Singling Out: Towards Progressive Politics of Chosenness

Claims of uniqueness or exceptionalism play a complex role in the discussion on Israel, Zionism, and contemporary Jewish existence. The attempt to describe the political situation in Israel/Palestine in universal terms never fails to lead, paradoxically, to Israel's structural exceptionalism. Lack of treatment of Israel's exceptionalism bars any ability to explain the most basic characteristics of the political situation in which we find ourselves – including the exceptional endurance of the Israeli Occupation.