Interacting imaginaries in Israel and the United States

In his commentary on the second Intifada Edward Said repeatedly argued that a shift in US perceptions had become a necessary prerequisite for change. Quoting Nelson Mandela, he specifically advocated a struggle capable of affecting 'the imagination and dreams of the entire world', and referred to the struggles of black South Africans and how they had ultimately received the support of US public opinion. His suggestion that South African struggles against apartheid be used as a reference for Palestinian resistance underscores an awareness of he need to interact with US founding mythologies: if Israel could count on automatic US identification and support, Palestinians should rely, for example, on the availability and mobilisation of civil rights images and agendas. The first section of this chapter reviews a recent debate on the role and influence of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. Moving beyond understanding of Israeli-US relations based on such notions as 'ally', 'client state' or 'powerful lobby', the second section suggests that this relationship is better understood if framed in the context of an isopolitical interaction (a circumstance in which two separate polities maintain a shared ideological framework and allow citizens to enjoy rights and move seamlessly across jurisdictions). The third section analyses how perceptions of Israel in a number of strategically located constituencies in the USA fit within shared settler-colonial narrative regimes. In this section a shared settler-colonial matrix of perception is used to explain an apparent ideological intimacy. Although this analysis is suggestive more than exhaustive, an exploration of intersecting settler imaginaries, their resilience and their circulation can help an understanding of US policies vis-a-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.