Citation

Mansbach D. J. Polit. Power 2009; 2(2): 255-273.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17540290903072591

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article analyzes the architectural and administrative transformation of some military checkpoints inside the Occupied Territories into ‘terminals.’ The new ‘terminals’ have been presented as replacing the military checkpoints operating as ‘state of exception’ with a ‘normalized’ legal order and ‘modernized’ forms of power. As this article reveals, however, the Israeli authorities’ claim of normalization and modernization is false and misleading. Instead I argue that the reinvention of the ‘terminals’ has not been accompanied by a real transformation of the legal order or the forms of power and is, consequently, only an attempt to circumvent the criticism that the ‘state of exception’ often faces. The ‘terminals’ thus represent a case where the oppression and exclusion that characterize the ‘state of exception’ continue to exist, without having to face the question of legitimacy.