“Ethnocracy”: The Politics of Judaizing Israel/ Palestine

During Israel’s fiftieth year of independence (1997–1998), the country’s High Courtof Justice was grappling with an appeal known as Qa’adan vs. Katzir. It was lodgedby a Palestinian-Arab citizen who was prevented from leasing state land in the sub-urban locality of Katzir–built entirely on state lands–on grounds of not being aJew.1The court deferred decision on the case as much as it could. Its president, Jus-tice Aharon Barak, known widely as a champion of civil rights, noted that this casehas been among the most strenuous in his legal career, and pressured the sides tosettle out of court. In March 2000 the court ruled in favor of Qa’adan, and noted thatIsrael’s policies toward the Arab minority were discriminatory and illegal. Yet, thecourt did not issue an order to Katzir to let Qa’adan lease the land, and was verycareful to limit the ruling to this specific case, so as not to create a precedent. Inaddition, the local Jewish community continued to raise administrative and socialobstacles and frustrate Qa’adan’s plans to join the locality. By mid-2005 the familyhas not moved as yet to Katzir.