Lana Tatour
and the conditions of colonial subjecthood and alienage. On the contrary,
citizenship has been instrumental in the process of governing indigenous peoples as surplus populations that ought to be managed, controlled, and tamed.
The question of citizenship is yet to be resolved in the context of IsraelPalestine. Palestinian refugees and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West
Bank, and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied the right to citizenship and
the right of return. At the same time, the citizenship of ’48 Palestinians has
been structured as inferior and thus foregrounds their subjugation in the Jewish state. Despite their formal status as citizens, the Israeli state still regards
Palestinians in Israel as temporary guests and movable people. Therefore, we
are witnessing growing attempts to erode the citizenship of ’48 Palestinians
and to make it more easily revocable. The vulnerability of the citizenship of
Palestinians in Israel is structural and must be understood in relation to the
earlier construction of their citizenship as an act of benevolence rather than
a natural right. The implications are grave. When citizenship is not a natural
right, it is bound to be conditional, making the very existence of the Palestinians in their homeland contingent on the state’s good will. The dependence
of Palestinians in Israel on citizenship for sumud and survival is a testament
to the inextricability of citizenship and settler colonial domination.
33
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3533490