The Palestinian Middle Class in Rawabi

Abstract

This article examines the neoliberal promotion of the idea of a Palestinian “middle class” that can lead to peace by transcending perceived Arab backwardness or irrationality through market logic and capitalist reasoning. The Palestinian city of Rawabi is used as a case study, as it is marketed as a middle-class city built with support from both Israeli and Arab businesses and as a project that will “eliminate radicals on both sides.” An analysis of the marketing rhetoric of Rawabi provides insight into the political and cultural subjectivities being articulated by this new middle class. Ultimately, while the middle-class ethos being cultivated by Rawabi views neoliberal capitalism and consumerism as a sign of modernity and a new form of resistance, it operates to depoliticize economic development under occupation, preclude alternative models for “resistance” economies, and make the occupation less costly, or even profitable, to Israeli and Palestinian elite.