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History of Israel
History of Israel FALL-Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30–10:45, CBA 4.340 Course Description Israel is a country of contrasts. Merely 263 miles long, one can drive from its northernmost point to the southernmost one in six hours, passing by a wide variety of landscapes and climates; from the snowy capes of Mount Hermon to the arid badlands of the Negev Desert. Along the way, she might come across a plethora of ethnic and religious groups – Jews originating in dozens of diasporas all over the world, Palestinians, Druze, Bedouins, Bahá'ís, Samaritans, Circassians, Armenians, Gypsies, Filipinos, Sudanese, Eritreans, and more – and hear innumerable languages and dialects. From the haredi stronghold of Bene-Beraq to the hedonistic nightclubs and sunny beaches of Eilat; from a relative Jewish-Arab coexistence in Haifa to the powder keg that is East Jerusalem; from the “Start-up Nation” in Ra’anana and Herzliya to the poverty-stricken “development towns” and unrecognized Bedouin settlements of the Negev; from the messianic fervor of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to the plight of African refugees and disadvantaged Jews in South Tel Aviv – all within an area slightly smaller than the State of Vermont. This is an introductory survey of Israel’s political, diplomatic, social, economic, ethnic, and cultural history, as well as an overview of Israeli society nowadays. We will start with a brief examination of the birth of the Zionist movement in nineteenth-century Europe, the growth of the Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the establishment of a modern Jewish State. Next, we will review a number of key moments and processes in Israeli history and discuss such crucial and often controversial topics as the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts; ethnic and social stratification in Israel; civil-military relations and the role that the armed forces and other security agencies have played in everyday life in the country; Israel’s relations with the world and the Jewish diaspora; and more. -
The Pragmatic Dimension of the Palestinian Hamas: a Network Perspective
Mishal 569 The Pragmatic Dimension of the Palestinian Hamas: A Network Perspective SHAUL MISHAL n the wake of the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center in INew York and President Bush’s “war on terrorism,” it is important to try to understand the cultural, political, and social dimensions of such radical Islamic groups as the Palestinian Hamas. Within political and academic circles in the Western world, it is common to portray Islamic movements in categorical terms that utilize binary classifications that mark real or imaginary social attributes rather than relational patterns.1 Much of this perception derives from the violence accompanying Islamic reli- gious fervor and the fanaticism marking some of its groups and regimes, raising fears of “a clash of civilizations” and “a threat” to Western liberal democratic values and social order.2 Hamas, an abbreviation of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Is- lamic Resistance Movement), did not escape the binary perception, and has been described solely as a movement identified with Islamic funda- mentalism and suicide bombings. The objectives at the top of its agenda are the liberation of Palestine through a holy war (jihad) against Israel, establishing an Islamic state on its soil, and reforming society in the spirit of true Islam. It is this Islamic vision, combined with its nationalist claims and militancy toward Israel, that accounts for the prevailing image of Hamas as a rigid movement, ready to pursue its goals at any cost, with no limits or constraints. Islamic and national zeal, bitter opposition to the SHAUL MISHAL teaches at the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University, where his research focuses on Arab and Palestinian politics. -
Palestinian Refugees: Adiscussion ·Paper
Palestinian Refugees: ADiscussion ·Paper Prepared by Dr. Jan Abu Shakrah for The Middle East Program/ Peacebuilding Unit American Friends Service Committee l ! ) I I I ' I I I I I : Contents Preface ................................................................................................... Prologue.................................................................................................. 1 Introduction . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem .. .. .. .. .. 3 • Identifying Palestinian Refugees • Counting Palestinian Refugees • Current Location and Living Conditions of the Refugees Principles: The International Legal Framework .... .. ... .. .. ..... .. .. ....... ........... 9 • United Nations Resolutions Specific to Palestinian Refugees • Special Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law • Challenges to the International Legal Framework Proposals for Resolution of the Refugee Problem ...................................... 15 • The Refugees in the Context of the Middle East Peace Process • Proposed Solutions and Principles Espoused by Israelis and Palestinians Return Statehood Compensation Resettlement Work of non-governmental organizations................................................. 26 • Awareness-Building and Advocacy Work • Humanitarian Assistance and Development • Solidarity With Right of Return and Restitution Conclusion .... ..... ..... ......... ... ....... ..... ....... ....... ....... ... ......... .. .. ... .. ............ -
Avi Shlaim How Israel Brought Gaza to the Brink of Humanitarian Catastrophe 1/4
Avi Shlaim How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe 1/4 How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe Avi Shlaim* Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army and has never questi- oned the state's legitimacy. But its merciless assault on Gaza has led him to devastating conclusions A wounded Palestinian policeman gestures while lying on the ground outside Hamas police headquar- ters following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. - Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images The only way to make sense of Israel's senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestini- ans. British officials bitterly resented American partisanship on behalf of the infant state. On 2 June 1948, Sir John Troutbeck wrote to the foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, that the Americans were responsible for the creation of a gangster state headed by "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". I used to think that this judgment was too harsh but Israel's vicious assault on the people of Gaza, and the Bush administration's complicity in this assault, have reopened the question. I write as someone who served loyally in the Israeli army in the mid-1960s and who has never questi- oned the legitimacy of the state of Israel within its pre-1967 borders. What I utterly reject is the Zionist colonial project beyond the Green Line. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territori- al expansionism. -
The Origins of Hamas: Militant Legacy Or Israeli Tool?
THE ORIGINS OF HAMAS: MILITANT LEGACY OR ISRAELI TOOL? JEAN-PIERRE FILIU Since its creation in 1987, Hamas has been at the forefront of armed resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories. While the move- ment itself claims an unbroken militancy in Palestine dating back to 1935, others credit post-1967 maneuvers of Israeli Intelligence for its establishment. This article, in assessing these opposing nar- ratives and offering its own interpretation, delves into the historical foundations of Hamas starting with the establishment in 1946 of the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (the mother organization) and ending with its emergence as a distinct entity at the outbreak of the !rst intifada. Particular emphasis is given to the Brotherhood’s pre-1987 record of militancy in the Strip, and on the complicated and intertwining relationship between the Brotherhood and Fatah. HAMAS,1 FOUNDED IN the Gaza Strip in December 1987, has been the sub- ject of numerous studies, articles, and analyses,2 particularly since its victory in the Palestinian legislative elections of January 2006 and its takeover of Gaza in June 2007. Yet despite this, little academic atten- tion has been paid to the historical foundations of the movement, which grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Gaza branch established in 1946. Meanwhile, two contradictory interpretations of the movement’s origins are in wide circulation. The !rst portrays Hamas as heir to a militant lineage, rigorously inde- pendent of all Arab regimes, including Egypt, and harking back to ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam,3 a Syrian cleric killed in 1935 while !ghting the British in Palestine. -
An Unusual Revolution: the Palestinian Thawra in Lebanon, C
Durham Middle East Papers AN UNUSuaL REVOLUTION: THE PALESTINIAN THAWra IN LEBANON, C. 1969-82 Dr Anne Irfan Durham Middle East Paper No. 103 Durham Middle East Papers Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Durham University Al-Qasimi Building Elvet Hill Road Durham AN UNUSuaL REVOLUTION: Durham Middle East Papers No. 103 DH1 3TU ISSN 1476-4830 THE PALESTINIAN THAWra IN LEBANON, C. 1969-82 Tel: +44 (0)191 3345680 September 2020 The Durham Middle East Papers series covers all aspects of the economy, politics, social science, history, literature and languages of the Middle East. Authors are invited to submit papers to the Editorial Board for consideration for publication. Dr Anne Irfan The views expressed in this paper are the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or IMEIS. All Rights Reserved. This paper cannot be photocopied or reproduced without prior permission. Durham Middle East Paper No. 103 © Dr Anne Irfan and Durham University, 2020 About The Institute Editorial Board The Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (IMEIS), within the Professor Anoush Ehteshami Dr Colin Turner School of Government & International Affairs, is a Social Science-focused Exofficio member Reader in Islamic Thought in academic institute of excellence, research-led in ethos, with a track-record of Professor of International Relations the School of Government and internationally acclaimed research outputs across all sub-areas of its activity. in the School of -
Gaza CRISIS)P H C S Ti P P I U
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory Zikim e Karmiya s n e o il Z P m A g l in a AGCCESSA ANDZ AMOV EMENTSTRI (GAZA CRISIS)P h c s ti P P i u F a ¥ SEPTEMBER 2014 o nA P N .5 F 1 Yad Mordekhai EREZ CROSSING (BEIT HANOUN) occupied Palestinian territory: ID a As-Siafa OPEN, six days (daytime) a B?week4 for B?3the4 movement d Governorates e e of international workers and limited number of y h s a b R authorized Palestinians including aid workers, medical, P r 2 e A humanitarian cases, businessmen and aid workers. Jenin d 1 e 0 Netiv ha-Asara P c 2 P Tubas r Tulkarm r fo e S P Al Attarta Temporary Wastewater P n b Treatment Lagoons Qalqiliya Nablus Erez Crossing E Ghaboon m Hai Al Amal r Fado's 4 e B? (Beit Hanoun) Salfit t e P P v i Al Qaraya al Badawiya i v P! W e s t R n m (Umm An-Naser) n i o » B a n k a North Gaza º Al Jam'ia ¹¹ M E D I TER RAN EAN Hatabiyya Ramallah da Jericho d L N n r n r KJ S E A ee o Beit Lahia D P o o J g Wastewater Ed t Al Salateen Beit Lahiya h 5 Al Kur'a J a 9 P l D n Treatment Plant D D D D 9 ) D s As Sultan D 1 2 El Khamsa D " Sa D e J D D l i D 0 D s i D D 0 D D d D D m 2 9 Abedl Hamaid D D r D D l D D o s D D a t D D c Jerusalem D D c n P a D D c h D D i t D D s e P! D D A u P 0 D D D e D D D a l m d D D o i t D D l i " D D n . -
Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 - 2003
Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 - 2003 Based on information by the National Focal Points of the RAXEN Information Network Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 – 2003 Based on information by the National Focal Points of the EUMC - RAXEN Information Network EUMC - Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 - 2003 2 EUMC – Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU 2002 – 2003 Foreword Following concerns from many quarters over what seemed to be a serious increase in acts of antisemitism in some parts of Europe, especially in March/April 2002, the EUMC asked the 15 National Focal Points of its Racism and Xenophobia Network (RAXEN) to direct a special focus on antisemitism in its data collection activities. This comprehensive report is one of the outcomes of that initiative. It represents the first time in the EU that data on antisemitism has been collected systematically, using common guidelines for each Member State. The national reports delivered by the RAXEN network provide an overview of incidents of antisemitism, the political, academic and media reactions to it, information from public opinion polls and attitude surveys, and examples of good practice to combat antisemitism, from information available in the years 2002 – 2003. On receipt of these national reports, the EUMC then asked an independent scholar, Dr Alexander Pollak, to make an evaluation of the quality and availability of this data on antisemitism in each country, and identify problem areas and gaps. The country-by-country information provided by the 15 National Focal Points, and the analysis by Dr Pollak, form Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of this report respectively. -
National Report, State of Palestine United Nations
National Report, State of Palestine United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III) 2014 Ministry of Public Works and Housing National Report, State of Palestine, UN-Habitat 1 Photo: Jersualem, Old City Photo for Jerusalem, old city Table of Contents FORWARD 5 I. INTRODUCTION 7 II. URBAN AGENDA SECTORS 12 1. Urban Demographic 12 1.1 Current Status 12 1.2 Achievements 18 1.3 Challenges 20 1.4 Future Priorities 21 2. Land and Urban Planning 22 2. 1 Current Status 22 2.2 Achievements 22 2.3 Challenges 26 2.4 Future Priorities 28 3. Environment and Urbanization 28 3. 1 Current Status 28 3.2 Achievements 30 3.3 Challenges 31 3.4 Future Priorities 32 4. Urban Governance and Legislation 33 4. 1 Current Status 33 4.2 Achievements 34 4.3 Challenges 35 4.4 Future Priorities 36 5. Urban Economy 36 5. 1 Current Status 36 5.2 Achievements 38 5.3 Challenges 38 5.4 Future Priorities 39 6. Housing and Basic Services 40 6. 1 Current Status 40 6.2 Achievements 43 6.3 Challenges 46 6.4 Future Priorities 49 III. MAIN INDICATORS 51 Refrences 52 Committee Members 54 2 Lists of Figures Figure 1: Percent of Palestinian Population by Locality Type in Palestine 12 Figure 2: Palestinian Population by Governorate in the Gaza Strip (1997, 2007, 2014) 13 Figure 3: Palestinian Population by Governorate in the West Bank (1997, 2007, 2014) 13 Figure 4: Palestinian Population Density of Built-up Area (Person Per km²), 2007 15 Figure 5: Percent of Change in Palestinian Population by Locality Type West Bank (1997, 2014) 15 Figure 6: Population Distribution -
From the Editor by Rashid I. Khalidi Sixty Years Ago the Zionist
Journal of Palestine Studies issue 147, published in Spring 2008 From the Editor by Rashid I. Khalidi Sixty years ago the Zionist movement launched an all-out military offensive to establish a Jewish state in a country with a two-thirds Arab majority. Victories followed in quick succession as the well-organized,well-armed Haganah battled poorly coordinated Arab irregulars and local militias. On 18 April 1948, after the prelude of the Dayr Yasin massacre and the conquest of Arab villages in the Jerusalem corridor, the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Tiberias was captured and its entire Arab population bused to Transjordan. The attack against the Arab quarters of Haifa, Palestine’s largest city, followed almost immediately; Haifa fell on 22 April. With the conquest of Arab Jaffa several weeks later, the fate of Palestine was sealed, and on 14 May 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. This issue of JPS commemorates this first crucial phase of the 1948 war with two articles about those first key Zionist victories: Mustafa Abbasi’s “The End of Arab Tiberias” and a reissue of Walid Khalidi’s landmark 1959 article, “The Fall of Haifa,” with a new introduction and footnotes by the author. The two articles have different approaches, with Abbasi focusing especially on the background to the tragedy, tracing the deterioration of relations between Tiberias’s Jewish and Palestinian communities, and Khalidi concentrating more on the immediate military and diplomatic background of the attack on Haifa and the progress of the battle itself. Both articles, however, highlight the extraordinary collusion between the Haganah and Britain, which in each case virtually turned the cities over to the Zionists. -
The Six Day War and the French Press, 1967
Three Visions of Conflict: The Six Day War and the French Press, 1967 Robert Isaacson The George Washington University Abstract: Examination of the journalistic coverage of the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six Day War by the French mainstream media reveals the centrality of the war experience as a turning point in French public discourse on Israel. Shared assumptions about Israel's vulnerability were replaced by diverse and often contradictory discourses of religious triumphalism, territorial revisionism, and ideological anti-imperialism. This analysis shows that French President Charles de Gaulle's interpretation of the war was far from dominant, and indicates that French public discourse on Israel was fractured and diverse, responsive to different events, and far from the monolith that polling that would suggest. In November 1967, five months after Israel's dramatic victory in the June 5 to June 10 Six Day War, French President Charles de Gaulle publically ended the "tacit alliance" that had existed between France and Israel since the early 1950s.1 In a nationally broadcast speech, de Gaulle expressed his frustration with Israel by critiquing Jews broadly, calling them "an elite people, sure of themselves and domineering...charged [with] burning and conquering ambition," and blamed the war on Israeli territorial aspirations.2 These statements were a far cry from those de Gaulle had made only a decade prior, when he told then-Herut Party chairman, Menachem Begin, "Don't let go of Gaza. It is a sector essential for your security."3 The November remarks drew fire from critics in France and Israel who saw the words as antisemitic and cementing his "betrayal" of Israel on the eve of the Six Day War by adopting a policy of "active neutrality."4 This policy, itself a gesture meant to boost relations with the Arab world, threatened condemnation on whichever party initiated hostilities, and preemptively moved to cut off arms shipments to Israel. -
The War of Attrition: Three Wars, One Story
Research Forum ארכיון צה"ל ומערכת הביטחון The War of Attrition: Three Wars, One Story Dov Tamari 2019 marked the the fiftieth anniversary of the War of Attrition, which was fought mainly against Egypt, and on a smaller scale, was waged along the ceasefirelines with Jordan and Syria. This article refers to the mindset in the IDF and within the General Staff during the six years between the Six Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973), and to the nature of the discourse between the military and the government. The War of Attrition against Egypt enables three wars to be merged into one story, due to the decisive prominence of Egypt in these wars against Israel. The focus is on the military echelon and the interactions between the military echelon and the political echelon during the years of the War of Attrition, and the impact of military thinking on political thinking between the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, while focusing on the years of the War of Attrition in the Egyptian theater. 50 Strategic Assessment | Volume 23 | No. 1 | January 2020 Introduction not refer to the arguments within the Israeli In 2019, the Israeli media covered the fiftieth governments over the six years of intensive anniversary of the War of Attrition, which was conflict. Rather, the focus is on the military fought mainly against Egypt, and on a smaller echelon and the interactions between the scale, was waged along the ceasefire lines with military echelon and the political echelon Jordan and Syria. The War of Attrition resulted during the years of the War of Attrition, and the in 968 fatalities and 3,730 wounded, 260 of impact of military thinking on political thinking whom were combatants in the Suez Canal arena.