Searching for Israeliness in 'No Man's Land': an ethnographic research of Israeli citizenship in a zionist academic institute in the 'West-Bank' of Israel/Palestine

摘要

This thesis is the result of ethnographic research carried out in an Israeli academicudinstitution, located in the West-Bank of Israel/Palestine. Focusing on the social scienceuddepartment, the research examines the content and context of the study of socialudanthropology in this institute namely, The Academic College of Judea & Samaria ('TheudACJS'), and analyses the ways in which Israeli identity is being understood andudimagined by its students.udPart One of the thesis examines the broad academic and geo-political context of theudstudy of social anthropology in The Academic College of Judea & Samaria (The ACJS).udThis part includes three chapters: The first chapter presents an historical analysis ofud'Israeli Social Anthropology' as a (Zionist) national tradition of ethnographic research.udThe second chapter is an introduction to the research of citizenship in Israel/Palestineudand to the related concept of Israeliness as a 'culture of citizenship'. It includes anudanalysis of the West-Bank of Israel/Palestine as a disputed geo-political entity and aud(political) no man's land within the international system of nation-states. The thirdudchapter is an outline of the Jewish-Israeli settlement project in the West-Bank ofudIsrael/Palestine, and also introduces the reader to the WB settlers.udPart Two of the thesis is ethnographic and includes three chapters. The first chapter isudethnography of the West-Bank settlement-town where the ACJS is located, Arielud'Settlementown'. This chapter incorporates a new descriptive method in politicaludanthropology or, in the 'anthropology of the political', that of ‘sensing the political’ud(Navaro-Yashin, 2003). The second and third chapters of the ethnographic partuddescribe and analyze 'everyday life' in the ACJS itself, focusing on its social sciencesuddepartment. It examines the way in which social anthropology is taught in the ACJS,udand the ways in which Israeli identity is imagined and understood by its students. Theudsummary of the thesis includes a triple hierarchical model of Israeli citizenship, basedudon this research, as well as suggestions for further research in the field of politicaludanthropology and the anthropology of citizenship. The analytical focus of this research is Israeli citizenship and the concept of Israelinessudas a 'culture of citizenship'. The research set itself as a search for the ways in whichudIsraeliness was expressed and practiced in the 'everyday life' of people in the ACJS,udand especially among its social science students and faculty. Studying Israeliness as audculture of citizenship implies adopting a new and different way of conceptualizing andudunderstanding Israeli identity. Instead of adopting the Zionist political image of aud(Jewish) national community, a view which, as has been the situation also in IsraeliudSocial Anthropology, excludes non-Jewish citizens of Israel, the concept of Israelinessudas a 'culture of citizenship' offers a new image of an Israeli political identity/community,udone that includes all citizens of the State of Israel, regardless of their ethnic/religiousudidentity and belonging.udThus, it is intended that the main contribution of this thesis will be to 'Israeli SocialudAnthropology' in filling these methodological and theoretical Lacunae, and in showing audway out of what appears to be a conceptual dead-end which it had reached concerningudthe interpretation and representation of Israeli identity. This intention seems even moreudadvisable in the particular case of Israel/Palestine, where an adoption of the moreudinclusive discourse of 'citizenship' might contribute towards ‘Peace Education’, so muchudneeded today as part of the long-term efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.