DOCSLIB.ORG

The Impact of Foreign Aid and Donations to Palestine on Development of Its Economy Under Alternative Israeli- Palestinian Economic Interaction Regimes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Impact of Foreign Aid and Donations to Palestine on Development of Its Economy Under Alternative Israeli- Palestinian Economic Interaction Regimes The Impact of Foreign Aid and Donations to Palestine on Development of its Economy under Alternative Israeli- Palestinian Economic Interaction Regimes Sharbel Shoukair The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth. Submitted to the University of Portsmouth Supervisor: Dr. Judith Rich December 2013 Abstract The main goal of the thesis is to examine whether the Palestinian economy suffers from "Dutch Disease" symptoms, and if so what are its sources. Dutch Disease has been widely used to explain why foreign development aid can be ineffective in generating economic growth, even though it can break the vicious cycle of low income, low saving, low investment, low sustainable growth and even negative growth. In most cases, the disease is due to appreciation of local currency. However, the Palestinians use the Israeli Shekel and also the Jordanian Dinar and the Egyptian Lira. Thus, the sources of the symptoms of the Dutch Disease in the Palestinian economy might be explained by the influx of foreign aid arising because of terror attacks and retaliations and the economic policy and constraints that are imposed mainly by Israel. The theoretical and empirical efforts of the thesis to determine the causality direction between foreign aid and growth include the following: I. The national accounting identities are used to express the gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of foreign currency and the proportion between import and uses. I found empirically that due to the political- economic constraints in the case of the Palestinian economy, the factors mentioned above are almost entirely exogenous and, under the existing economic- political constraints, foreign development aid had only a small chance to significantly boost the tradable sectors. II. I separated the national accounting figures of the Palestinian economy into two sub periods, 1968 to 1993 and 1994 to 2007. In the first period the Israeli convenient policy was to employ the Palestinians in Israel rather than to encourage the development of the Palestinian economy. The first Intifada erupted in 1987 and led to years of terror attacks and retaliations and also caused a significant reduction of GDP. Over the period 1968 to 1993 the average annual foreign aid was less than 20% of that for the period 1994 to 2007. Thus, terror and the economic and political policy of Israel are the main factors for the disease in this period. I Terror clashes and economic-political constraints persisted also in the second period of post "Oslo peace accord", but in that period the foreign aid soared up to 64% of GDP in 2007. The per capita GDP in 2007 decreased to almost the same level of GDP per capita twenty years ago, unemployment soared, export (about 90% to Israel) remained relatively negligible while the weight of the tradable sectors went down and weight of the non-tradable sectors rose. These findings fit the symptoms of Dutch Disease's. The main question remains - did the unprecedented foreign aid replace the economic efforts of the Palestinians, or did the foreign aid only solve the humanitarian disaster? III. In order to answer this previous question, I regressed the annual growth of GDP on previous, current and next year foreign aid and found that the annual GDP growth is significantly correlated only with the current year foreign aid. This finding indicates that both directions of causality hold and foreign development aid cannot boost GDP unless the political-economic constraints are removed, and Israel becomes a positive player in the Palestinian economy. In sum, the original contribution of the thesis is four-fold. First, to the best of my knowledge, for the first time macro data of almost forty years on the Palestinian economy has been collected and analyzed. It was not an easy task, due to collection difficulties at the first Intifada period and the 1994 transfer of statistical bureaus from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Thus, I had to also estimate data from the first Intifada period and smooth conflicting figures between 1993 and 1994. Second, to my best knowledge this is the first work that has expressed and analyzed GDP in terms of foreign currency constraints. This approach adds a unique economic insight, since almost all sources of foreign currency are exogenous in the special case of the Palestinian economy. Third, for the first time the Dutch Disease symptoms of the Palestinian economy and its major factors are theoretically and empirically analysed. The symptoms at the period of high foreign aid were reflected in following four observations. First, increased unemployment; second, low growth of GDP; third, an increased share of the non- II tradable sector and a decreased share of the tradable sector; and four, a decreasing proportion of exports out of GDP. Fourth, this is the first stock market event study that analyzed the impact of terror on the two sides of the barricade (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange vs. the Palestinian Security Exchange). The main findings of this analysis are as follows. Firstly, major terror attack events significantly depressed both stock markets; secondly, the Israeli stock market is more sensitive to terror attacks; thirdly, terror attacks affect negatively both economies but the negative relative impact on the Palestinian economies is more significant. III Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ I List of Tables ......................................................................................................... VIII List of Figures ........................................................................................................... XI Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ XIII Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ XIV Declaration ............................................................................................................... XV Chapter 1- Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Structure of this Chapter ............................................................................. 1 1.2 Area of Research ................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Background ......................................................................................................... 6 1.3.1 Unique Features of the Palestinian Economy ............................................ 7 1.3.2 Historical Review ...................................................................................... 8 1.3.3 Socio-Economic Profile of the West Bank and Gaza .............................. 14 1.4 The Main Research Questions and Hypotheses ............................................... 24 1.5 Methodologies .................................................................................................. 29 1.6 Conclusion of Chapter 1 and the Structure of the Thesis ................................. 31 Chapter 2- A Detailed Discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ................. 33 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 33 2.2 The Political History ......................................................................................... 33 2.2.1 The Six Day War (1967).......................................................................... 41 2.2.2 The First Intifada (1987-1993) ................................................................ 43 2.2.3 The Al Aqsa Intifada ............................................................................... 47 2.3 Economic History ............................................................................................. 11 2.3.1 Mandatory Palestine (1917-1948) ........................................................... 51 2.3.2 The West Bank under Jordanian Rule – Gaza under Egyptian Rule (1948- 1967)........................................................................................................ 55 2.3.3 Six Day War - Oslo Agreement (1967-1993) .......................................... 60 IV 2.3.4 The Oslo Agreement Period (1994-2000) ............................................... 68 2.3.5 Al Aqsa Intifada - Hamas Takeover (2000-2007) .................................. 74 2.4 Conclusion of the Historical Review of the Palestinians- Israeli Conflict ....... 87 Appendix 2.1 Table of Historical Events in Palestine ............................................ 87 Chapter 3- Literature Review ................................................................................. 28 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 78 3.2 Economic Development Models ...................................................................... 73 3.2.1 Basic Growth Models .............................................................................. 76 3.2.2 Sophisticated Growth Models ................................................................. 78 3.2.3 Extending the Solow Model to Demographic and Technological Changes ................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict
    Israeli Security Agency [logo] Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict September 2000 - September 2007 L_C089061 Table of Contents: Foreword...........................................................................................................................1 Suicide Terrorists - Personal Characteristics................................................................2 Suicide Terrorists Over 7 Years of Conflict - Geographical Data...............................3 Suicide Attacks since the Beginning of the Conflict.....................................................5 L_C089062 Israeli Security Agency [logo] Suicide Terrorists in the Current Conflict Foreword Since September 2000, the State of Israel has been in a violent and ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, in which the Palestinian side, including its various organizations, has carried out attacks against Israeli citizens and residents. During this period, over 27,000 attacks against Israeli citizens and residents have been recorded, and over 1000 Israeli citizens and residents have lost their lives in these attacks. Out of these, 155 (May 2007) attacks were suicide bombings, carried out against Israeli targets by 178 (August 2007) suicide terrorists (male and female). (It should be noted that from 1993 up to the beginning of the conflict in September 2000, 38 suicide bombings were carried out by 43 suicide terrorists). Despite the fact that suicide bombings constitute 0.6% of all attacks carried out against Israel since the beginning of the conflict, the number of fatalities in these attacks is around half of the total number of fatalities, making suicide bombings the most deadly attacks. From the beginning of the conflict up to August 2007, there have been 549 fatalities and 3717 casualties as a result of 155 suicide bombings. Over the years, suicide bombing terrorism has become the Palestinians’ leading weapon, while initially bearing an ideological nature in claiming legitimate opposition to the occupation.
    [Show full text]
  • 11 July 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings
    11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings July 2006 Mumbai train bombings One of the bomb-damaged coaches Location Mumbai, India Target(s) Mumbai Suburban Railway Date 11 July 2006 18:24 – 18:35 (UTC+5.5) Attack Type Bombings Fatalities 209 Injuries 714 Perpetrator(s) Terrorist outfits—Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT; These are alleged perperators as legal proceedings have not yet taken place.) Map showing the 'Western line' and blast locations. The 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and India's financial capital. 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured in the attacks. Details The bombs were placed on trains plying on the western line of the suburban ("local") train network, which forms the backbone of the city's transport network. The first blast reportedly took place at 18:24 IST (12:54 UTC), and the explosions continued for approximately eleven minutes, until 18:35, during the after-work rush hour. All the bombs had been placed in the first-class "general" compartments (some compartments are reserved for women, called "ladies" compartments) of several trains running from Churchgate, the city-centre end of the western railway line, to the western suburbs of the city. They exploded at or in the near vicinity of the suburban railway stations of Matunga Road, Mahim, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali.
    [Show full text]
  • Collective Defense by Common Property Regimes: the Rise and Fall of the Kibbutz∗
    Collective Defense by Common Property Regimes: the Rise and Fall of the Kibbutz∗ Liang Diaoy April 2019 Abstract Common property regimes have long been considered inefficient and short lived, as they en- courage high-productivity individuals to leave and shirking among those who stay. In contrast, kibbutzim { voluntary common property settlements in Israel { have lasted almost for a century. Recently, about 75% of kibbutzim abandoned the equal-sharing rule and paid differential salaries to members, based on their contributions. To explain the long persistence of the kibbutzim, as well as the recent kibbutz privatization, I develop a model that highlights the public defense provided by common property regimes. The model predicts that the privatization of common property regimes can be attributed to the decrease of external threats. To test this prediction, I construct a kibbutzim-level panel data set that contains the terrorist attacks near each kibbutz and the institutional status (i.e. preserving the equal-sharing rule or not) of each kibbutz in the years from 1986 to 2014. The empirical results show that an increase in the number of Israeli deaths near a kibbutz significantly decreases the probability that the kibbutz shift away from equal sharing. 1 Introduction Common property regimes, a property rights arrangement in which a group of resource users share rewards and duties related to a resource, have long been considered inefficient.1 The inefficiency comes from two sources: low-productivity individuals tend to remain in the regime, while high- productivity individuals tend to leave (adverse selection); and equal income sharing, regardless of effort, encourages shirking (moral hazard).
    [Show full text]
  • Estimated Age
    The US National Counterterrorism Center is pleased to present the 2016 edition of the Counterterrorism (CT) Calendar. Since 2003, we have published the calendar in a daily planner format that provides our consumers with a variety of information related to international terrorism, including wanted terrorists; terrorist group fact sheets; technical issue related to terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures; and potential dates of importance that terrorists might consider when planning attacks. The cover of this year’s CT Calendar highlights terrorists’ growing use of social media and other emerging online technologies to recruit, radicalize, and encourage adherents to carry out attacks. This year will be the last hardcopy publication of the calendar, as growing production costs necessitate our transition to more cost- effective dissemination methods. In the coming years, NCTC will use a variety of online and other media platforms to continue to share the valuable information found in the CT Calendar with a broad customer set, including our Federal, State, Local, and Tribal law enforcement partners; agencies across the Intelligence Community; private sector partners; and the US public. On behalf of NCTC, I want to thank all the consumers of the CT Calendar during the past 12 years. We hope you continue to find the CT Calendar beneficial to your daily efforts. Sincerely, Nicholas J. Rasmussen Director The US National Counterterrorism Center is pleased to present the 2016 edition of the Counterterrorism (CT) Calendar. This edition, like others since the Calendar was first published in daily planner format in 2003, contains many features across the full range of issues pertaining to international terrorism: terrorist groups, wanted terrorists, and technical pages on various threat-related topics.
    [Show full text]
  • Barriers to Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
    The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Founded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation Barriers to Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Editor: Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov 2010 Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies – Study no. 406 Barriers to Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Editor: Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov The statements made and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. © Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Israel 6 Lloyd George St. Jerusalem 91082 http://www.kas.de/israel E-mail: [email protected] © 2010, The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies The Hay Elyachar House 20 Radak St., 92186 Jerusalem http://www.jiis.org E-mail: [email protected] This publication was made possible by funds granted by the Charles H. Revson Foundation. In memory of Professor Alexander L. George, scholar, mentor, friend, and gentleman The Authors Yehudith Auerbach is Head of the Division of Journalism and Communication Studies and teaches at the Department of Political Studies of Bar-Ilan University. Dr. Auerbach studies processes of reconciliation and forgiveness . in national conflicts generally and in the Israeli-Palestinian context specifically and has published many articles on this issue. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov is a Professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds the Chair for the Study of Peace and Regional Cooperation. Since 2003 he is the Head of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. He specializes in the fields of conflict management and resolution, peace processes and negotiations, stable peace, reconciliation, and the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular. He is the author and editor of 15 books and many articles in these fields.
    [Show full text]
  • Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 8, 2006
    Egypt Page 1 of 24 Facing the Threat Posed by Iranian Regime | Daily Press Briefing | Other News... Egypt Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 8, 2006 The Arab Republic of Egypt, with a population of approximately 72 million, has been governed by the National Democratic Party (NDP) since the party's establishment in 1978. The NDP, which continued to dominate national politics by maintaining an overriding majority in the popularly elected People's Assembly and the partially elected Shura (Consultative) Council, derives its governing authority from the 1971 constitution and subsequent amendments. Executive authority resides with the president of the republic and the cabinet. On September 7, President Hosni Mubarak won a fifth 6-year term, with 88 percent of the vote, in the country's first multi-candidate presidential election, a landmark event that was otherwise marred by low voter turnout and charges of fraud. The November and December parliamentary elections witnessed significant opposition gains but were marred by violence, low turnout, fraud, and vote rigging. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, which committed numerous, serious human rights abuses. The government's respect for human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in many areas. The following human rights problems were reported: • limitations on the right of citizens to change their government • existence of the state of emergency, in
    [Show full text]
  • Belt Sourik Village Council V. the Government of Israel Jason Litwack
    Brooklyn Journal of International Law Volume 31 | Issue 3 Article 7 2006 A Disproportionate Ruling for All the Right Reasons: Belt Sourik Village Council v. The Government of Israel Jason Litwack Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil Recommended Citation Jason Litwack, A Disproportionate Ruling for All the Right Reasons: Belt Sourik Village Council v. The Government of Israel, 31 Brook. J. Int'l L. (2006). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol31/iss3/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brooklyn Journal of International Law by an authorized editor of BrooklynWorks. A DISPROPORTIONATE RULING FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS: BEIT SOURIK VILLAGE COUNCIL V. THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL I. INTRODUCTION n March 9, 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber walked into Jeru- O salem’s popular Moment Café as though he was an ordinary cus- tomer looking to order coffee or a snack.1 When he reached the center of the café, he detonated himself, killing eleven people.2 Three weeks later, during the Jewish holiday of Passover,3 twenty-five-year-old Abd al- Basit Awdah, a Hamas4 activist, blew himself up in Netanya’s Park Hotel during a seder5 attended by 250 grandparents, mothers, fathers, and chil- dren.6 Twenty-nine people lost their lives and 140 others were injured in the explosion.7 Since September 2000, there have been over eight hun- 1. Lisa Katz, Most Deadly Terrorist Attacks in Israel, http://judaism.about.com/ library/1_terrorism/bl_worstattacks.htm.
    [Show full text]
  • The Palestinian Shahid and the Development of the Model 21St Century Islamic Terrorist
    California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 2008 The Palestinian Shahid and the development of the model 21st century Islamic terrorist Benjamin Timothy Acosta Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Terrorism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Acosta, Benjamin Timothy, "The Palestinian Shahid and the development of the model 21st century Islamic terrorist" (2008). Theses Digitization Project. 3367. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3367 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PALESTINIAN SHAHID AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF 'THE MODEL 2.1st CENTURY ISLAMIC' TERRORIST A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in National Security Studies by Benjamin Timothy Acosta June 2008 THE PALESTINIAN SHAHID AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODEL 21st CENTURY ISLAMIC TERRORIST A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino by Benjamin Timothy Acosta June 2008 Approved by: Date © 2008 Benjamin T. Acosta ABSTRACT Since the early 1990s, Palestinian organizations have drawn from many sources and incrementally refined the process of suicide terrorism. By making the modus operandi socially acceptable and even fashionable, Palestinian organizations have normalized the deployment of suicide­ homicide bombers. These organizations have optimized the progress individuals take from reasoning and justifying to rationalizing and actually committing suicide terrorism.
    [Show full text]
  • What Prevented Violence in Jewish Settlements in the Withdrawal from the Gaza Strip: Toward a Perspective of Normative Balance*
    What Prevented Violence in Jewish Settlements in the Withdrawal from the Gaza Strip: Toward a Perspective of Normative Balance* DAVID WEISBURD** & HAGIT LERNAU*** I. INTRODUCTION In August of 2005, the Israeli government uprooted Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip in twenty-one communities, many of which had existed for decades. The world's attention focused on the settlements, both because of the historic importance of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and because of the understanding that the withdrawal challenged the deeply held historic and religious beliefs of settlers and their supporters throughout Israel. The settlements in Gaza were not simply representative of the Israeli presence and the country's desire for security; they were outposts in which strongly ideological settlers expressed their belief in the Biblical connection between the Land of Israel and the modem Jewish nation. 1 The withdrawal from the * This research was supported by a grant from the United States Institute of Peace and by a research award from British Friends of the Hebrew University Law School to the Jerusalem Criminal Justice Study Group. We would like to thank Natalie Givon and Shira Chen for their assistance in gathering data for this project. We owe a special debt to Shomron Moyal who not only conducted field work in the project, but also assisted us throughout the analysis and writing stages for the paper. We also want to thank the many settlers who took the time to speak to us or respond to our survey and hope that we did not interfere too much in their lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Country Reports on Terrorism 2007
    Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 April 2008 ________________________________ United States Department of State Publication Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism Released April 2008 1 Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the ―Act‖), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act. COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 2007 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Strategic Assessment Chapter 2. Country Reports Africa Overview Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership The African Union Angola Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Comoros Cote D‘Ivoire Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Liberia Madagascar Mali Mauritania Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Somalia South Africa Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe East Asia and Pacific Overview Australia Burma Cambodia China o Hong Kong 2 o Macau Indonesia Japan Republic of Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia New Zealand Philippines Singapore Taiwan Thailand Europe Overview Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova The Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania 3 Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom o Northern Ireland Middle East and North Africa Overview Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen South and Central Asia Overview Afghanistan Bangladesh India Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Western Hemisphere Overview Tri-Border Area Argentina 4 Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela Chapter 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel-Palestine
    6 Anexos ingles ES07:00 Med. en cifrasgraf 13/9/07 11:19 Página 337 Chronologies Chronology of events: Israel-Palestine 2006 is a year of legislative elections end to the political and financial crisis. January 2006 in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Despite the implicit recognition of the territories. Hamas wins an absolute existence of Israel by Hamas in June Israel Appendices majority at the elections for the Pales- and the start of talks in August to cre- tinian Legislative Council in January ate a government of national unity, • On 4th January, Prime Minister Ariel and forms a government in March. The which promises to be a difficult task, Sharon suffers a severe stroke and goes new Palestinian National Authority, re- internal Palestinian confrontations con- into a coma. On the following day, Ehud fusing to give up violence and recog- tinue through to the year’s end, killing Olmert, Deputy Prime Minister and Min- nise the State of Israel as well as the more than 300 people. On 16th De- ister of Finance, is appointed as acting 2007 agreements signed earlier between the cember, Mahmoud Abbas calls early Prime Minister. On 16th January, Kadi- Palestinian Authority and Israel – three elections to resolve the situation in ma, Sharon’s political party, appoints Med. prerequisites for recognising the Hamas Palestine. Olmert as interim party president. administration imposed by the Quartet The internal problems in the occupied • On 11th January, 3 Ministers of the on the Middle East – faces interna- territories notwithstanding, violence Likud party resign from government. On tional diplomatic isolation, a suspension between Israel and the Palestinian fac- 13th January, the last Likud minister re- of international aid and the freezing of tions intensifies over the course of maining in the government, Silvan the transfer of taxes and customs du- 2006.
    [Show full text]
  • Radical Israeli Settlers
    JONATHAN PESTE Radical Israeli Settlers Ultimate Concerns, Political Goals and Violence The focus of this article is the radical and activist parts of the wider Israeli settler community on the West Bank. This Radical Israeli Settler Movement should not be confused with the general settler community in the West Bank, even if the more radical groups often recruit their members from the general settler community. The Radical Israeli Settler Movement today includes groups such as Kach, The Committee for Safety on the Roads and The Jewish Legion. The purpose of this article is to analyse some instances of violence in the radical Israeli settler movement and to identify recur- ring features and processes in this violence. It will be argued that these features and processes are important factors in understanding why certain movements use violence. It will also be argued that future comparative studies are needed, which include other contexts where similar radical movements have become violent, in order to develop a general theory of ethno-religious movements using political violence. There are certain theoretical issues in the study of religious movements turning to political violence which have not been approached in a satisfac- tory way. To date, scholars have often tried to identify dangerous elements in religious movements. Examples of such elements are dualism, absolute truth claims, apocalypticism, millennialism, holy war and totalism in the form of demands of blind obedience by followers (Kimball 2002: 41–185; Selengut 2003: 17–48, 95–181). Scholars have also pointed to dangerous situations such as alienation, humiliation, socioeconomic decline and oc- cupation (Stern 2003: 9–62; Benjamin and Simon 2003: 408, 424; Pape 2005: 126).
    [Show full text]