Settler Colonialism and Conflict: The Israeli State and its Palestinian Subjects

Abstract

In this article I discuss the relationship between Israeli settler colonialism, group identities, conflict, and violence. The paper focuses on ‘1948 Palestinians’, and the relationship between them and the state. I explore the relationship between settler colonialism and communal identity through a case study of an incident of communal violence that erupted in Galilee in 1981 between two different religious groups within the Palestinian Arab community. I investigate the different
narratives that emerged to explain and frame the incident. I trace this event to a larger structure rooted in the history of settler colonialism in Palestine, thus shifting attention away from culturalist explanations of ‘Arab violence’. In addition to the case in Kafr Yassif, I will briefly discuss other cases to illustrate the pattern in which the Israeli settler colonial state’s policies are tied to issues of identity, conflict, and violence within the native Palestinian community. The essay also addresses the importance of this framework to Palestine Studies.