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The Making of an Underclass: The Palestinian Citizens in Israel

Sultany, Nimer

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Abstract

I argue here that Israel’s ‘basic structure’ (i.e., the main economic, social, and political institutions), to use John Rawls’s phrase, subjects the Palestinian citizens to a process of ghettoization that relegates them to a separate and unequal status. This basic structure is particularly unjust, as it does not provide these citizens with the minimal conditions of a decent life. The state not only fails to rectify this injustice but is actively implicated in producing it. I argue that this process has included five key and interrelated elements: labor segmentation, land appropriation, de-development, deficient education, and the production of poverty. The Essay shows how the legal system is implicated in producing the segregation and subordination of the Palestinian minority. Ultimately, ghettoization within Israel intersects with a process of separation and annexation in the Occupied Territories. Together, these processes are eroding the citizenship status of the Palestinian citizens in Israel.

Citation

Sultany, N. (2012). The Making of an Underclass: The Palestinian Citizens in Israel. Israel Studies Review, 27(2), 190-212. https://doi.org/10.3167/isr.2012.270210

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2012
Deposit Date Oct 21, 2013
Publicly Available Date Mar 12, 2025
Journal Israel Studies Review
Print ISSN 2159-0370
Electronic ISSN 2159-0389
Publisher Berghahn Journals
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 27
Issue 2
Pages 190-212
DOI https://doi.org/10.3167/isr.2012.270210
Keywords Israel, Palestinian minority, ghettoization
Publisher URL http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2216734

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