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452. A4. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "West Bank Movement and Access Update," Jerusalem, May 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- During the reporting period the Israeli authorities implemented a number of measures, which have eased the flow of Palestinian traffic on some of the access routes into four main cities: Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarm, and Ramallah. These measures included the removal of permit requirements for vehicles entering Nablus city; the opening of two junctions allowing more direct access to Hebron city; the removal of one checkpoint on the southern route into Tulkarm city; and the opening of a "fabric of life" alternative road easing access to Ramallah city from the west.
- Political Geography:
- Jerusalem
453. B1. Hizballah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Speech on Egyptian Accusations of Hizballah Activities on Gaza Border with Egypt, Lebanon, 10 April 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Hasan Nasrallah devoted his usual Friday televised address to responding head-on to the Egyptian government's dramatic announcement two days earlier of a Hizballah network operating in Egypt to spread Shi'i ideas and prepare hostile operations threatening public security. While forcefully denying the charges asmade, the speech is important for its confirmation, with detail, of Hizballah's involvement in transporting weapons and ammunition across the border into Gaza the month before Operation Cast Lead. Nasrallah's summary of his party's policies with regard to the Arab countries is also noteworthy. (See section "The Regional Cold War" in Doc. A2 above for International Crisis Group's analysis of the Egyptian-Hizballah exchange.) The speech, carried by Hizballah's al-Manar television, was translated in full by BBC Monitoring Middle East and made available by BBC World Monitoring on 12 April 2009.
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Paris, London, Palestine, and Jerusalem
454. B2. Hamas Politburo Chief Khalid Mishal, Remarks on Hamas Charter, President Obama, Comparisons with Hizballah, and Other Matters, New York Times, 5 May 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Khalid Mishal!s interview with the New York Times was his first to a U.S. news organization in more than a year. The excerpts published by the Times on 5 May were taken from a five-hour interview conducted in Arabic over two days at his house in Damascus. Although the excerpts do not cover much ground that was not covered in Mishal's long interview with JPS in March 2008 (see the two-part Mishal interview in JPS 147-48), they are interesting in that they are clearly directed at the new Obama administration. The full excerpts of the Times interview can be found online at www.nytimes.com.
- Political Geography:
- New York, Palestine, and Arabia
455. C1. Gershon Baskin, "Gilad Shalit, Hamas, and Olmert," Jerusalem Post, 9 February 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Less than a month after Operation Cast Lead (OCL) ended, an Israeli peace activist who had occasionally served as an unofficial emissary between Israel and Hamas revealed that ten days before the operation's launch the Olmert government had rejected Hamas's back-channel offer to negotiate the renewal of the interrupted cease-fire, as well as a prisoner exchange involving captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Gershon Baskin, co-founder and director of the Jerusalem-based Israel/ Palestine Center for Research and Information, wrote a detailed account of the episode in the Jerusalem Post, concluding that it gave the lie to the government's claim that OCL was a "war of no choice." The full text of this article can be found online at www.jpost.com.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
456. C2. Avigdor Lieberman, Inaugural Statement as Foreign Minister, Jerusalem, 1 April 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the rightwing Yisrael Beitainu ("Israel Is Our Home") party, was appointed foreign minister in March 2009 in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud government coalition, which formed nearly six weeks after the Knesset elections of 10 February 2009. Lieberman, who ran under the slogan "no loyalty, no citizenship"- demanding that Arab citizens of Israel pledge allegiance to the Jewish state or be expelled and calling for the "annihilation" of Hamas-won an unprecedented fifteen seats, beating out Labor to become Israel's third-largest party in the Knesset. Lieberman, a settler and immigrant from the former Soviet Union, caused a stir with his first speech as foreign minister, in which he declared the road map to be the sole document binding Israel to its pledges post-Oslo. The full text of the speech can be found online at www.mfa.gov.il.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
457. D1. The Israel Project, "25 Rules for Effective Communication," April 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The Israel Project (TIP), a pro-Israel media consulting firm "devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom, and peace," commissioned Republican pollster and political language expert Frank Luntz to craft a language strategy for "visionary leaders who are on the front lines of fighting the media war for Israel" to talk to Americans with the aim of "winning the hearts and minds of the public." Luntz's first Global Language Dictionary for TIP was published in 2003; the 2009 Global Language Dictionary is the result of revisions based on research conducted in 2008.
- Political Geography:
- America and Israel
458. D2. U.S. Security Coordinator Keith Dayton, Address Detailing the Mission and Accomplishments of the Office of the U.S. Security Coordinator, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, Washington, 7 May 2009 (excerpts)
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The following are excerpts from a speech by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator (USSC) to the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose rare on-therecord address to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) was closely followed by observers of the Palestine- Israel conflict. Dayton has served as USSC since 2005 and recently accepted another two-year term.
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Palestine
459. Chronology
- Author:
- Michele K. Esposito
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section is part 102 of a chronology begun in JPS 13, no. 3 (Spring 1984). Chronology dates reflect Eastern Standard Time (EST). For a more comprehensive overview of events related to the al-Aqsa intifada and of regional and international developments related to the peace process, see the Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy in this issue.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
460. Bibliography of Periodical Literature
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section lists articles and reviews of books relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Entries are classified under the following headings: Reference and General; History (through 1948) and Geography; Palestinian Politics and Society; Jerusalem; Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism; Arab and Middle Eastern Politics; International Relations; Law; Military; Economy, Society, and Education; Literature, Arts, and Culture; Book Reviews; and Reports Received.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and Jerusalem
461. The Vicissitudes of the 1948 Historiography of Israel
- Author:
- Ilan Pappe
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Arguing that history writing is a dialectical process fusing ideological agenda and political developments with historical evidence, the author analyzes the two major transitions experienced by the Israeli historiography of the 1948 war: from the classical Zionist narrative to the “New History” of the late 1980s, and from the latter to the emergence of a “neo-Zionist” trend as of 2000. While describing the characteristics of these trends, the author shows how they are linked to concurrent political developments. Most of the article is devoted to an examination of the neo-Zionist historians who have emerged in recent years, based on their previously untranslated Hebrew works.
- Topic:
- Development and History
- Political Geography:
- Israel
462. Ephrat: Spiritual Wayfarers, Leaders in Piety: Sufis and the Dissemination of Islam in Medieval Palestine
- Author:
- Diana Abouali
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Spiritual Wayfarers, Leaders in Piety: Sufis and the Dissemination of Islam in Medieval Palestine, by Daphna Ephrat. Cambridge, MA: Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University, Harvard University Press, 2008. xi + 201 pages. Bibliography to p. 218. Index to p. 223. $19.95 paper. Diana Abouali is assistant professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures at Dartmouth College.
- Topic:
- Islam
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Asia, and Palestine
463. Misselwitz and Rieniets: City of Collision: Jerusalem and the Principles of Conflict Urbanism
- Author:
- Craig Larkin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- City of Collision: Jerusalem and the Principles of Conflict Urbanism is an anthology of essays, maps, and photographs tackling the complexities and dynamism of Jerusalem's contested urban spaces. This ambitious but engaging edited volume offers a trilateral perspective (Israeli, Palestinian, and international) and a multidisciplinary approach (architecture, urbanism, geography, art, and anthropology) probing the city's fault lines, fissures, and urban connections. Visually impressive and graphically innovative, the thirty essays deal with relevant spatial and social themes, yet without offering the depth of critical analysis that might have been expected from its experienced contributors. The essays serve as mere snapshots, case studies, or brief theoretical outlines, which require further exploration, development, and, in some places, greater cogency. Despite well-organized chapters based on spatial dialectic themes (enclave/exclaves, barriers/links, etc.), it is the illuminating maps and diagrams that lend the book cohesion and distinction.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
464. Kanaaneh: Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military
- Author:
- Nahla Abdo
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- In Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military , Rhoda Ann Kanaaneh, a visiting scholar at New York University's Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, discusses a contested area in the lives of Palestinians in Israel: Arabs—albeit a minority—joining the Israeli military. Considering the preexisting rigid national/ ethnic conflict and contradictions between Palestinian and Jewish citizens within a state that defines itself as Jewish, the author skillfully asks why some Palestinian Arabs voluntarily join the Israeli military. Although the phenomenon of Arab soldiering in Israel represents only a minority of this group, it remains worth exploring and this is what Kanaaneh undertakes in this book.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- New York, Israel, and Arabia
465. Avnery: Israel's Vicious Circle: Ten Years of Writings on Israel and Palestine
- Author:
- Michael Warschawski
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Israel's Vicious Circle: Ten Years of Writings on Israel and Palestine, by Uri Avnery. London: Pluto Press, 2009. x + 215 pages. Notes to p. 224. Index to p. 230. $29.95 cloth. Michael Warschawski is an author, journalist, and cofounder of the Alternative Information Center, a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization.
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Palestine
466. Burg: The Holocaust is Over: We Must Rise from Its Ashes; and Peleg: Israeli Culture between the Two Intifadas: A Brief Romance
- Author:
- Simona Sharoni
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise from Its Ashes, by Avraham Burg. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. vii + 242 pages. Notes to p. 246. Index to p. 253. $26.95 hard; $16.00 paper. Israeli Culture between the Two Intifadas: A Brief Romance, by Yaron Peleg. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008. 148 pages. Bibliography to p. 151. Index to p. 156. $60.00 hard. Simona Sharoni, associate professor of gender and women's studies and chair of the Gender and Women's Studies Department at the State University of New York, is the author of Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women's Resistance (Syracuse University Press, 1995)
- Topic:
- Politics
- Political Geography:
- New York and Israel
467. Stein: Itineraries in Conflict: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Political Lives of Tourism
- Author:
- Tom Selwyn
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Itineraries in Conflict: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Political Lives of Tourism, by Rebecca L. Stein. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008. x + 152 pages. Notes to p. 178. Bibliography to p. 204. Index to p. 219. $79.95 cloth; $22.95 paper. Tom Selwyn is professorial research associate in the Department of Anthropology, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he teaches the anthropology of tourism.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Israel, London, and Palestine
468. Blanford: Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East
- Author:
- Amer Mohsen
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Following the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a mythology was instantly created around his person and legacy. Used extensively in the political campaign that became known as the “Cedar Revolution,” television programs, documentaries, and songs idolizing the ex-prime minister also started to fill the Lebanese airwaves and canonize Hariri as an unadulterated symbol of Lebanese nationalism, independence, and modernity. Nicholas Blanford's Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East , far from casting a critical eye on this mode of history-writing, reproduces elements of this mythology.
- Political Geography:
- New York and Middle East
469. Cohen and Katz: Palestinian Arab Music: A Maqam Tradition in Practice
- Author:
- Kathleen Hood
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Palestinian Arab Music: A Maqam Tradition in Practice, by Dalia Cohen and Ruth Katz. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2006. xi + 334 pages. Appendices to p. 484. Notes to p. 500. Bibliography to p. 508. Index to p. 518. $134.00 cloth; $65.00 paper. Kathleen Hood received her PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in the music of the Near East, and is the author of Music in Druze Life: Ritual, Values, and Performance Practice (Druze Heritage Foundation, 2007).
- Political Geography:
- California, Arabia, and Chicago
470. The Reconquista of Palestine: From the 1947 United Nations Partition Resolution to the First Zionist Congress of 1897
- Author:
- Walid Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Challenging the widely accepted premise that the 1948 war was a war of Jewish self-defense, the author demonstrates that the 1947 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) partition resolution was fundamentally a green light for the Yishuv's fully mobilized paramilitary organizations (supported by the resources of the World Zionist Organization) to effect the long-planned establishment of a Jewish state by force of arms. He further argues that as a national movement, Zionism was inherently conquest-oriented from the moment of its birth in Basel in 1897 and that it most closely resembles—in the alchemy of its religious and secular motivation and its insatiable land hunger, irredentism, and indifference to the fate of the “natives”—the Iberian Reconquista of the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries.
- Topic:
- United Nations
471. Remembering Shafiq al-Hout (1932-2009)
- Author:
- Rashid Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Shafiq al-Hout was one of the original founders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, a member of its Executive Committee in 1966–68 and 1991–93, the long-time PLO representative in Lebanon, a prolific and talented writer and journalist, and an orator with rare gifts. He was born in Jaffa to a Palestinian family that originated in Lebanon, but lived most of his life in Beirut. Shafiq al-Hout never returned to Palestine after his family was forced to flee Jaffa for Beirut by boat in April 1948, but he always yearned for a return with dignity. He was deeply marked by the cosmopolitanism for which those two seaside cities are known.
- Political Geography:
- Lebanon
472. Arafat and the Journey of the Palestinian Revolution: An Interview with Shafiq al-Hout
- Author:
- Ahmad Khalifeh and Mahmoud Soueid
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Shafiq al-Hout, founding member of the PLO and the Palestine National Council, former PLO spokesman, and longtime (1965–93) Palestinian representative in Lebanon known in recent years as an outspoken critic of Oslo and a passionate defender of the Palestinian right of return, died in Beirut on 2 August 2009 at the age of seventy-seven. To mark the passing of a figure known for his integrity and adherence to principle, JPS decided to translate a long interview al-Hout gave to our sister publication, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyya (MDF), a month after the death of Yasir Arafat. While the interview focuses on Arafat and his leadership, it also illuminates, through specific incidents witnessed over a long and complicated relationship, the roots of problems that continue to plague the Palestinian national movement to this day, including the fatal confusion/overlap between Fatah and the PLO and Arafat's progressive monopolization of power. It also gives a sense of al-Hout's personality, his characteristic honesty, clear-sightedness, and fairness, his humor and passion, and goes a long way toward explaining why this inveterate “independent,” who never belonged to any Palestinian organization, remained respected and admired by Palestinian leaders across the political spectrum. The interview was conducted in Beirut on 12 December 2004 by Mahmoud Soueid, director of the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut, and Ahmad Khalifeh, managing editor of MDF. The full interview was published in issues 60–61 (Autumn 2004–Winter 2005) of MDF.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
473. A Palestinian State in Two Years: Interview with Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister
- Author:
- Salim Tamari, Khalid Farraj, and Camille Mansour
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Salam Fayyad was appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on a “national emergency” basis following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, inaugurating the de facto system of parallel governments still in place—one headed by Fayyad in the PA-dominated West Bank, the other by Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza. Born in a village near Tulkarm in the West Bank, Fayyad received his MBA and doctorate in economics in the United States. He worked for many years with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including as the Palestine representative from 1995 until 2002, when Yasir Arafat appointed him finance minister. In that capacity, he earned the respect and trust of the international community for the leading role he played in PA financial and other reforms, gaining a reputation for straight dealing and getting things done. A political independent with an aversion to factional politics, he served as finance minister in the short-lived Hamas-dominated national unity government formed in March 2007.
474. Arab Views (cartoons from al-Hayat)
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section aims to give readers a glimpse of how the Arab world views current events that affect Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict by presenting a selection of cartoons from al-Hayat, the most widely distributed mainstream daily in the Arab world. JPS is grateful to al-Hayat for permission to reprint its material.
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Arabia
475. From the Hebrew Press
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section includes articles by Israeli journalists and commentators that have been selected for their frank reporting, insightful analyses, or interesting perspectives on events, developments, or trends in Israel and the occupied territories.
- Topic:
- Development
- Political Geography:
- Israel
476. Photos from the Quarter
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This small sample of photos, selected from hundreds viewed by JPS, aims to convey a sense of the situation on the ground in the occupied territories during the quarter.
477. Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy : 16 May - 15 August 2009
- Author:
- Michele K. Esposito
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This quarter marked the rocky opening of a new chapter in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as the freshly elected Israeli and U.S. administrations set to work, laying out approaches toward the peace process that were markedly different from their predecessors' and nearly diametrically opposed to each other. A major policy clash between U.S. pres. Barack Obama and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over settlements overshadowed most of the quarter. The other striking feature of the quarter overall was the extremely low level of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Though Israel's siege of Gaza (in place since 6/07) continued, the Gaza cease-fire held without major violations. In the West Bank, Israel scaled back routine military operations and facilitated Palestinian movement between major population centers, particularly in the north, improving trade and quality of life. At the opening of the quarter, however, Israeli-Palestinian cross-border violence in Gaza was moderate and rising while in the West Bank violence remained low. Israel's siege of Gaza, intended to pressure the Hamas government there, entered its 24th month, hampering efforts to maintain basic services and repair infrastructure and other damages from Israel's Operation Cast Lead (OCL) offensive targeting the Strip, which ended on 1/18/09 (see JPS 151 for background). Israel allowed an average of 106 truckloads/day of humanitarian goods and commodities into Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing 6 days/week (far less that the 500 truckloads/day the UN estimated were necessary to meet Gazans' basic needs); limited fodder and seed through Qarni crossing; enough fuel through the Nahal Oz crossing to maintain emergency services and run Gaza's electricity plant at 69% capacity, as well as some cooking gas. Only a very limited number of medical cases, employees of international organizations, and VIPs were allow to transit through the Rafah and Erez crossings. Restrictions on Palestinian movement and access in the West Bank remained tight, with more than 630 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoints and roadblocks dividing the territory into 3 cantons, and Palestinian access to Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley strictly limited. As of 5/15, at least 7,516 Palestinians (including 50 Israeli Arabs and 19 unidentified Arab cross-border infiltrators), 1,090 Israelis (including 348 IDF soldiers and security personnel, 214 settlers, 528 civilians), and 64 foreign nationals (including 2 British suicide bombers) had been killed since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada on 9/28/00. Netanyahu and Obama Face Fundamental Differences As the quarter opened, the newly elected Obama and Netanyahu administrations were fully staffed and briefed, and Obama was ready to move forward with campaign pledges to take early action to revive the peace process. His hope was to meet personally with the main players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to discuss his developing policy initiatives, as well as regional and bilateral issues, before making a major address to the Muslim world on 6/4 in fulfillment of another campaign promise. Late last quarter, he had met with Jordan's King Abdallah, tapping him as his intermediary with the Arab states (see Quarterly Update in JPS 152). Scheduled next were White House meetings with PM Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority (PA) pres. Mahmud Abbas, and Egyptian pres. Husni Mubarak (whose envoys were mediating Palestinian national unity talks, and cease-fire and prisoner release negotiations between Israel and Hamas). Netanyahu was scheduled to visit first, 5/18–19. Since its 3/31/09 inauguration, his government had been engaged in a comprehensive review of Israeli policy, with the intention of issuing its formal government platform timed with the Washington visit (see Quarterly Update in JPS 152). Even while the review was underway, however, Netanyahu had laid out a number of strong base-line positions including: (1) stating that containing the threat from Iran was more important than achieving peace with the Palestinians and Arab states; (2) demanding a halt to Iran's nuclear program and Palestinian recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state as preconditions for resuming final status talks with the Palestinians; (3) refusing to express support for a 2-state solution, preferring an “economic peace” aimed at improving Palestinian quality of life and allowing a greater measure of self-rule, while maintaining ultimate Israeli security control; (4) vowing continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and (5) pledging that a united Jerusalem would remain under sole Israeli control. The Obama administration, meanwhile, had repeatedly expressed (1) “vigorous” support for a 2-state solution and implementation of the 2003 road map plan, including an immediate and complete halt to Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank; and (2) the strong belief that progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace would put added pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, meaning these 2 goals should be pursued in parallel. The U.S. had also strongly urged the Arab states (via King Abdallah) to make gestures to Israel, ideally dropping demands for the Palestinian refugees' right of return and taking preliminary steps toward normalization, to encourage Israel to come to quick final status agreements on all tracks (see Quarterly Update in JPS 152). The strong and conflicting positions of the 2 administrations raised concerns that the Obama-Netanyahu meeting would be tense and could mark the opening of a serious diplomatic dispute. As Netanyahu prepared to depart for Washington, Israeli DM Ehud Barak (5/16) and Pres. Shimon Peres (5/17) gave public assurances that Netanyahu would abide by Israel's previous agreements with the Palestinians, including the 2003 road map—which they each described as calling for “2 peoples living side by side in peace and security.” Peres also stated that progress toward this end would ultimately depend on the outcome of Palestinian national unity talks (i.e., the PA's ability to curb Hamas) and “greater Palestinian efforts to ensure Israel's security.” In fact, the 2003 agreement had not called for 2 peoples but 2 states living side by side. While the U.S. did not publicly challenge Israel's new formulation, the lack of official acknowledgement (much less welcoming) of Israel's “assurances” indicated the administration's awareness of Israel's attempt to reinterpret the road map's goal and its unwillingness to paper over core differences with an ambiguous formulation. Ultimately, Israel did not issue a formal government platform, which allowed Netanyahu a greater margin to avoid public clashes on sensitive issues. The 5/18 talks went forward as planned, with visible policy gaps but no outward tension. Statements issued afterward by Obama and Netanyahu were bland, stressing shared goals of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons (see Iran section below) and pursing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Netanyahu stated that he was ready to reopen talks with the Palestinians “immediately” regarding limited self-rule, provided the Palestinians first recognized Israel as a Jewish state and agreed to “allow Israel the means to defend itself” (i.e., to retain parts of the West Bank as buffer zones). Obama publicly restated support for the creation of a Palestinian state; reiterated outstanding Israeli responsibilities under existing treaties, including stopping settlement expansion and removing restrictions on Palestinian movement and access; called on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza; and said that Arab states had “to be more supportive and be bolder in seeking potential normalization with Israel.” The U.S. and Israel agreed to set up 3 working groups that would meet periodically to discuss progress toward: (1) peace with the Palestinians, (2) normalization with Arabs states, and (3) curbing Iran. Netanyahu went on to hold talks with Secy. of State Hilary Clinton (5/18), Defense Secy. Robert Gates (5/19), and leaders of Congress (5/19) that outwardly seemed unremarkable. Only after Netanyahu returned home did details emerge of the heated nature of the Washington talks (e.g., Washington Post [WP] 5/24, New York Times [NYT] 5/29, Ha'Aretz [HA] 6/11). In the 2-hour closed-door meeting, Obama reportedly pressed Netanyahu to support the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu nuanced his position, stating that Palestinian statehood was still the ultimate goal but far in the future because Palestinian institutions and the Palestinian economy needed to develop, and Palestinian education and discourse needed time to evolve to the point of promoting coexistence. Obama pressed Netanyahu to fulfill 2003 road map obligations to halt settlement construction and remove all unauthorized settlement outposts. Netanyahu agreed to consult with his government on taking steps to remove outposts, but said he must allow expansion of authorized West Bank settlements to accommodate natural growth. He agreed to send DM Barak to Washington on 6/1 with a formal Israeli counterproposal on settlements. Netanyahu aides later revealed (HA 6/11) that the PM was “'stunned' . . . to hear what seemed like a well-coordinated attack against his stand on settlements . . . from congressional leaders, key lawmakers dealing with foreign relations, and even from a group of Jewish members” of Congress, describing their statements against settlement expansion as “harsh and unequivocal.” Historically strongly pro-Israel rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) confirmed (5/23) that he had told Netanyahu that the mood on settlements in Washington had changed, stating that for Obama to secure “a substantive down payment on the normalization of relations with Israel” from the Arab states, Israel would have to address settlements “in a serious manner.” Another congressional aide, speaking anonymously, said Jewish lawmakers had felt “it was their responsibility to make [Netanyahu] very, very aware of the concerns of the administration and Congress.” Adding to Israel's unease, Secy. of State Clinton stated in an interview with al-Jazeera on 5/19, immediately after Netanyahu's departure: “We want to see a stop to settlement construction, additions, natural growth—any kind of settlement activity. That is what the president has called for.” Her statements reportedly (NYT 5/29) surprised Israeli officials who thought Obama would keep the settlement dispute private until Netanyahu consulted with his government. By contrast, Abbas's first meeting with Obama in Washington on 5/28, just when U.S-Israel relations were particularly tense over the settlement issue (see below), was described by U.S. officials privy to the talks as much more amicable. Obama praised the PA's stand against forming a unity government with Hamas until it renounced violence and recognized Israel's right to exist; reiterated strong U.S. support for a 2-state solution as being in the interests of the Palestinians, Israel, and the U.S.; and applauded the PA's “great progress” improving security in coordination with U.S. security envoy Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, though he stressed that Palestinians still had much more to do to meet their requirements of improving security as laid out under the 2003 road map. Afterward, Obama publicly reiterated that Israel must build momentum for peace by halting all settlement activity and alleviating restrictions on Palestinian travel and commerce. Abbas also met with Secy. Clinton and Obama's national security adviser (NSA) Gen. James Jones. Meanwhile, Mubarak cancelled (5/20) his scheduled to visit Washington on 5/26 after the sudden death of his 12-year-old grandson. Since Obama had already announced that he would give his major address to the Muslim world in Cairo (see below), where the two could consult on the sidelines, the cancellation was not seen as a problem.
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
478. Settlement Monitor
- Author:
- Geoffrey Aronson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to Israeli settlement activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Unless otherwise stated, the items have been written by Geoffrey Aronson for this section or drawn from material written by him for Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories (hereinafter Settlement Report), a Washington-based bimonthly newsletter published by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. JPS is grateful to the foundation for permission to draw on its material.
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Middle East, Israel, and Gaza
479. Chronology : 16 May - 15 August 2009
- Author:
- Michele K. Esposito
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section is part of a chronology begun in JPS 13, no. 3 (Spring 1984). Chronology dates reflect Eastern Standard Time (EST). For a more comprehensive overview of events related to the al-Aqsa intifada and of regional and international developments related to the peace process, see the Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy in this issue. 16 MAY As the quarter opens, Israeli-Palestinian cross-border violence in Gaza is moderate and rising, while, in the West Bank, violence remains low. Israel's siege of Gaza, intended to pressure the Hamas government there, enters its 24th month, hampering efforts to maintain basic services and repair infrastructure and other damages fr. Israel's Operation Cast Lead (OCL, 12/27/08–1/18/09; see JPS 151). Israel allows an average of 106 truckloads/day of humanitarian goods and commodities into Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing 6 days/week (far less than the 500 truckloads/day the UN estimates are necessary to meet Gazans' basic needs); limited fodder and seed through the Qarni crossing; and enough fuel through the Nahal Oz crossing to maintain emergency services and run Gaza's electricity plant at 69% capacity, as well as some cooking gas. Only very limited numbers of medical cases, employees of international organizations, and VIPs are allowed to transit through the Rafah and Erez crossings. Restrictions on Palestinian movement and access in the West Bank remain tight, with some 630 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoints and roadblocks dividing the territory into 3 cantons, and strictly limiting Palestinian access to Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. Today, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. (OCHA 5/20; PCHR 5/21) 17 MAY IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on the al-Bura area e. of Bayt Hanun, causing no injuries. (OCHA 5/20; PCHR 5/21) 18 MAY Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu begins a 2-day visit to Washington to discuss the peace process, Iran, bilateral relations, and Middle East regional affairs, holding his 1st mtg. with U.S. pres. Barack Obama at the White House. Obama privately presses for a total Israeli settlement freeze and endorsement of a 2-state solution, with Netanyahu demurring. The leaders emerge showing no signs of tensions, instead stressing shared goals of preventing Iran fr. developing nuclear weapons and achieving peace btwn. Israel and the Palestinians. (HA, IFM, WP, WT 5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/19; NYT, WJW 5/21; WP 5/24; NYT 5/29; JPI 6/4; HA 6/11; see also NYT, WP 5/17) (see Quarterly Update for details) In the West Bank, the IDF makes a rare daytime incursion into al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem, raiding 2 secondary schools while classes are in session, holding the students for several hours while searching for a wanted person; no arrests are made. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-'Arub refugee camp (r.c.) and 3 villages nr. Hebron. (OCHA 5/20; PCHR 5/21) A 5th round of Palestinian national unity talks (5/16–18) ends in Cairo without any progress. (Xinhua–New China News Agency 5/18; NYT 5/20) (see Quarterly Update for details) 19 MAY Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging a house in Sederot but causing no injuries. Late in the evening, IDF warplanes make at least 7 air strikes on Gaza, hitting at least 4 smuggling 196 Journal of Palestine Studies tunnels on the Rafah border (3 Palestinians working in tunnels are reported missing); a workshop in al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, destroying it and heavily damaging a nearby marble factory, causing no casualties; a Hamas outpost nr. the border fence with Israel, causing no reported injuries; and a group of armed Palestinians in al-Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem. (OCHA, WT 5/20; PCHR, WT 5/21) Palestinian Authority (PA) pres. Mahmud Abbas dissolves PA PM Salam Fayyad's government and reappoints it, replacing 8 independent technocrats with Fatah members, none of whom are elected members of the Palestinian Council. (MNA 5/19; NYT, WT 5/20; NYT 5/21) (see Quarterly Update for details) 20 MAY Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, detaining 2 fishermen. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. Bayt Hanun, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. Palestinians report that over the previous wk., the IDF has bulldozed Palestinian land in Abu Dis, Azariyya, and al-Sawahara to expand the Container checkpoint southeast of Jerusalem, which obstructs travel btwn. the n. and s. West Bank; has confiscated 300 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of land southwest of Jenin, giving residents 45 days to evacuate. (PCHR 5/21; OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 21 MAY Israel removes the tiny unauthorized settlement outpost (4 families) of Maoz Ester nr. Ramallah in what is seen by some Israelis (Israel Radio 5/21) as Netanyahu “throwing a bone” to Obama, who urged Netanyahu in their 5/18 mtg. to halt settlement construction. Hrs. later settlers begin to rebuild on the site, which has been evacuated and rebuilt twice before. (Israel Radio News 5/21; NYT, WT 5/22; OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 22 MAY Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Gaza to engage a group of armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nr. the border fence, fatally shooting 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; the deaths bring to 22 the number of Gazans killed by the IDF since the 1/18/09 cease-fire. Later in the day, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine detonates a roadside bomb on the Gaza border fence as an IDF patrol passes, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin (firing live ammunition and stun grenades at homes, injuring a Palestinian woman); fires tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall construction in Bil'in; fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in weekly nonviolent protests against the separation wall in Ni'lin (injuring 10 Palestinians, 2 with live ammunition). Jewish settlers burn 10s of d. of Palestinian crops nr. Yitzhar settlement nr. Nablus, block firefighters fr. reaching the scene. A Jewish settler is found dead nr. Eli settlement btwn. Ramallah and Nablus; the circumstances of his death are unclear. (NYT, WP 5/23; OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 23 MAY Israeli warplanes drop boxes of leaflets across Gaza announcing that the IDF is expanding its self-declared “buffer zone” fr. 150 to 300 meters along most of the Gaza border, making more agricultural land inaccessible; 1 box hits a house, injuring a child. In the West Bank, the IDF shoots, seriously wounds an unarmed Palestinian teenager who strays nr. Shavei Shomron settlement nr. Nablus; patrols in Nur Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Elkana settlement nr. Salfit vandalize a Palestinian home and intimidate the residents. (OCHA, PCHR 5/28; OCHA 6/1) 24 MAY In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Issawiyya outside East Jerusalem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Nablus. (OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 25 MAY In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, neighboring al-'Arub r.c., and Tubas. In Jerusalem, several Jewish settlers attempt to access the al-Aqsa Mosque compound but are blocked by Palestinians; the IDF intervenes, violently beating several Palestinians, arresting 2 Palestinian teenagers, and extracting the settlers. Nr. Hebron, at least 20 Jewish settlers fr. Bet Yatir and Ma'on attack Palestinian shepherds nearby, moderately injuring 4. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar stone Palestinian cars traveling nearby. (OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 26 MAY Israeli naval vessels approach within 500 m of Rafah beach, arrest 2 fishermen on 1 of 12 small boats in the area. The UN reports that in the previous wk. an 8-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Gaza was injured by unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO); 7 Palestinians were killed in tunnel-related incidents (6 in collapses, 1 electrocuted); and unidentified Palestinians fired “several” rockets and mortars into Israel causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in 4 villages nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Balata r.c., in Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem and Hebron. A Jewish settler violently beats a Palestinian woman waiting for a taxi nr. Zatara checkpoint outside Nablus; IDF soldiers manning the checkpoint observe the beating for 15 min. before intervening and ordering the settler to leave the area. (OCHA, PCHR 5/28) 27 MAY Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the Bayt Lahiya coast, detaining 2 boats and arresting 4 fishermen. Overnight, in the West Bank, the IDF removes 2 settler tent outposts nr. Hebron; settlers vow to reoccupy and expand the sites. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Aqabat Jabir r.c. nr. Jericho, Balata r.c., and Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Tubas. (NYT, PCHR, WP 5/28; OCHA, PCHR 6/4) U.S. special envoy George Mitchell meets with Netanyahu's senior advisers in Britain to follow up on the issues discussed in the 5/18 Obama-Netanyahu mtg. The Israelis offer a partial settlement freeze that would allow continued construction to accommodate natural growth, but the U.S. continues to demand a stop to all settlement activity. (NYT 5/28; WP 6/2) (see Quarterly Update for details)
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
480. Bibliography of Periodical Literature : Autumn 2009
- Author:
- Norbert Scholz
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section lists articles and reviews of books relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Entries are classified under the following headings: Reference and General; History (to 1948) and Geography; Palestinian Politics and Society; Jerusalem; Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism; Arab and Middle Eastern Politics; International Relations; Law; Military; Economy, Society, and Education; Literature and Art; Book Reviews; and Reports Received. Reference and General Abu Rakbih, Talal. “Arab Democracy: Controversies and Provisions” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 9–23. Choueiri, Youssef M. “Pensée 2: Theorizing Arab Nationalism.” IJMES 41, no. 1 (Jan. 09): 13–15. Gelvin, James. “'Arab Nationalism': Has a New Framework Emerged?” IJMES 41, no. 1 (Jan. 09): 10–12. Halliday, Fred. “Pensée 3: The Modernity of the Arabs.” IJMES 41, no. 1 (Jan. 09): 16–18. Lawson, Fred H. “Pensée 4: Out with the Old, In with the New.” IJMES 41, no. 1 (Jan. 09): 19–21. Smock, David, and Qamar al-Huda. “Islamic Peacemaking since 9/11” [in Arabic]. MA 32, no. 364 (Jun. 09): 132–45. Zaytuni, Sharif. “Arab Islamic Contemporary Philosophy: Catastrophic Reality and Hopeful Change” [in Arabic]. MA 32, no. 365 (Jul. 09): 68–84. History (through 1948) and Geography Alon, Yoav. “'Heart-Beguiling Araby' on the Frontier of Empire: Early Anglo-Arab Relations in Transjordan.” BRIJMES 36, no. 1 (Apr. 09): 55–72. Al-Alwan, Muna. “The Orient 'Made Oriental': A Study of William Beckford's Vathek.” ASQ 30, no. 4 (Fall 08): 43–52. Anglim, Simon. “Callwell versus Graziani: How the British Army Applied 'Small Wars' Techniques in Major Operations in Africa and the Middle East, 1940–41.” Small Wars and Insurgencies 19, no. 4 (Dec. 08): 588–608. Galnoor, Itzhak. “The Zionist Debates on Partition (1919–1947).” IsS 14, no. 2 (Sum. 09): 74–87. Hillman, Susanne. “Of Snake-catchers and Swamp-drainers: Palestine and the Palestinians in Central European Zionist Discourse, 1891–1914.” HLS 8, no. 1 (May 09): 1–29. Jawhariyyeh, Wasif. “The Ottoman Childhood of Wasif Jawhariyyeh.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 45–56. Lehmann, Matthias B. “Rethinking Sephardi Identity: Jews and Other Jews in Ottoman Palestine.” Jewish Social Studies 15, no. 1 (Fall 08): 81–109. Rosenberg-Friedman, Lilach. “The Nationalization of Motherhood and the Stretching of Its Boundaries: Shelihot Aliyah and Evacuees in Eretz Israel (Palestine) in the 1940s.” Women's History Review 17, no. 5 (Nov. 08): 767–85. Walton, Calder. “British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine: Threats to British National Security Immediately After the Second World War.” Intelligence and National Security 23, no. 4 (Aug. 08): 435–62. Witkon, Yael. “Freud in Zion: History of Psychoanalysis in Jewish Palestine/Israel 1918–1948.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis 89, no. 4 (Aug. 08): 909–12. Palestinian Politics and Society 'Abdallah, Samir, et al. (roundtable). “Toward an Effective Palestinian Agency to Protect Consumers” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 83–100. Abu Daqqa, Muhammad. “Palestinian Representation between the PLO and the Palestinian Authority” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 41–56. Abu Ghosh, Hisham. “Decisions and Unfinished Tasks of the Palestinian Central Council” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 60–68. Abu Malluh, Musa. “The National Palestinian Authority: The Unfulfilled Presidency and its Effect on Legislative and Presidential Elections” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 7 (Win. 09): 27–42. Abu Sitta, Salman. “The Implementation of the Right of Return.” PIJPEC 15–16, nos. 4–1 (08/09): 23–30 Abu Yusef, Wasel. “The Palestinian Cause: Present and Future” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 57–59. Abujidi, Nurhan. “The Palestinian States of Exception and Agamben.” CAA 2, no. 2 (Apr. 09): 272–91. Allen, Lori. “Getting by the Occupation: How Violence Became Normal during the Second Palestinian Intifada.” CA 23, no. 3 (Aug. 08): 453–87. Al-'Awad, Walid. “The Danger of Division to the Palestinian National Project” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 69–72. Badarne, Marie-Olivia. “'Flower by Flower, We Make a Garden': Palestinian Women Organising for Economic Justice.” Gender and Development 16, no. 3 (Nov. 08): 509–21. Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna, and Marcia C. Inborn. “Masculinity and Marginality: Palestinian Men's Struggles with Infertility in Israel and Lebanon.” JMEWS 5, no. 2 (Spr. 09): 23–52. Bishara, Azmi. “In Memory of the Nakba” [in Arabic]. MA 32, no. 364 (Jun. 09): 7–11. Bistolfi, Robert. “Après Gaza: une nouvelle donne.” Confluences en Méditerranée, no. 68 (Win. 08): 185–91. Bjawi-Levine, Laure. “Childrens' Rights Discourse and Identity Ambivalence in Palestinian Refugee Camps.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 75–85. Braverman, Irus. “'The Tree Is the Enemy Soldier': A Sociolegal Making of War Landscapes in the Occupied West Bank.” Law and Society Review 42, no. 3 (Sep. 08): 449–82. Cohen, Samy. “Les assassinats ciblés pendant la seconde Intifada: une arme à double tranchant.” Critique Internationale, no. 42 (Jan.–Mar. 09): 61–80. Crooke, Alastair. “Getting It Wrong: 'Extremism' and 'Moderation' in Islam after Gaza.” RUSI 154, no. 1 (Feb. 09): 30–35. Erekat, Saeb (interview). “The Question of Refugees Is the Essence of the Palestinian Question.” PIJPEC 15–16, nos. 4–1 (08/09): 114–19 Faitelson, Yakov. “The Politics of Palestinian Demography.” MEQ 16, no. 2 (Spr. 09): 51–59. Feldman, Ilana. “Refusing Invisibility: Documentation and Memorialization in Palestinian Refugee Claims.” Journal of Refugee Studies 21, no. 4 (Dec. 08): 498–516. Grey, Mary. “The Palestinian Nakba: Memory, Reality and Beyond.” HLS 8, no. 1 (May 09): 109–12. Habib, Jasmin. “Gender, Nationalism, and Resistance: Nahla Abdo and the Critical Politics of Palestine.” Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies 30, no. 5 (Nov. 08): 437–63. Hercbergs, Dana. “What Palestinian Girls Want: 'Reading' Adolescence in Their Autograph Books.” IJMES 41, no. 2 (May 09): 181–83. Hijazi, Muhammad. “Democracy and Political Islam: The Case of Palestine” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 24–40. Hogan, Elena N. “Notes on the Aftermath: Gaza, Summer 2009.” JPS 38, no. 4 (Sum. 09): 96–107. Jabra, Jabra I. “The First Well: A Bethlehem Boyhood.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 14–26. Johnson, Penny. 'What Rosemary Saw: Reflections on Palestinian Women as Tellers of the Palestinian Present.” JPS 38, no. 4 (Sum. 09): 29–46. Kelly, Tobias. “The Attractions of Accountancy: Living an Ordinary Life during the second Palestinian Intifada.” Ethnography 9, no. 3 (Sep. 08): 351–76. Kuzar, Ron. “The Term Return in the Palestinian Discourse on the Right of Return.” Discourse Society 19, no. 5 (Aug. 08): 629–44. Liel, Alon. “Ten Principles for Solving the Refugee Problem.” PIJPEC 15–16, nos. 4–1 (08/09): 80–82. McCann, Paul. “The Role of UNRWA and the Palestine Refugees.” PIJPEC 15–16, nos. 4–1 (08/09): 83–89 Naffar, Salim. “The Palestine Liberation Organization: Between Legitimacy and Conspiracy” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 7 (Win. 09): 79–83. Nassari, John. “Digitising Palestinian Identity: Technobiographies and the Problems of Representation.” Journal of Media Practise 9, no. 2 (Aug. 08): 113–25. Peteet, Julie. “Cosmopolitanism and the Subversive Space of Protests.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 86–97. Pogrund, Benjamin. “Different Histories, Different Futures.” PIJPEC 15–16, nos. 4–1 (08/09): 90–95. Salah, Muhammad M. (interview). “The Palestinian Cause” [in Arabic]. SA, no. 132 (Spr. 09): 91–106. Sayigh, Rosemary (interview). “Speaking Palestinian: An Interview by Mayssun Soukarieh.” JPS 38, no. 4 (Sum. 09): 12–28. Soueidan, Mamun. “Is the Present Palestinian Crisis Legal or Political?” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 6 (08): 73–82. Taqi, Samir. “Gaza and After” [in Arabic]. SA, no. 132 (Spr. 09): 109–22. JERUSALEM Bali, Hifnawi. “Jerusalem City in the Eyes of Travelers and Foreign Writers” [in Arabic]. al-Ma'rifa 48, no. 549 (Jun. 09): 130–52. Boullata, Issa. “My First School and Childhood Home.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 27–43. Daqqaq, Omar. “Jerusalem in Contemporary Arab Poetry” [in Arabic]. al-Ma'rifa 48, no. 549 (Jun. 09): 31–54. Hammami, Rema, and Rula Halawani. “Lifta: The Cipher of the Landscape—A Photographic Essay.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 98–103. Jacobson, Abigail. “A City Living through Crisis: Jerusalem during World War I.” BRIJMES 36, no. 1 (Apr. 09): 73–92. Jawhariyyeh, Wasif. “The Ottoman Childhood of Wasif Jawhariyyeh.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 45–56. Khalidi, Asem. “The Mamilla Cemetery: A Buried History.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 104–9. Shahid, Serene H. “A Jerusalem Childhood: The Early Life of Serene Husseini.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 5–13. Shukair, Mahmoud. “Childhood Memories of Jerusalem and Ramallah.” JQ, no. 37 (Spr. 09): 57–74.
481. Sixty Years after the UN Partition Resolution: What Future for the Arab Economy in Israel?
- Author:
- Raja Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite the expectations of economic theory, a century of Arab-Jewish economic interaction in Palestine has not led to the convergence that is supposed to result from exchange between a capital-rich economy and a labor-intensive one. After 60 years of failed integration, the Arab population in Israel has fallen to the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. With the Palestinian "regional economies" in Israel and the occupied territories operating as part of the same Israeli economic regime, the challenge for Palestinian economic policy makers is to build on the new paradigm in shaping a national development strategy aimed at reconstructing Arab-Jewish economic relations on the principles of balanced cooperation embodied in the Economic Annex of the 1947 UN partition resolution. RAJA KHALIDI is an economist with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, Geneva). The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the United Nations Secretariat.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, Israel, and Palestine
482. Anatomy of the 1936–39 Revolt: Images of the Body in Political Cartoons of Mandatory Palestine
- Author:
- Sandy Sufian
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This article analyzes body images in political cartoons during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt. By deciphering the visual messages in the political cartoons of two newspapers--the Arabic Filastin and the Hebrew Davar-the article examines how body representations portray stereotypes of rivals and reveal assumptions about and relations between conflicting parties. Visual imagery maintained its impact by illustrating nationalist attitudes, critiques, and goals. In addition to being referents to a period not well documented in images, cartoons are also potent historical sources for reconstructing a sociopolitical history of Palestine. SANDY SUFIAN is an assistant professor of medical humanities and history at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
483. Crossroads and Contexts: Interviews on Archaeology in Gaza
- Author:
- Fareed Armaly, Marc-André Haldimann, Jawdat Khoudary, Jean-Baptiste Humbert, and Moain Sadeq
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- When the average newspaper reader thinks of Gaza, the images that come to mind are often of turmoil, violence, closure, poverty, and despair. There is another face of Gaza, however, that is seldom evoked—one that bespeaks an ancient heritage, archaeological wealth, openness to the world, and a determination to preserve the past. This is the face of Gaza put forward in a major archaeological exhibition entitled “Gaza—at the Crossroads of Civilizations,” recently held at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in the City of Geneva. Though largely uncovered by the international press (except by the Francophone media), the exhibition nonetheless has an importance well beyond its five-month run, because it represents only the first part of a unique, long-term project that could make a real difference for Gaza's future
- Political Geography:
- Geneva and Gaza
484. Norton: Hezbullah: A Short History
- Author:
- Rula Abisaab
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Hezbullah comes out of Augustus Richard Norton's long interest and pioneering accounts of the Shi`a of Lebanon, his many research trips to Lebanon, and his close contacts with Shi`i intellectuals and political figures. The book is a dynamic and multifaceted account of one of the most important parties in the modern Middle East—namely, Hizballah. The book examines Shi`i political history since the independence of Lebanon in 1943. Alienated by the Maronite-Sunni coalition that dominated the first Lebanese republic founded in 1943, many Shi`a turned to nationalist and leftist parties to effect a more equitable political system. Norton argues that it was not until the advent of Sayyid Musa al-Sadr that a sectarian identity started to emerge among the Shi`a. Norton, however, describes al-Sadr as “hardly a man of war” (p. 21), even though he had created the Shi`i resistance group Amal in 1975 as an armed militia and raised banners with slogans that glorified armed resistance such as “al-silah zinat al-rijal” (“arms are the ornament of men”).
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Lebanon
485. Dumper: The Future for Palestinian Refugees: Toward Equity and Peace
- Author:
- Rosemary Sayigh
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- It has become a truism that the situation of the Palestinian refugees displaced during the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 constitutes one of the most difficult issues needing to be resolved if there is to be a lasting Israeli- Palestinian peace agreement. Another truism, one that has long held sway among politicians and academics alike, is that the Palestinian refugee problem represents a unique case. While it bears certain similarities to other refugee exoduses, the argument goes, the Palestinian case is so specific that it defies attempts to understand it in reference to other massive refugee exoduses brought about by war.
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Palestine, and Arabia
486. Dabashi: Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema
- Author:
- Haim Bresheeth
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Dreams of a Nation combines nine authors and a lecture by Edward Said into the first anthology devoted to Palestinian cinema. As such, this is a most welcome publication on one of the world's smallest and (until recently) little-known national cinemas. That Palestinian cinema is without exception produced under conditions of brutal Israeli military occupation makes its significant achievements all the more impressive and certainly worth the volume at hand.
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Palestine
487. From the Editor
- Author:
- Rashid I. Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Once again, Gaza dominates the news coming out of Palestine, where the aftershocks of Hamas's 2007 takeover continue to reverberate. With Hamas insisting on launching its rockets from the Strip, Israel's response has been predictable but brutal: almost daily armed incursions and one major operation. Of the more than 130 Palestinians killed this quarter (against four Israelis), the vast majority were Gazans, including many civilians. Meanwhile, the impact of the tightening siege and closure—the subject of growing international humanitarian concern—is taking its toll, slowly but surely driving the population to the breaking point. The centerpiece of the current JPS is also Gaza, but from a very different vantage point: Gaza's archeological wealth, and more particularly an unprecedentedly ambitious multi-stage archeological project launched with European and UNESCO backing. Astonishingly, few people in the United States—or for that matter the West Bank, underscoring the extent of separation between the two territories—have even heard of the project, despite the fact that it was inaugurated with a major exhibition showcasing Gaza's rich archaeological heritage that just closed at Geneva's Museum of Art and Archaeology. Thanks to Fareed Armaly, the exhibition's guest artist, JPS is the first to run his four fascinating interviews with the project's leading players. As Armaly himself notes, the importance of the interviews goes beyond Gaza, for they raise controversial issues confronting archaeology everywhere in the third world: development needs versus preserving the past, private interests versus public patrimony, methods of archaeological extraction, the role of poverty, pressures of urbanization, and so on. Also in this issue is an article addressing the economic dilemmas of a key segment of the Palestinian people: the 1.2 million who remain in Israel as citizens of the state. Economist Raja Khalidi, surveying the community after 60 years of failed integration, demonstrates how the Palestinian economies in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza are all part of a single Israeli-dominated economic regime. Starting from this position, he calls for a new economic paradigm capable of charting a course for Palestinian development based on restructuring relations between the two unequal economies along lines laid out in the economic annex to the 1947 partition plan. The issue also includes a review essay on Israel's other main disadvantaged (though far less so) community—the Mizrahim, or Jews of Middle Eastern origin—by Moshe Behar. Turning to less current subjects, anthropologist Sandy Sufian takes an unusual approach to history in her article analyzing political cartoons in Arabic and Hebrew newspapers during the great Palestinian Revolt of 1936–39 to show the use of body images to convey stereotypes of the adversary. Finally, returning to the archeological theme from a historical perspective, JPS is reprinting as a special document an article that appeared in Ha'Aretz on the destruction in 1948 by the Israeli army of sites important to Palestine's archaeology and history. These are casualties of war that often go overlooked.
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, United States, Europe, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
488. FROM THE EDITOR
- Author:
- Rashid I. Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- 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. Sixty years after the Nakba, the political and physical fragmentation of what is left of Arab Palestine continues apace. The Palestinian national movement, meanwhile, is in tatters. The West Bank under the Palestinian Authority and Gaza under Hamas are totally cut off from one another. Gaza is under a draconian siege, facing a humanitarian disaster. With the PA leadership increasingly discredited by its cooperation with Israel, and internal Hamas leaders weakened by popular disapproval of their Gaza takeover, the need for reconciliation between the two has become urgent. Against this background, Hamas politbureau chief Khalid Mishal looms larger on the international stage. Mishal's extended interview with JPS, part I of which appears in the current issue, is thus particularly timely. While most interviews with the Hamas leader focus on the current situation, JPS has taken a longer view, foregrounding in particular his political formation, the influences that shaped him, and the founding of Hamas. The issue also contains the second installment of JPS's new Congressional Monitor, cataloguing all the initiatives pertaining to Israel and Palestine in the first session of the 110th U.S. Congress (January 2007 to January 2008). Once again, the cumulative impact of the initiatives is sobering, with little expected to change in the future. Finally, for the record, a special document file contains the main documents associated with the Annapolis Conference of November 2007.
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Palestine, Jerusalem, and Gaza
489. ARTICLE: The End of Arab Tiberias: The Arabs of Tiberias and the Battle for the City in 1948
- Author:
- Mustafa Abbasi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Tiberias was unique among Palestinian mixed cities for its unusually harmonious Arab-Jewish relations, even during periods of extreme tension like the 1936-39 Arab Revolt. Yet within hours of a brief battle in mid-April 1948, the town's entire Arab population was removed, mostly across the Transjordanian border, making Tiberias a wholly Jewish town overnight. In exploring how this took place, this article focuses on the Arab community's rigid social structure; the leadership's policy of safeguarding intercommunal relations at all costs, heightening local unpreparedness and isolating the town from the rest of Arab Palestine; the growing involvement of the local Jewish community with the Haganah's plans; and the British authorities' virtual abdication of responsibility as they began withdrawing their troops in the last month of the Mandate and as Plan Dalet was launched, engulfing the country in all-out war.
- Topic:
- Civil Society and War
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arabia
490. SPECIAL FEATURE: The Fall of Haifa Revisited
- Author:
- Walid Khalidi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Almost fifty years ago, Walid Khalidi published "The Fall of Haifa" in the December 1959 issue of the now-defunct Middle East Forum. On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the fall of Haifa on 22 April 1948, a major landmark in the Palestine war, JPS is republishing the article, long unavailable, to which Professor Khalidi has added endnotes and an introduction.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
491. INTERVIEW (PART I): Khalid Mishal: The Making of a Palestinian Islamic Leader
- Author:
- Mouin Rabbani
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Khalid Mishal (Abu Walid), a founder of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the head of its politbureau since 1996, has been the recognized head of the movement since the assassination of Shaykh Ahmad Yasin in spring 2004. Despite his considerable influence within the organization, at least dating back to the early 1990s, Mishal did not attract attention in the West until he survived Israel's botched assassination attempt in Amman in September 1997, which made headlines when King Hussein (with possible help from U.S. President Bill Clinton) compelled Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to provide the antidote to the poison with which he had been injected in broad daylight by Mossad agents disguised as Canadian tourists. Mishal's prominence has only increased following the Hamas victory in the January 2006 legislative elections in the occupied territories. Despite the U.S.-led campaign to isolate the Islamist movement internationally, Mishal has functioned as the main interlocutor with regional and international actors seeking direct or informal contact with the organization, as well as with the international media.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Israel
492. Enclave Micropolis: The Paradoxical Case of Ramallah/al-Bireh
- Author:
- Lisa Taraki
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Among the consequences of the consolidation of the Israeli closure regime have been the contraction of Palestinians' social worlds and the emergence of new forms of localism. Unlike the more parochial West Bank towns of Nablus, Hebron, and Jenin, Ramallah/al-Bireh has taken on many of the cosmopolitan aspects of larger metropoles-Beirut, Cairo, Tunis-because of a combination of historical influences, present-day migration patterns, and political realities. The result is a paradoxical "enclave city" whose sights are oftentimes more fixed on the global rather than the national level.
- Topic:
- Migration
- Political Geography:
- Cairo
493. Palestinian Weddings: Inventing Palestine in New Jersey
- Author:
- Randa Serhan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- As the political situation of the Palestinians has changed, so too have the customs and practices of Palestinians in the Diaspora. Using Eric Hobsbawm's concept of "invented tradition" as a point of departure, this article explores the origins, functions, and implications of some of the elements-including dance, song, and costume-of Palestinian-American wedding celebrations in the New York/New Jersey/ Pennsylvania area, which since the first intifada have evolved into occasions for celebrating nationalist as well as communal identity.
- Political Geography:
- New York, America, Palestine, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
494. Secrets and Lies: The Persecution of Muhammad Salah (Part I)
- Author:
- Michael E. Deutsch and Erica Thompson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The case of Muhammad Salah, a Palestinian-American grocer and Chicago resident, is the longest-running terrorism case in the United States. He was brought to trial on terrorism-funding charges in October 2006 after a thirteen-year saga that began with his January 1993 arrest in Israel as the "world commander of Hamas" and that continued in the United States following his release from Israeli prison in late 1997. Though acquitted of all terrorism-related charges by a U.S. federal jury in Chicago in February 2007, Salah was convicted on a single count of obstruction of justice. In this exclusive report for JPS, Salah's lawyers recount the unfolding of this landmark and labyrinthine case, analyzing its legal underpinnings and implications. His prosecution served to advance new standards governing the admissibility of coerced confessions at trial and the use of secret evidence, while at the same time establishing new procedures for preventing the cross-examination of key witnesses and closing the courtroom to the press and public during crucial testimony. Even before his U.S. trial, his taped confession extracted under Shin Bet torture served as the linchpin of the U.S. government's investigation and prosecution of persons it suspected of providing material support for Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. More broadly, the years covered by the case show the erosion of the rule of law in the United States, as well as the melding of the discourses, strategies, tactics, and aims of U.S. and Israeli law enforcement and intelligence bodies long before the post-9/11 launch of the "global war on terror." Part I of this two-part account lays the ground for the 2006-7 Chicago trial, covering the period of Salah's arrest, interrogation, and imprisonment in Israel and the investigations and legal proceedings against him upon his return. Part II will focus on the crafting of the case by the Justice Department under Pres. George W. Bush and the trial itself.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Israel, and Chicago
495. A Hamas Perspective on the Movement's Evolving Role: An Interview with Khalid Mishal, Part II
- Author:
- Mouin Rabbani
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- In this second installment of his interview for JPS, Khalid Mishal, Hamas politburo chief since 1996 and head of the movement since the assassination of Shaykh Ahmad Yasin in 2004, continues his discussion of Hamas's evolution and strategy. Whereas the focus of part I was Mishal's personal background, political formation, and the founding of the movement, here Hamas's more recent history is foregrounded. From the unfolding conflict and troubled relations with Fatah since the mid-1990s, Mishal recounts the thinking behind the decision formally to integrate into the Palestinian political system born of Oslo by participating the 2006 legislative elections and joining the Palestinian Authority government. He also delves into the ongoing repercussions of these decisions, including the splits within the Palestinian movement culminating in Hamas's seizure of power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. In the course of the more than three-hour interview, Mishal's straightforward manner is on display, as well as his willingness to be challenged on matters as sensitive as Hamas's suicide bombings and the targeting of Israeli civilians, the utility of armed resistance, and the morality of the struggle. Two themes underlying the interview were Mishal's preoccupation with the need to repair the intra-Palestinian split ("our greatest priority") and the devastating impact of the ongoing siege of the Gaza. Since our interview in early March 2008, two potentially significant developments with relevance to these concerns have taken place. On the internal Palestinian front, Mishal repeatedly emphasized the need for intra-Palestinian dialogue without preconditions, with all subjects on the table including controversial topics like early elections. A first step toward reconciliation was made on 24 March 2008, when Hamas and Fatah representatives signed the "Sana'a Declaration," negotiated in the Yemeni capital, which outlined points of consensus on various domestic issues including security and political institutions. Though the declaration quickly ran aground, with Fatah demanding that Hamas immediately cede control of Gaza before implementation of other aspects would be discussed, by June 2008, Hamas and Fatah were once again considering national unity talks on the basis of the Yemeni initiative. As for alleviating the extreme external pressures on the Hamas-led Gaza Strip, indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel mediated by Egypt produced a bilateral cease-fire that went into effect on 18 June. Though initially confined to Gaza, the understandings also call for a gradual reversal of the siege as well as renewed negotiations on a prisoner exchange, including the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Hovering over both Hamas-Israel and Hamas-Fatah relations is Washington, which remains opposed to any deals through which the Palestinian Islamists can emerge from their enforced isolation. Yet whatever the ultimate success of either development, the reality is that Mishal and Hamas are increasingly central players in the intra-Palestinian, Israeli-Palestinian, and broader regional equations. Indeed, itwas Mishal, not Abbas, whose movement reached an agreement with Israel before the expiration of the Bush administration.
- Topic:
- Security and Government
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Egypt
496. Review: Sa'di and Abu-Lughod: Nakba, 1948, and the Claims of Memory
- Author:
- Saleh Abdel Jawad
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The work of memory in all its forms-historical essays, personal reminiscences, legal testimonies, imaginative recreation-is not only difficult but inherently contradictory. On the one hand, memory posits "something real outside the person's subjectivities to be . . . re-called." Simultaneously, memory work requires a narrator equipped with the interpretive filters of gender, age, generation, political intentions, and so on, through whom the objective, exogenous "facticity" (as Lena Jayyusi calls it) is to be known. The work of memory, then, must address itself not only to questions of what happened, but to questions of how we know things, whose voices we have heard, and where the silences are located.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine
497. Review: Falk and Friel: Israel Palestine on Record and Dunsky: Pens and Swords
- Author:
- Cheryl Rubenberg
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East and Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict are two tour-de-force works devoted to an analysis of the U.S. media as it reports on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both present devastating critiques of the media in its pro-Israel bias, and both are extensively documented, reflecting analytical scholarship in the finest tradition.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
498. Review: Khalifeh: The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant
- Author:
- Hala Halim
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- In awarding Sahar Khalifeh's Sura wa ayquna wa 'ahdun qadim (2002) the American University in Cairo's 2006 Naguib Mahfouz Medal, the jury aptly lauded this "narrative of loss par excellence . . . [as] simultaneously historiciz[ing] for the current Palestinian struggle while summoning a whole array of the symbolic." From its very title, The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant divulges its biblical symbolism, which will be made to bear here further layers of political allusion. Ostensibly the story of a doomed love and the desperate pursuit of its traces decades later, this is a novel of "national allegory," as in Fredric Jameson's formulation.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, Palestine, and Jerusalem
499. Review: Masalha: The Bible and Zionism
- Author:
- Marc Chmiel
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Israel-Palestine, by Nur Masalha. New York and London: Zed Books, 2007. 321 pages. Notes to p. 335. Bibliography to p. 354. Index to p. 366. $126.00 cloth; $36.00 paper.
- Political Geography:
- New York, Israel, London, and Palestine
500. Review: Parsons: The Politics of the Palestinian Authority
- Author:
- Jamil Hilal
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- The Politics of the Palestinian Authority: From Oslo to al-Aqsa, by Nigel Parsons. New York and London: Routledge, 2005. xxx + 319 pages. Appendices to p. 341. Notes to p. 394. Bibliography to p. 411. Index to p. 429. $95.00 cloth.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine