Demographic Anxieties of Jewish Sovereignty
Palestinian Women’s Bodies in Israeli Annexation Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24229191 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lihi Ben Shitrit (0000-0001-7868-9889, New York University), Idan Chazan (New York University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-09 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Politics International Studies in Gender State & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1072-4745 • E-ISSN: 1468-2893 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/sp/jxag030 |
| OpenAlex | W7167807356 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
This article analyzes the demographic discourse in Israeli annexation politics, focusing on how the Sovereignty Movement—one of the most influential networks advocating for Israel’s annexation of the West Bank—conceptualizes Palestinian women primarily through their reproductive capacity. Employing discourse analysis of publications from 2013 to 2022 and examining post-October 7th developments, the article reveals how annexationists co-opt the feminist language of “women’s rights” to promote a racialized demographic agenda. The research identifies two distinct approaches in the annexation discourse: in the West Bank, concerns focus on Palestinian women’s fertility rates, celebrating their “Westernization” and reduced reproduction (biopolitical control), while for Gaza, the emphasis shifts to “voluntary emigration” or transfer (biopolitical elimination). Both approaches employ humanitarian rhetoric while ultimately advancing Jewish demographic dominance. Theoretically, the article expands on the intersections of gender, biopolitics, and settler-colonialism by showing how variations of biopolitical logics apply to different territories within the same political context.
Biopolitics · fertility rate · Gaza strip · gender and colonialism · humanitarian rhetoric · Israeli annexation · Jewish sovereignty · October 7 attack · Palestinian women · reproductive capacity · settler colonialism · sovereignty movement · voluntary emigration · West bank · women's rights discourse · Gender and Feminist Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
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| Highly cited | No |
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