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Art and the Atom in Israel/Palestine

Taha, Hebatalla LU (2026) In Regeneration: Environment, Art, Culture 2(3). p.1-22
Abstract
This essay explores artistic expressions dealing with themes of nuclear weapons and radioactivity in Israel/Palestine. It brings together a variety of different sources representing critical interventions in the debate on Israeli nuclear weapons, particularly their opacity, and their absent presence in the country and in wider political debates. The artistic pieces demonstrate how the reactor is made sacred, simultaneously feared and revered, while exploring processes that accompany nuclearization, such as widespread secrecy and securitization as well as racialized environmental damage. The artistic pieces also capture a sense of looming anxiety, which affects different groups of people in disparate ways. The essay suggests that art can... (More)
This essay explores artistic expressions dealing with themes of nuclear weapons and radioactivity in Israel/Palestine. It brings together a variety of different sources representing critical interventions in the debate on Israeli nuclear weapons, particularly their opacity, and their absent presence in the country and in wider political debates. The artistic pieces demonstrate how the reactor is made sacred, simultaneously feared and revered, while exploring processes that accompany nuclearization, such as widespread secrecy and securitization as well as racialized environmental damage. The artistic pieces also capture a sense of looming anxiety, which affects different groups of people in disparate ways. The essay suggests that art can serve as a mechanism to transcend secrecy, silence, and censorship, and simultaneously, to destabilize the authority and hierarchy that has been associated with knowledge production on the (nuclear) security state. Through these artistic expressions, we can listen more carefully to nuclear stories beneath and beyond the state, making sense of how people encounter and imagine nuclear infrastructure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Regeneration: Environment, Art, Culture
volume
2
issue
3
pages
1 - 22
DOI
10.16995/regeneration.27365
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8d765c5b-749f-4ab6-a45f-d8d26aa77d54
date added to LUP
2026-05-11 19:28:59
date last changed
2026-05-21 14:57:39
@article{8d765c5b-749f-4ab6-a45f-d8d26aa77d54,
  abstract     = {{This essay explores artistic expressions dealing with themes of nuclear weapons and radioactivity in Israel/Palestine. It brings together a variety of different sources representing critical interventions in the debate on Israeli nuclear weapons, particularly their opacity, and their absent presence in the country and in wider political debates. The artistic pieces demonstrate how the reactor is made sacred, simultaneously feared and revered, while exploring processes that accompany nuclearization, such as widespread secrecy and securitization as well as racialized environmental damage. The artistic pieces also capture a sense of looming anxiety, which affects different groups of people in disparate ways. The essay suggests that art can serve as a mechanism to transcend secrecy, silence, and censorship, and simultaneously, to destabilize the authority and hierarchy that has been associated with knowledge production on the (nuclear) security state. Through these artistic expressions, we can listen more carefully to nuclear stories beneath and beyond the state, making sense of how people encounter and imagine nuclear infrastructure.}},
  author       = {{Taha, Hebatalla}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{1--22}},
  series       = {{Regeneration: Environment, Art, Culture}},
  title        = {{Art and the Atom in Israel/Palestine}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.16995/regeneration.27365}},
  doi          = {{10.16995/regeneration.27365}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}