discusses elsewhere.
As someone who read this resource front-to-back it did get a tad repetitive toward the end. However, chapters 9-10 are very strong summaries of the proposal!
As someone who read this resource front-to-back it did get a tad repetitive toward the end. However, chapters 9-10 are very strong summaries of the proposal!
May 25, 2021
Your opinion on the strategic conclusions may vary but functions very well as a history and motivational analysis for the colonisation of Palestine
August 26, 2024
video book review: https://youtu.be/QtJHcmWqBfE
Important because it's one of the few books (alongside Benny Morris' helpful historically, unhelpful practically One State, Two States) that knows that the "two-state solution" is a sham and unacceptable to Israel, and hence dead in the water.
Halper also takes the time to explain what settler colonialism is and to provide context for how it can be dealt with productively (South Africa being the most recent and relevant example).
"Israel is universalizing, weaponizing (literally) and exporting its model of a militarized democracy based on the permanent repression of Palestinians." (p. 5)
"The very term 'settler' arouses antagonism because it implies that Israeli Jews are foreigners who have no claim to the Land. It stands in stark contrast to their own view of themselves as 'returning natives.'" (p. 35)
"But what to do with Arab Jews coming from Arab lands? Yet another invented racialized identity had to be invented, Mizrahi, or Oriental Jews. To do that it became necessary to lump all Jews from Morocco to Yemen and on to Iraq, Kurdistan and even non-Arab countries like Iran, Turkey and India into the same category — and then endeavor to de-Arabize them." (p. 44)
"'Judaization is a term used frequently since the start of Zionism. It continues to be used by the Israeli government (as in the policy of 'Judaizing the Galilee'), though less contentious terms like 'redeeming the Land' (ge'ulat ha'aretz) are preferred." (p. 61)
(quoting IDF Chief of Staff Yigael Yadin) "Every [Jewish] citizen is a soldier on eleven months annual leave." (p. 69)
"On the very first day of Israeli sovereignty, May 15, 1948, the Knesset adopted all 170 Mandatory statues the Jews had so bitterly criticized as anti-democratic and even 'Nazi-like' before statehood." (p. 69)
"Yet Israel has never accepted the legal fact of occupation since it contradicts Zionism's claim of entitlement to the whole of the Land of Israel." (p. 93)
"This is a fundamental issue that will have to be decided in the future. The ODSC program adopts the PLO's position of non-sectarian government. Its vision of the new state is secular in the sense that the authority to govern and make laws emanates from the consent of the governed and not from religious law, and there is no official religion, although religious laws may still function alongside civil institutions. Since the term "secular" has so many connotations, mostly negative to religious people, and since the majority of Palestinians and Israelis alike describe themselves as 'religious' or 'traditional,' our strategy, like that of the PNC, is to advocate a non-sectarian democracy while refraining from using the red-flag term 'secular.'" (p. 154)
"Yet as strong as Israel is, it is not winning in the Court of Public Opinion. True, it has the support of many governments, but that does not translate into widespread support among the world's peoples. Indeed, a worldwide Palestinian solidarity movement already exists. For all its seeming clout, Israel has not been able to bring its colonial venture to completion. It has not been able to normalize itself as the replacement of Palestine. Nor has it succeeded in removing Palestine from the international agenda." (p. 174)
(regarding the "two-state solution") "But Israel rejected it. Israel governments going back to 1967 have rejected the notion of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel. They even reject the very fact of occupation. Instead, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and moved 700,000 settlers into the territory that would have been a Palestinian state. It confined 95 percent of the Palestinians to the tiny islands of Areas A and B in the West Bank, and a besieged Gaza. In January 2020, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel would annex the Jordan Valley 'and all the settlements,' in accord with Trump's 'Deal of the Century' — without even offering the 'annexed' Palestinians Israeli citizenship. Nor is there any will on the part of the international community to sanction Israel or force it to withdraw from the Occupied Territory. So, true, while the two-state solution might have worked, it was never accepted by Israel. Regardless, it is now dead and gone, buried under massive settlement blocs. We must move on." (p. 195)
Important because it's one of the few books (alongside Benny Morris' helpful historically, unhelpful practically One State, Two States) that knows that the "two-state solution" is a sham and unacceptable to Israel, and hence dead in the water.
Halper also takes the time to explain what settler colonialism is and to provide context for how it can be dealt with productively (South Africa being the most recent and relevant example).
"Israel is universalizing, weaponizing (literally) and exporting its model of a militarized democracy based on the permanent repression of Palestinians." (p. 5)
"The very term 'settler' arouses antagonism because it implies that Israeli Jews are foreigners who have no claim to the Land. It stands in stark contrast to their own view of themselves as 'returning natives.'" (p. 35)
"But what to do with Arab Jews coming from Arab lands? Yet another invented racialized identity had to be invented, Mizrahi, or Oriental Jews. To do that it became necessary to lump all Jews from Morocco to Yemen and on to Iraq, Kurdistan and even non-Arab countries like Iran, Turkey and India into the same category — and then endeavor to de-Arabize them." (p. 44)
"'Judaization is a term used frequently since the start of Zionism. It continues to be used by the Israeli government (as in the policy of 'Judaizing the Galilee'), though less contentious terms like 'redeeming the Land' (ge'ulat ha'aretz) are preferred." (p. 61)
(quoting IDF Chief of Staff Yigael Yadin) "Every [Jewish] citizen is a soldier on eleven months annual leave." (p. 69)
"On the very first day of Israeli sovereignty, May 15, 1948, the Knesset adopted all 170 Mandatory statues the Jews had so bitterly criticized as anti-democratic and even 'Nazi-like' before statehood." (p. 69)
"Yet Israel has never accepted the legal fact of occupation since it contradicts Zionism's claim of entitlement to the whole of the Land of Israel." (p. 93)
"This is a fundamental issue that will have to be decided in the future. The ODSC program adopts the PLO's position of non-sectarian government. Its vision of the new state is secular in the sense that the authority to govern and make laws emanates from the consent of the governed and not from religious law, and there is no official religion, although religious laws may still function alongside civil institutions. Since the term "secular" has so many connotations, mostly negative to religious people, and since the majority of Palestinians and Israelis alike describe themselves as 'religious' or 'traditional,' our strategy, like that of the PNC, is to advocate a non-sectarian democracy while refraining from using the red-flag term 'secular.'" (p. 154)
"Yet as strong as Israel is, it is not winning in the Court of Public Opinion. True, it has the support of many governments, but that does not translate into widespread support among the world's peoples. Indeed, a worldwide Palestinian solidarity movement already exists. For all its seeming clout, Israel has not been able to bring its colonial venture to completion. It has not been able to normalize itself as the replacement of Palestine. Nor has it succeeded in removing Palestine from the international agenda." (p. 174)
(regarding the "two-state solution") "But Israel rejected it. Israel governments going back to 1967 have rejected the notion of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel. They even reject the very fact of occupation. Instead, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and moved 700,000 settlers into the territory that would have been a Palestinian state. It confined 95 percent of the Palestinians to the tiny islands of Areas A and B in the West Bank, and a besieged Gaza. In January 2020, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel would annex the Jordan Valley 'and all the settlements,' in accord with Trump's 'Deal of the Century' — without even offering the 'annexed' Palestinians Israeli citizenship. Nor is there any will on the part of the international community to sanction Israel or force it to withdraw from the Occupied Territory. So, true, while the two-state solution might have worked, it was never accepted by Israel. Regardless, it is now dead and gone, buried under massive settlement blocs. We must move on." (p. 195)
February 4, 2025
The history portion is very good, it gives a lot of historical context and important background information, and I did learn some things I didn't already know. The analysis is also pretty decent, well researched and backed up (if a little academic in places, it's still fairly easy to digest). Unfortunately it lost me in it's path to decolonisation, as it came across very unrealistic and theoretical, and despite the claims of prioritising justice, there seems little thought for how this would play out practically. The author's skipping over the compliance and responsibility of the majority of settlers (from the acceptance they have any kind of right to be there purely because they stole someone's home (or because a book written thousands of years ago says so), to the avoidance of mentioning mandatory military service making almost every settler personally responsible for the death and destruction that has been inflicted on the Palestinians) is not surprising with it coming from a settler, but could have been better balanced had the book been written alongside a Palestinian also from the ODSC, so they could both be coming from the same place with the same vision, but give a more balanced and nuanced perspective for the practicalities of building an equal nation from a settler colonial one.
Overall it's not a bad book, but it certainly hasn't laid out a workable path to liberation and decolonisation as far as I can see.
Overall it's not a bad book, but it certainly hasn't laid out a workable path to liberation and decolonisation as far as I can see.
August 10, 2024
This book is written by a colonizer who refuses, a Jewish man who moved to Israel, and has focused on ending the apartheid system, and partnering with Palestinians to increase rights. The thesis he shares (one that is not only his) is that the two state solution has failed, and reverting to it preserves the status quo. Instead, he discusses the need for a one state solution, a state that Israeli Jews and Palestinians reside in together with equal rights. This is at the heart of the struggle around Israel, as it inherently places the conflict of Israel, its inability to be a democratic state and a Jewish state. I think Harper makes a compelling case about how decolonization, and creating this one-state would is the most compelling forward. Reading this during 2024, shows how important and crucial this goal is. Halper also connects the Palestinian struggle with the struggle for all oppression to end. He ends the book, with a wonderful statement about how hope is illusory, faith-based, and that to engage in the struggle is the path forward, acknowledging that the struggle will not be easy, and that all we can hope for is small steady progress. This framing is helpful, although it is heart-breaking to see the genocide unfold, and for there to be so much powerlessness in stopping it. I think reading this is helpful for those hoping to learn about Palestine and Israel, but it may not be the best introduction.
July 2, 2024
تحرير فلسطين بنزع الاستعمارية عن إسرائيل
تصور لحل الدولة الو��حدة (والتي هي حقيقة واقعية الآن) وكيف يمكن الانتقال من دولة فصل عنصري استعمارية استيطانية إلى دولة ديمقراطية دستورية لكل مواطنيها، تعيد للفلسطينيين حقهم وتمنحهم حق تقرير المصير وحق العودة والمساواة في الحقوق والموارد والأرض، وفي المقابل توفر للمستوطنين\اليهود فرصة للاندماج في البيئة والمجتمع الجديد بشكل ما من "المواطنة الأصلية".
فيه تفاصيل كثيرة للكتاب وتباينات بين الأطروحات المختلفة لحل الدولة الواحدة لكنه يظل في نظري الحل الوحيد المنطقي والعادل للقضية الفلسطينية. وربما أفصل في شرحها قريبًا جدًا لأن هذه الأطروحات النظرية هي ما نفتقده كعرب الآن وهو ما يقرّه الكاتب رغم إيمانه ودفاعه عن حق الفلسطينيين بالمقاومة وبالمقاومة المسلحة أيضًا.
لكن لا مقاومة دون سياسة ولا سياسة دون فكر ومشروع.
أود لفت النظر أيضًا إلى البُعد التاريخي-الجغرافي الذي تتبناه "مبادرة الدولة الديمقراطية الواحدة" ورؤيتها للدولة الجديدة في بعدها الاقليمي في الشرق الأوسط بل وبعدها العالمي
Liberating Palestine is a step towards liberating Global Palestine
وكما قال هنري لوفيفر:
حينما نحلم بالوصول إلى النجوم، ربما نتمكن يومًا ما من رفع رأسنا.
تصور لحل الدولة الو��حدة (والتي هي حقيقة واقعية الآن) وكيف يمكن الانتقال من دولة فصل عنصري استعمارية استيطانية إلى دولة ديمقراطية دستورية لكل مواطنيها، تعيد للفلسطينيين حقهم وتمنحهم حق تقرير المصير وحق العودة والمساواة في الحقوق والموارد والأرض، وفي المقابل توفر للمستوطنين\اليهود فرصة للاندماج في البيئة والمجتمع الجديد بشكل ما من "المواطنة الأصلية".
فيه تفاصيل كثيرة للكتاب وتباينات بين الأطروحات المختلفة لحل الدولة الواحدة لكنه يظل في نظري الحل الوحيد المنطقي والعادل للقضية الفلسطينية. وربما أفصل في شرحها قريبًا جدًا لأن هذه الأطروحات النظرية هي ما نفتقده كعرب الآن وهو ما يقرّه الكاتب رغم إيمانه ودفاعه عن حق الفلسطينيين بالمقاومة وبالمقاومة المسلحة أيضًا.
لكن لا مقاومة دون سياسة ولا سياسة دون فكر ومشروع.
أود لفت النظر أيضًا إلى البُعد التاريخي-الجغرافي الذي تتبناه "مبادرة الدولة الديمقراطية الواحدة" ورؤيتها للدولة الجديدة في بعدها الاقليمي في الشرق الأوسط بل وبعدها العالمي
Liberating Palestine is a step towards liberating Global Palestine
وكما قال هنري لوفيفر:
حينما نحلم بالوصول إلى النجوم، ربما نتمكن يومًا ما من رفع رأسنا.
August 29, 2024
The first part of this book was an elaborate historical exodus on the Israeli colonisation of Palestine through legal and military means to frame the second half, which reads as a political manifesto. His case: the decolonisation of Israel to create a single state of cultural / political equality between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Note that while he is an anti-colonial Israeli himself, he does take the time to grapple with positionality and laments the absence of a Palestinian perspective. This would have in particular enriched the political reconciliation element of the book, which I found flighty at times despite its immense significance — especially reading this as we near 11 months of the ongoing Israeli genocide on Palestinians. Informative and well-researched, but I wonder how the ongoing violence would affect the feasibility of his political program.
January 12, 2024
The first half of the book goes over a general history of the occupation of Palestine. From early on to the Nakba to present. The 2nd half is where we get to the theory. While I may disagree with some aspects of his analysis its overall very well thought out and researched. You can tell the author spent a long time and got alot of his peers to help with this book. It goes over all of the typical criticisms or questions that come when talking about decolonisation. He calls for a mixed economy instead of an outright socialist one which I would argue would benefit them more. But overall his analysis is sound and this book is a good attempt and trying to map out what that future could look like and how to get there. Would recommend for learning on Palestine
July 13, 2022
This one took me a long time to read, just very dense in both history and analysis (especially the middle part which circles in on analysis). The first section was illuminating in showing the formation of Zionism as an ideology similar to Manifest Destiny, then the third section a possible blueprint for moving through it and transforming the status quo. Possible blueprint for here (USA) as well?
I think the last section is rather more optimistic than I feel right now (for either Israel/Palestine or the US), particularly in light of the years since it was written, but I can hope to be wrong.
I think the last section is rather more optimistic than I feel right now (for either Israel/Palestine or the US), particularly in light of the years since it was written, but I can hope to be wrong.
July 2, 2021
This book presents a fairly compelling case for the ODSC's particular one-state plan but its analysis of Israeli settler-colonialism and the way that the two-state solution has been cynically wielded by the Israeli govt to prevent any sort of Palestinian sovereignty is where this book really shines.
March 16, 2024
If you have not yet read a book on the history of Palestine and Israel, I would recommend this one. I'm still left wanting to know more, though I feel much more in tune with the historical evidence and it makes what is happening today appear as a clear continuation of the past, greatly in need of attention and action for a future of peace and equity.
December 26, 2024
Outcome is debatable but the work is admirable. Written in a reader friendly manner, it provides a great perspective.
July 23, 2021
This is a strange combination of incredibly academically precise but when it gets to the actual practical “how will we do this thing”, it gets a bit vague. One of the things that I really appreciate about this is the depth of the historical look that Halper takes at the Israeli colonization, because again, we never really got taught about this on school. He’s also incredibly thorough at academically deconstructing the colonization, and explaining all the stakeholders and how they can play into the process of decolonization. However, when it comes to the actual practical “how can we do this”, he is incredibly vague. Part of it may be because he’s Israeli, and though he’s involved in active resistance to the colonization efforts, he doesn’t feel like he has he standing to say how he should do it. But it leaves the book feeling a bit soft and mealy mouthed towards the end. Still a fantastic read, especially in light of the recent Ben and Jerry’s decisions over where they’ll sell in the area, which is a fantastic practical application of the BDS framework.
March 13, 2024
Very informative, I gave this 4 stars as it was very technical in its writing at times and hard to keep my focus however Jeff Halper (an Israeli Jew who has been advocating for Palestinians for years) really breaks down the 1 state solution and some steps to how to go about it and the obstacles in the way. Very worth the read
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