The Dialectics of Security Discourses: Political Violence, Policing, and Gentrification in Ethno-Nationally Contested Cities

בבקשה, הטקסט מתורגם במלואו לאנגלית: The Dialectics of Security Discourses: Political Violence, Policing, and Gentrification in Ethno-nationally Contested Cities Yael Shmaryahu-Yeshurun, yaelshma@post.bgu.ac.il Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Policing constitutes a critical mechanism in urban politics through which the state and local authorities exert social control, particularly in segregated, racialized communities undergoing urban redevelopment and gentrification. This study extends the debate on social control into an under-researched context—ethno-nationally contested gentrifying cities in the Middle East—focusing specifically on Jaffa, Israel, as an empirical regional case. The research reframes the local politics of policing as a means of control not only against class-cultural struggles but also political violence occurring in ethno-nationally contested neighborhoods undergoing gentrification and connects them to the broader struggles over self-determination and minority protection within a context of prolonged majority nationalism. Based on in-depth interviews with liberal gentrifiers, ethno-gentrifiers, and Arab residents, alongside document analysis, the research illuminates two key aspects of the policing-gentrification intersection as it relates to political violence and conflict: I argue that in a nationally polarized urban space, citizens' experiences of (in)security are fundamentally intertwined with a broader security discourse of urban sovereignty and ethno-national conflict. In this context, the demand for policing—or its strategic withdrawal—is weaponized by the state and ethno-national gentrifiers to intensify national control and assert territorial dominance and control political violence and claims. Second, Paradoxically, a dialectic of security discourse emerges where the reality of fear is often masked by public declarations of "safety." These declarations reflect mainstreaming narratives of political violence and control used to justify the groups' presence: for ethno-gentrifiers, the discourse affirms sovereignty and acts as deterrence; for liberal gentrifiers, it supports a fragile narrative of coexistence; and for Arab residents and activists, the security discourse is reclaimed as a tool to justify national struggle and maintain their urban presence against the state. This highlights how perceptions of security become a crucial battleground in the ethno-national conflict. This critical analysis of contradictory discourses demonstrates how policing and perceptions of security are mobilized to affirm and challenge claims to belonging, legitimacy, and political violence within contested urban territory. The findings highlight the urgent need to integrate the study of state-and local- level coercive mechanisms into urban studies and political violence research.