In a recent interview published in Haaretz, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil stated that the Jewish people are “part of the land.” At first glance, this appears to mark a shift—an acknowledgment of history and presence where earlier frameworks often denied both.

And yet, in the same formulation, Jewish sovereignty is rejected.

This is often described as a contradiction. It is not. It is a structure.

By structure, I mean a stable configuration of thought—psychological as well as political—that organizes what can be recognized and what must be excluded. Structures are not accidental inconsistencies; they are patterned ways of maintaining coherence under pressure. They determine, often outside awareness, which elements of reality can be admitted and which must be reshaped or denied.

Here, what is being articulated is a position in which the Jew may be recognized as present, but not as sovereign; acknowledged, but not as an actor in his own right.

This distinction is not new. As Dara Horn has argued, Jews are often most readily embraced when they are no longer alive—when they exist........

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