Palestinians in Israel: Neoliberal Contestations and Class Formation

Abstract

Palestinian citizens of Israel (also known as Palestinians of 1948) have largely been excluded from analyses on Palestinian political economy and on discussions of Israeli capitalism. This chapter seeks to address this invisibility. Palestinians in Israel face conditions of settler colonialism and neoliberalism that may be distinct from Palestinians elsewhere, yet their history and indigenous status continue to underlie discussions on their political future. The chapter focuses on transformations in Palestinian capital and labor and on the ways in which Palestinians have, as active agents, often embraced neoliberal processes to challenge their precarious situation in Israel. The chapter traces class contestation and formation by highlighting the emergence of an indigenous capitalist class that has coalesced around ideas of economic development and whose members have become key intermediaries in processes and mechanisms of neoliberalism. In doing so, the chapter simultaneously engages with the role of this class as a supposed “patriotic bourgeoisie” and demonstrates that members of a neo-liberalizing class are an integral node in sustaining the relationship between capitalism and Zionism.