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2. First year of the coalition: The situation of the Arab parties and the balance of power between them
- Author:
- Rany Hasan
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- The current issue of Bayan is being published more than a year after the Knesset elections. For the first time in Arab politics in Israel, one party (United Arab List, Ra'am) joined the government coalition while another party (Joint Arab List) stays in the opposition. In his article, Rany Hasan examines the dynamics and relations between the two parties in recent years, and the balance of power between them, one year after the elections.
- Topic:
- Politics, Minorities, Elections, Political Parties, and Arabs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
3. Analysis of Arab Voting Patterns in the Elections for the 24th Knesset
- Author:
- Ziyad Abu Habla
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- The Arab sector has the electoral potential to win 25 seats in the Knesset. The low voter participation rate in the last elections (44.6%) was the result of a number of factors: the Arab representatives’ lack of influence on the government; the Arab community’s lack of confidence in parliamentary endeavor; the marginal status of Arab society; and the ideological boycotting of the elections. The poor results of the parties on the Left among Arab voters reflect their problematic relations with the Arab community. Arab voters do not view the leftist parties as a viable electoral alternative. On the other hand, only a negligible number of Jewish voters voted for the two Arab parties. The success of the United Arab List (Ra’am) and the failure of the Joint List in the Bedouin sector are the result of the latter’s inability to provide solutions to the problems of the Bedouin population, as well as the support in Bedouin society for Ra’am’s religious and conservative platform.
- Topic:
- Politics, Minorities, Elections, Ethnicity, and Voting
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
4. From a Community to a Society: Trends in Druze Voting Patterns in the Knesset Elections, 1996–2020
- Author:
- Mahmoud Shanan and Omri Eilat
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- The rate of voter turnout in the Druze community has been characterized by a continual downward trend for the past three decades. In deciding whether to vote and which party to vote for, Druze voters take individualistic considerations into account more than collective considerations which are related to the Druze community as a whole. Like other Druze communities throughout the Middle East, the Druze community in Israel is characterized by a pragmatic approach and political moderation. Therefore, the radical political views that the Arab parties try to promote are unattractive to most Druze voters. While Labor was the dominant party in the Druze community until 1999, there was no dominant party again until Blue-White in the 2019 elections. The expected collapse of Blue-White in the upcoming Knesset elections will leave a vacuum among the Druze and will lead to a further decline in their rate of voter turnout. The dispersed voting pattern of the Druze in the elections proves that politically they are not a homogenous community but rather a heterogeneous society.
- Topic:
- Minorities, Elections, Voting, and Druze
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
5. Arab Citizens are Not the Problem: How the 2020 Election Might Redefine the Israeli Political Landscape
- Author:
- Ahmad Agabaria
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- The elections conveyed a message: The Arab public refuses to be a problem in Israeli society, and strives to return to normalcy. The 1990s were engraved in the memory of the Arab public as a promising period for their rights, but today the tables have been turned. The establishment doubts the ability of Arab Knesset members to represent their constituents and doubts their allegiance to the state. Many in the Arab public understand that the enshrining national-Zionist identity of the state is directed against them. The delegitimization of the Arab minority and its elected representatives reached its peak in the recent elections. The slogan "Bibi or Tibi" is an expression of incitement and racism that should be denounced. The "deal of the century" plan, and in particular its intention to annex the Triangle Region to a Palestinian state, actually contributed to raising the turnout rate on the Arab street. The 15 seats won by the Joint List restored the belief to Arab citizens that change is possible.
- Topic:
- Politics, Minorities, Elections, and Citizenship
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
6. The “Gender Genie”: Bedouin Women between the Generations
- Author:
- Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- In recent years, social and cultural processes in Bedouin society in the Negev have had an effect on the social fabric and the status of women. The first generation of Bedouin women grew up in the nomadic period and were born before the establishment of the State. They are characterized by strong self-confidence based on their social, family and personal status. The second generation of women grew up during the urbanization period and they experienced the difficulties of transitioning from a nomadic way of life to life in a permanent settlement. They feel confused and angry about the transition process; nonetheless, they occupy key positions in Bedouin society and serve as the bridging generation between the past and the present. The third generation of women are divided between obeying their inner voices and obeying the collective social will. The women of this generation are in the midst of a transition process that is still ongoing. Bedouin society is flourishing and developing, as reflected in its integration within higher education and the labor market. In contrast, the advancement of women faces the barrier of traditional male domination. Although there is a small handful of men in Bedouin society who yearn for change and gender equality, they are torn between traditional masculinity – which calls for the man to be dominant – and modern masculinity.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Minorities, and Women
- Political Geography:
- Palestine and Israel
7. Memory of the Nakba in the Palestinian Public Sphere
- Author:
- Michael Milshtein
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- In the latest issue of Tel Aviv Notes, Michael Milshtein examines how the collective memory of the Nakba has become anchored in the Palestinian public sphere.
- Topic:
- History, Minorities, Memory, Nakba, and Palestinian Authority
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, and Israel
8. The Rwandan Experience: How Palestine Can Benefit from It
- Author:
- Adv. Belal Al-Najjar
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Pal-Think For Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The Rwandan experience accomplished a success in dealing with conflicts, making an example for countries that are suffering from civil wars, internal divisions, or armed conflicts now. It demonstrates the ability to rebuild a modern state if an actual willingness is available in spite of the existence of tremendous historical epic violence, oppression or armed conflict. Since the beginning of the nineties, Rwanda has been the scene of the most horrific genocidal wars which caused nearly a million lives of people to be gone. These crimes prompted the resignation of President Bisi Mongo, who was unable to control the country after it plunged into chaos. As a result, a civil war broke out in Rwanda between the government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The Hutu majority confronted the Tutsi minority. Their conflict continued until the outbreak of a three-month genocidal war. The massacres, which occurred during the conflict period, are considered the fourth largest genocide in the modern history.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Genocide, Minorities, Discrimination, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Rwanda
9. Comments on the Electoral Strength of the Joint Arab List
- Author:
- Assaf Shapira
- Publication Date:
- 11-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite the sharp rise in the voter participation rate in Arab towns in the elections for the 23rd Knesset, the Joint Arab List has probably not achieved its full electoral potential. This is because the Arab sector’s turnout was lower by almost 7 percent than the national average. If the voter participation rate had been 95 percent, the Joint Arab List would have received only one additional seat – an increase from 15 to 16. One of the reasons for this is that it did not sign a surplus agreement with other parties and therefore its chance of receiving additional seats in the division of surplus votes is lower than that of the other parties. The adoption of mandatory voting in Israel may raise the voter participation rate on election day; however, it is likely that such a move would meet intense opposition in the Arab community, most of which opposes the adoption of such an obligation. Any attempt to introduce mandatory voting in Israel must be part of a dialogue and cooperation with representatives of the Arab community. It must also be accompanied by practical steps to improve the situation of Arab citizens, such as amending the Nation-State Law and the allocation of additional resources to the Arab population.
- Topic:
- Minorities, Elections, Voting, and Political Parties
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
10. Palestine Consultations
- Author:
- Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
- Abstract:
- On 3 and 4 March 2019 a small team from Pugwash held a number of consultations and meetings in Ramallah and Jerusalem on the situation in Palestine. The impetus was to better understand the challenges of day-to-day life for Palestinians living in the West Bank, particularly what may have changed since the election of Trump in the United States, and gauge what priorities were held by Palestinians for the future. Overall, there was a comprehensive feeling amongst Palestinians that a one-state solution has been imposed as a de facto reality, and that this one state is an apartheid state that discriminates against Palestinian human rights, dignity of life, and undermines hopes for viable economic and social improvement in the lives of all those in the West Bank and Gaza.
- Topic:
- Territorial Disputes, Minorities, Discrimination, Conflict, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, and Irsael
11. Civil Trends in Israel’s Arab Society in Light of the "Arab Spring"
- Author:
- Yusri Khaizran
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Yusri Khaizran sheds light on recent civil and political developments in Israel's Arab society, against the backdrop of the significant events that took place within the larger Arab world at the beginning of this decade.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, Minorities, and Arab Spring
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
12. Ethnoreligious Mixed Marriages Among Palestinian Women and Jewish Men in Israel: Negotiating the Breaking of Barriers
- Author:
- Maha Karkabi-Sabbah
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Maha Karkabi Sabbah's article takes a look at intermarriage between Arab women and Jewish men in Israel. Scholars agree that intermarriage is one of the most important tests for determining societal structure and exposing the flexibility of social, racial and religious boundaries. In the crossing of racial, ethno-cultural, religious, or class boundaries through partnering, intermarriage not only tells us about individual choices, but also reveals the scope of social divisions and the relationships between groups within a society[1]. Jewish-Palestinian intermarriage is a unique case that offers the opportunity to shed some light on the implications of ethno-religious mixed marriages among spouses who differ in ethnicity, religion and culture and enhances our understanding of intermarriages in the context of ethnically divided societies.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Minorities, Ethnicity, and Marriage
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
13. Arab Voting in the 21st Knesset Elections
- Author:
- Arik Rudnitzky
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Arik Rudnitzky summarizes the results of the 2019 Knesset elections and the voting patterns of the Arab public. This article reviews the results of the elections for the 21st Knesset in Arab and Druze communities. It also examines voting patterns in these localities by demographic characteristics (by ethnic group and geographical area) and voting patterns of Arab residents in mixed cities. The discussion then deals with two issues: (a) the question of the renewed connection between the Arab voter and Jewish parties; (b) the voting patterns of Christian voters. All data presented here were taken from the conclusions of Central Elections Committee.
- Topic:
- Minorities, Elections, and Voting
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
14. To Close the Rifts, Leadership is Needed
- Author:
- Mohammad Darawshe
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Mohammad Darawshe's article analyzes the factors behind the historic low in the participation rate of Arab citizens, who stood at only 49.2% in the last elections. For the Arab voter, there weren’t compelling reasons to vote in the 2019 Knesset elections. In fact, a number of reasons motivated them not to. Quarrels around the issue of seat rotation plagued the Joint List and clarified for the Arab voter that the hope for unity had been lost. The Arab public therefore decided to punish the parties, taking from them the privilege it had given, returning them to their natural size in order to school them in the laws of modesty. Arab voters perceived the Nation-State Law as the antithesis of the integration to which they aspire. The law conveyed a clear message to Arab citizens that a border had been placed before them, and that they should not cultivate aspirations for class equality. Arab leaders must open the ranks of leadership and accept into it pragmatic social and economic figures. The mechanism of political parties are outdated and no longer reflect the new moods of the Arab public. There is no doubt that it is time to open a new chapter in Center-Left relations with Arab society. Without Arab cooperation, the Center-Left bloc will never come to power. Conversely, without the partnership of the Center-Left, the Arab public will not be able to influence decision-making in the state of Israel.
- Topic:
- Minorities, Elections, and Voting
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
15. Between the Rational and the Emotional: Factors Influencing the Political Participation of Arab Citizens in Israel
- Author:
- Morsi Abu Mokh
- Publication Date:
- 08-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- The current issue of Bayan is published almost one month before the elections for the 22nd Knesset, scheduled for September 17, 2019. This issue contains one essay by Dr. Morsi Abu Mokh who analyzes the factors that influence political participation among Israel's Arab citizens and their voting intentions in the Knesset elections.
- Topic:
- Politics, Minorities, and Elections
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
16. The Spring’s Back in their Steps: Arab Politics Following the Twenty-second Knesset Elections
- Author:
- Mohammad Darawshe
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Mohammad Darawshe, in the current issue of Bayan, discusses developments in Arab politics between the last two electoral campaigns, and addresses the future implications of the election results for the 22nd Knesset.
- Topic:
- Politics, Minorities, and Elections
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
17. The Druze Vote for the Twentieth, Twenty-First, and Twenty-Second Knesset Elections
- Author:
- Salim Brake
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Dr. Salim Brake, in the current issue of Bayan, analyzes the considerations and voting patterns of the Druze in the Knesset elections. The Druze generally vote on utilitarian considerations, such as voting for parties expected to be included in the coalition and to influence government policy. Few of them vote for ideological motives. Social networks voiced fierce criticism following two legislative acts that have hurt Druze over the past year: Kaminitz Law and Nation State Law. Despite this, the Druze artificially separated their stance on these laws and voted for parties that supported those laws. The Blue-White party spoke against the Nation State Law in its current form, and as a result, drew significant support from the Druze community. However, Blue-White is only committed to amending the law and including a clause referencing equality within it, and not eliminating it as Druze hoped. The increase in support for the "Israel Beitenu" party is due to the fact that the Druze representatives in the Likud are not seen as representing the real interests of the Druze community. In addition, the Druze candidate in the "Israel Beitenu" party expressed opposition to the Nation State Law.
- Topic:
- Government, Politics, Minorities, Elections, Ethnicity, and Druze
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Palestine
18. Palestinian Engagement with the Black Freedom Movement prior to 1967
- Author:
- Maha Nassar
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This article examines early Palestinian engagements with multiple facets of the Black American struggle for freedom through a content analysis of influential Palestinian press outlets in Arabic prior to 1967. It argues that, since the 1930s, Palestinian intellectuals with strong anti-colonial views linked anti-Black racism in the United States to larger imperial and Cold War dynamics, and that they connected Black American mobilizations against racism to decolonization movements around the world. This article also examines Mahmoud Darwish’s early analytical writings on race as a social construct in both the U.S. and Israeli contexts. Understanding these early engagements sheds light on subsequent developments in Black-Palestinian transnational solidarity and on Palestinian Afro-Arab cultural imaginaries.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Minorities
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
19. Troubling Idols: Black-Palestinian Solidarity in U.S. Afro-Christian Spaces
- Author:
- Taurean J Webb
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This article claims that insofar as they continue to omit analyses of colonialism and racialization, retellings of the biblical Exodus and of twentieth-century Black-Jewish relations—two massively significant narratives in the U.S. Black Christian imaginary—will inevitably continue to fuel the Zionist impulse that prevents much of Afro-Christianity from intentionally engaging Palestinian justice. Furthermore, the religious trope of chosenness, along with the dominant narration of the European Jewish Holocaust moment, have provided a politico-ethical basis for a unique type of dispensation that filters the two aforementioned retellings to ultimately deselect non-Jewish Palestinians from a recognizably complex humanity. The tools of the Black radical tradition, however, coupled with a reimagining of coalitional politics, carve out a radical Black Christian sensibility that is best equipped to speak to the devastations of military occupation and racist exclusion and forge life-giving relationships within the freedom struggles against them
- Topic:
- Race, International Affairs, and Minorities
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
20. The Importance of Ties between Palestinian Citizens of Israel and Diaspora Jewry: A View from Britain
- Author:
- Sana Knaneh
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, who feel their political representatives cannot achieve significant change for them on domestic issues, find it hard to believe that their voice could be meaningful in Israel’s foreign relations. Indeed, their involvement in Israeli foreign relations, both in the governmental and non-governmental arena, is limited. However, one area in which their involvement and influence have significant untapped potential lies in forging ties with Diaspora Jewry. For instance, in London, there is a clear disconnect between the representative bodies of the Jewish community, such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, and those representing the Palestinian community, such as The Association of the Palestinian Community in the UK and the Palestinian Forum in Britain which reflect the main currents of Palestinian thinking. While the disconnect is evident on the formal-organizational level, it does not preclude unofficial ties between Palestinians and Jews in London. Nonetheless, links between the two communities are limited, as is the space for joint discussions and exchanges of views, thoughts and narratives.
- Topic:
- Politics, Sovereignty, Diaspora, Minorities, and Political Activism
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
21. Gaza Prejudice and Perfidy
- Author:
- David M. Weinberg
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
- Abstract:
- What is Western support for “Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognized borders” worth if those borders cannot be defended?
- Topic:
- Territorial Disputes, Minorities, Discrimination, and Borders
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
22. Fear Triumphs: On the Nonparticipation of Eastern Jerusalem Arabs in Municipal Elections
- Author:
- David Koren
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
- Abstract:
- Despite the desire of Arabs in eastern Jerusalem for greater integration in Israeli life, their fear of the Palestinian Authority and its agents kept them away from the polls in October. And while seeking pragmatic and constructive integration in Jerusalem, they still adhere to the Palestinian side of the identity axis. Once again, 38% of the capital city’s residents remain outside its political arena.
- Topic:
- Territorial Disputes, Minorities, Elections, Discrimination, Local, and Palestinian Authority
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Jerusalem
23. The Turkmens of the Middle East
- Author:
- Ersan Hurmuzlu
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- ARI Movement
- Abstract:
- The Turkmens, descendents of the Oghuz confederation of Turkic-speaking nomadic tribes of the early Middle Ages, are currently scattered across the Middle East and Central Asia. Focusing on the Turkmen populations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iran, the author delves into their situation as minority groups who are barred from political participation and from expressing their cultural identity. This plight has only been exacerbated for the Iraqi Turkmens since the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In order to overcome socio-political marginalization, the author advocates for Turkmens to unite and form linkages with other minority groups.
- Topic:
- Culture, Minorities, Identities, and Marginalization
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria
24. Israel: Interrupted Democratic Development?
- Author:
- Itzhak Galnoor
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- ARI Movement
- Abstract:
- Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Israeli democracy has followed a unique trajectory. Despite its strengths – regular and fair elections, an independent judiciary, a pluralistic party system etc. – the author argues that democratic development is in fact “interrupted.” The author identifies four main areas: the continuous occupation since 1967, the status of the Arab citizens within Israel, the growing socio-economic gaps, and the relationship between the state and religion. In order to mitigate the threats to Israeli democracy, the author espouses going back to fundamental democratic values – above all, democratic education in schools to build an enduring trust in democracy among young people.
- Topic:
- Development, Culture, Minorities, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine