Clingendael Alert
Newchallenges to Israel’s
strategies of control
Beyond Sheikh Jarrah
JUNE 2021
Erwin van Veen, Abdullatif Sleibi and Matteo Colombo
© Shutterstock / cunaplus
Preventing a repeat of recent violence requires
EU countries to put greater pressure on Israel
– based on international law – to ensure equal
rights for all its citizens and residents, as well
as to accept Palestinian sovereignty.
From an outside viewpoint, Israel and
Palestine bring to mind the tale of the frog
being boiled alive. Israel is a securitised
society whose democratic values and
morality apply only to its in-group of Israeli
Jews. Palestinians live in a second-class,
besieged or occupied society. Both risk
‘boiling’ in cycles of repression, violence
and victimhood. But their own experiences
differ starkly. While Palestinians have
largely been forced into the hot water
and know they are in a cul-de-sac of
discrimination and repression, the water
is only lukewarm for Israel due to its
dominance of the conflict. The recent
violence, however, points to several factors
that risk raising the water temperature for
Israel.
