Yinon Cohen and Neve Gordon open our issue by exploring the spatial politics of Israel. They challenge the notion that Israeli’s geographic and demographic politics radically changed after 1967. Their view stands in firm opposition to the idea that before 1967, the settlements were unimaginable and the religious-ethnic cleansing of lands abhorrent. Cohen and Gordon show something different—that biospatial policies of effective control have been at the heart of Israel’s Judeo-nationalist project since its very founding. Working with Cohen and Gordon to edit their essay, I suggested that they name some of these processes as “the plantation of Israel” (harking back to policies the English instituted in Ireland as part of their colonial project). Cohen and Gordon rejected this suggestion, finding it inaccurate. Yet the vision holds a kind of power in my own mind, evoking imagery that helps reflect some of its long-running racial and spatial project. My own...

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