{"id":87,"date":"2025-10-12T05:51:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/?p=87"},"modified":"2025-10-12T05:51:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:51:44","slug":"the-violence-of-grammar-a-tool-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/the-violence-of-grammar-a-tool-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The Violence of Grammar: A Tool of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

One idea that\u2019s been stuck with me since our discussion on the \u201ca\u201d vs. \u201cthe\u201d in the Balfour Declaration is how language can decide the fate of an entire people. When Gertrude Bell argued for the use of \u201ca national home\u201d rather than \u201cthe national home\u201d for the Jewish people, it might have sounded like a technical adjustment, but to me, it felt like a warning. That \u201ca\u201d became a way to avoid responsibility, to promise without actually promising, to escape accountability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Palestinian, I have seen this same strategy used before. For example, in the Oslo Accords, the language used to describe Palestinian lands referred to them as \u201ca territory\u201d rather than \u201cthe territory<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/i> which was a choice that allowed Israel to expand settlements and claim land that was never clearly defined as ours in the first place. The ambiguity wasn\u2019t accidental; it was strategic. This showed me that grammar can be violent. A simple \u201ca\u201d can erase and dispossess just as much as bullets or bulldozers.<\/span><\/p>\n

the use of \u201ca\u201d as a tool of strategic vagueness can be looked at in the broader sense such as in the U.S. Constitution. The way amendments are worded, especially those supposedly guaranteeing \u201cequal protection\u201d or \u201cfreedom\u201d, have been deliberately open-ended and therefore leaves space for those in power to interpret justice however they want. Vagueness here is used as a kind of shield: it allows the state to claim moral authority while maintaining the ability to exclude and discriminate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always known that language is never neutral. The smallest choices in phrasing can determine whose lives are protected and whose aren\u2019t. We (the oppressed) tend to celebrate treaties, declarations, and laws as \u201cwins\u201d the moment they\u2019re signed, and it makes sense. These moments usually come after long periods of pain, loss, and struggle, so we cling to any sign of recognition or progress. I would never blame anyone for holding onto hope. But history shows that the real danger lies in the fine print like the indefinite articles, the open-ended clauses, and the carefully chosen ambiguity that gives room to manipulate. We need to look closely at what exactly we\u2019re being offered, and what is being withheld in the wording itself. Because sometimes what looks like a step forward quietly includes the loopholes that will be used against us later.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One idea that\u2019s been stuck with me since our discussion on the \u201ca\u201d vs. \u201cthe\u201d in the Balfour Declaration is how language can decide the fate of an entire people. When Gertrude Bell argued for the use of \u201ca national home\u201d rather than \u201cthe national home\u201d for the Jewish people, it might have sounded like … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Violence of Grammar: A Tool of Power”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6923,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,10,13,14,8,11],"tags":[24,26,28,22,25,23,27],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deception","category-desire","category-empire","category-imperialism","category-race","category-self-and-other","tag-balfourdeclaration","tag-coloniallanguage","tag-hiddenintentions","tag-languageandpower","tag-palestine","tag-politicsofgrammar","tag-strategicvagueness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6923"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/gss206-f25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}