Displaceable! Precarious urban citizenship in Israel/Palestine

Under the shadow of unprecedented displacement and genocidal attack on Gaza, this article introduces the special issue dedicated to the ‘displaceability’ of urban citizenship. Centred on Israel/Palestine as a ‘laboratory’ of ‘southeastern’ urban governance under conditions of conflict, settler-colonialism, and neoliberal restructuring, the collection conceptualizes displaceability not simply as forced removal but as a chronic condition of contemporary urban citizenship – one marked by continous mobility, governed through precarity, insecurity, and uneven rights. The seven articles in this volume explore key questions such as: where and how is displaceability produced – legally, fiscally, and through planning and redevelopment? Who enacts it – state, municipal, market, settler, and civic actors, and to what ends? And how do affected communities endure, resist, or transform displacement into forms of ‘emplacement’? Together, the contributions range from Jerusalem’s property, digital and colonial regimes, to heritage-led renewal in Tel Aviv–Jaffa, Bedouin forced urbanization in the Negev/Naqab, LGTBQ urban rights, and the ceaseless displacement of Palestinians under settler expansion in the West Bank. The articles collectively establish a critical agenda for examining displaceability as a defining condition of contemporary urban citizenship, articulated from a southeastern perspective rooted in Israel/Palestine.