The Palestinians and East Jerusalem - (Soas Palestine Studies) by Bruno Huberman

About the Book

"Over the last two decades, the Israeli government has implemented policies for the development of East Jerusalem. These comprise urban revitalization as well as professional training and the promotion of entrepreneurship for the Palestinians. But how do these policies co-exist under Israeli settler colonial power? This book focuses on the contradiction between the rise of neoliberal development in East Jerusalem and the simultaneous continuation of Israeli settler colonialism. It argues that the combination of colonialism and neoliberalism allows for the 'primitive accumulation of capital' to occur permanently through explicitly coercive forms. More than this, based on theoretical research, interviews, and an analysis of race and class relations in East Jerusalem, the book shows that neoliberal development is used to facilitate the reproduction of racial hierarchies, settler privileges and the pacification of the Palestinian residents, where these outcomes are presented as the 'natural' result of market relations. The author calls this environment 'neoliberal settler colonialism' and explores Palestinians' new acts of resistance that exist ambivalently within this structure. A significant theoretical contribution, the study highlights a new settler colonial and neoliberal sociability that co-opts the exploited and oppressed"--

Book Synopsis

Over the last two decades, the Israeli government has implemented policies for the development of East Jerusalem. These comprise urban revitalization as well as professional training and the promotion of entrepreneurship for the Palestinians. But how do these policies co-exist under Israeli settler colonial power?

This book focuses on the contradiction between the rise of neoliberal development in East Jerusalem and the simultaneous continuation of Israeli settler colonialism. It argues that the combination of settler colonialism and neoliberalism allows for the 'primitive accumulation of capital' to also occur permanently through deceptive soft forms. More than this, based on theoretical research, interviews, and an analysis of race and class relations in East Jerusalem, the book shows that neoliberal development is used to facilitate the reproduction of racial hierarchies, settler privileges and the pacification of the Palestinian residents, where these outcomes are presented as the 'natural' result of market relations. The author calls this environment 'neoliberal settler colonialism' and explores Palestinians' new acts of resistance that exist ambivalently within this structure.

A significant theoretical contribution, the study highlights a new settler colonial and neoliberal sociability that co-opts the exploited and oppressed.

Review Quotes

""The Palestinians and East Jerusalem Under Neoliberal Settler Colonialism" is truly original research, exploring the current urban politics of Jerusalem. The book's theoretical, historical, and empirical significance discusses the often-overlooked links between settler colonialism and neoliberalism. This book is indeed a foundational, and most updated critical study on the apartheidisation of the city, on the new Israeli agents of colonisation, but importantly also about the emerging subjectivities of Palestinians' identity and their anti-colonial struggle." --Haim Yacobi, Professor, UCL, UK

"The book is a timely work on the weaponization of neoliberal development policies reshaping East Jerusalem's occupation." --The Middle East Journal

About the Author

Bruno Huberman is Professor of International Relations at Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. He received his PhD in International Relations at San Tiago Dantas Program, Brazil and worked previously as journalist and editor in São Paulo, Brazil.