ABSTRACT

Given both the intense ethnocratic forces currently present within Israel/ Palestine and the pressures of global geopolitics from without, can we imagine a path forward in which national and ethnic communities in this troubled land might enjoy greater legitimacy, security, peace, and equality? The main contention of this speculative chapter is that a theory and praxis of the demos-creating a legitimate, inclusive and stable political community of communities-is necessary to transforming Israel from an ethnocracy (a state based on a singular ethnic claim to prior political rights) to a democracy, and to begin healing the deep injuries marring ethnic relations in Israel/ Palestine. As the term is used here, an ethnocracy involves the institutionalizing of ethnic difference and privileging one of ethnic groups politically.2

Ironically, it becomes in time a confirmation of the politicized prejudices carried by approaches that talk of the “clash of civilizations” or the “return of repressed primordial differences.” Although the chapter engages in rethinking the bases of a transnational local conflict, it also segues into Part IV of the present volume, “Renewal in the Aftermath of Violence.” Without ignoring the importance of global geopolitics, the rethinking goes against the usual emphasis on developing a road-map for a conventional two-state solution from without to suggest a pathway from within.3