2. A Historical Context
2.1. Imperial Rule: Laying the Foundations for Israel’s
Segregation, Fragmentation and Isolation
Particularly illuminating is the way in which the foundations for
segregation, fragmentation and isolation were laid under Ottoman and
British rule, serving the basis for both the establishment of the IsraeliJewish settler-colonial enterprise and the near decimation of Palestinian
society. To understand the connection of the cities and the evolution of
the Palestinian social structure, it is necessary to recognize the importance
of the infrastructure networks. These networks play a crucial role in the
construction of territory, as they create connections and disconnections
among places and people, thus redefining spatial relations in physical,
economic and political terms.59 This is pervasive in European imperialism
in Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Australia, where
developments in modes of sea and land transport, particularly railways,
triggered the industrial revolution in Europe.60 Railways in particular, were
instrumental in accelerating the process of colonization, creating strategic
connections between Europe and cities and areas rich in natural resources
and raw materials, which in turn facilitated the exploitation of colonized
territory to the almost exclusive benefit of colonial powers.61 Additionally,
internal routes connected inland and coastal cities, creating commercial
circulation and economies within the colonized territory. Effectively,
the transportation infrastructure funded the colonial enterprise, as it
underpinned the rapid growth and wealth accumulation of the European
industrial economy.
59 See Omar Salamanca, “When Settler Colonialism Becomes ‘Development’: ‘Fabric of Life’ Roads and
the Spatialities of Development in the Palestinian West Bank,” Center for Development Studies at
Birzeit University, available at: http://rosaluxemburg.ps/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Omar-JabarySalamanca.pdf [accessed 28 February 2020].
60 Johnny Mansour, The Hijaz Railway: The History and Development of the Daraa-Haifa Train (Institute
for Jerusalem Studies, 2008), 23-24.
61 Id., 19-20.
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