The Other Shift: Settler Colonialism, Israel, and the Occupation

This densely argued essay offers an original approach to the study of Israel-Palestine through the lens of colonial studies. The author’s argument rests, inter alia, on the distinction between colonialism, which succeeds by keeping colonizer and colonized separate, and settler colonialism, where ultimate success is achieved when the settlers are ‘‘indigenized’’ and cease to be seen as settlers. Referring to the pre-1948 and post-1967 contexts, the author shows how and why Israel, itself a successful settler colonial project emerging from the British mandate, has failed to create a successful settler project in the occupied territories; indeed, and paradoxically, the occupation’s very success (in terms of unassailable control) renders the project’s success (in terms of settler integration/indigenization) impossible. Also addressed are the consequences of occupation, particularly what the author calls Israel’s ‘‘recolonization,’’ and the implications of the approach outlined for the Israel-Palestine conflict and its resolution.

LORENZO VERACINI is associate professor and Queen Elizabeth II Fellow at the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Israel and Settler Society (2006) and Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview (2010), and editor of Settler Colonial Studies.