When you come to Ariel, you come to serenity

Affect, Aesthetics and Normalisation of Colonial Domination in Israeli Settlements

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4998331
AutoresJakub Zahora (0000-0002-6463-0007, Charles University, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume29
Fascículo2
Páginas552-580
Data de publicação2024-03-14
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2023.2171866
OpenAlexW4321238235
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas77

This paper discusses the normalisation of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank on the part of their inhabitants. Focusing on the so-called ‘non-ideological’ settlements that evolved from ideological outposts into middle-class suburbs over the last three decades, this study engages spatial politics in Israel/Palestine in general, and the transformations of the settlement project in particular. Based on ethnographic research in the region, I argue that the acceptance and normalisation of the settlements among Israelis is closely related to their affective and aesthetic experiences. I focus on the co-production of space/territory, affect and aesthetics to show how physical transformations of the settlements since their establishment have turned many of these key nodes of the Israeli occupational apparatus into family-friendly communities, thus erasing the violence of the Israeli control over the Palestinians from settlers’ lives. I further demonstrate that these notions are not disrupted even by one of the most prominent symbols and technologies of the occupation, the fence/wall. This study thus contributes to understanding of how the interplay of spatial, territorial, aesthetic and affective practices works to normalise colonial conquest and domination by making their manifestations seemingly natural and even appealing on the part of the privileged segments of the society

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Ethnography · Ethnology · Human settlement · Ideology · Palestine · Political science · Politics · Sociology · West bank · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Urban Planning and Governance