The racial contract: Israel/Palestine and Canada

In this paper we adapt political philosopher Charles Mills’ notion of the racial contract to consider the fraught context of Israel/Palestine and its interface with other states, particularly Canada. Specifically, we argue the racialization of categories commonly considered to be race-neutral – including: religion; nationality; citizenship; democracy; security; historic claims to or denial of claims to land; and interpretation, implementation or circumvention of international law – must be explicitly recognized in the exercise of power. To illustrate this we address how anti-Semitism, Orientalism and Islamophobia are key historic components of the racial contract in Canada and internationally. We consider how the racial contract has defined the state of Israel since 1948, and how the international racial contract assigns a common interest between the state of Israel and international political allies, including Canada. This process depends upon absenting Palestinians as simultaneously non-white, the subjects of extreme repression, and stateless.