Abstract
This article argues that extending Agamben’s theorization of inclusive inclusion, to include
discursive strategies of ontological desecuritization allows us a better understanding of how
sovereignty is constituted as a sphere of legitimate power in colonial contexts. Agamben viewed
inclusive inclusion as a manifestation of “the paradigm of security as the normal technique of
government”. Notwithstanding, he has not paid sufficient attention to the unique discursive power
of colonial narratives in justifying the transformation of ontological securitization into a
continuous state of exception. The article utilizes the Israeli population and territorial policies as
an exceptional form of ontological security, aiming to ban the Palestinian inhabitants of the land
from sovereignty. Therefore, exploring the reasoning and ethical foundations of the Israeli
inclusive exclusion techniques of government help us reveal the continuous racial constitution of
the Israeli sovereign, while differentially subordinating Palestinians and ontologically and
existentially securitizing their presence in their homeland. Israeli inclusive exclusion policies do
not only silence the Palestinians and prevent them from contributing to the debate over how the
land and its inhabitants should be ruled and developed, but also define the conditions under which
their presence and behavior are securitized. This theorization is achieved by addressing the
following interrelated dimensions of the Israeli inclusive exclusion of Palestinians: 1) The
potential inclusion of all Jews over the world in the national political community, while
differentially excluding Palestinian inhabitants of the land; 2) The inclusion of the entire territory
between the river and the sea, while justifying the securitization of Palestinians through exclusive
Jewish decision-making; 3) Justifying Israeli law-making through majoritarian democratic
procedures, while promoting exclusive Jewish securitization policies inside and beyond the Green
Line; 4) Guaranteeing Jewish hegemony based on a unique combination of the internationally
recognized right for self-determination, the exclusive Zionist narrative of the land, and past
traumas that justify extensive security measures; 5) Silencing Palestinians from bearing witness to
their exclusion and oppression by depicting their efforts to protect their rights as illegitimate -anti-
Semitic. Notwithstanding, these patterns of inclusive exclusion render the separation between Jews
and Palestinians untenable. Therefore, any reconciliatory measures to meet the expectations of
both peoples must be based on the categorical imperative of shared sovereignty in the entire
territory, which is considered by both parties to be their respective homelands.
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