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131. A Balance of Fear: Asymmetric Threats and Tit-for-Tat Strategies in Gaza

Author:
Margret Johannsen
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This article looks at the use of ultra-short-range rockets by Palestinian militant factions in the Gaza Strip as part of the overall dynamic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and as a tool employed within internal Palestinian rivalries. Against the background of the gross military asymmetry between the parties to the conflict, it assesses the strategic utility of the rockets, including their psychological value as an “equalizer” to Israeli attacks. The article scrutinizes Israel's options to counter the rocket threat and identifies steps toward containing violence in Gaza. While bearing in mind that several Palestinian militant groups are involved in the production, acquisition, and firing of rockets, this article focuses on Hamas because, due to its leadership role in the Gaza Strip, a solution for the rocket issue will not be found without factoring in and providing a role for the Islamic organization.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

132. Letter from the UN: The Palestinian Bid for Membership

Author:
Graham Usher
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Palestinian Authority's application to become a full member state at the United Nations represents the latest stage in its “alternative peace strategy” born of the collapse of the U.S.-sponsored Oslo peace process. But—argues the author—the new strategy remains overly dependent on diplomacy and uncertain Palestinian allies like the European Union. If it is to achieve a balance of power for future negotiations more favorable to the Palestinians, however, it will need to be anchored in a greater national consensus at home and in the diaspora, and allied more closely to the emerging democratic forces in the region.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Palestine, and Oslo

133. Reflections on the Meaning of Palestine

Author:
Alain Gresh
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This essay addresses the Palestine question within a European context. After reflecting on why Palestine has been widely embraced as a “universal cause,” the author explores its relationship to the “Jewish question” in the changed context following World War II: Whereas prior to the war it was the Jews who were perceived as a threat to European civilization, today it is the Muslim immigrants who have the scapegoat role. Also discussed are philosemitism (and its manifestations in the West) and anti-Semitism (as it relates to the Arab world), and how these phenomena have been impacted by the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The essay concludes with “utopian musings” on possibilities for a future Palestinian-Israeli peace.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Uganda, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

134. The Goldstone Report without Goldstone

Author:
Richard Falk
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict, edited by Adam Horowitz, Lizzy Ratner, and Philip Weiss. New York: Nation Books, 2011. vii + 426 pages. Index to p. 449. $18.95 paper FINALLY, the reading public has been provided with an edited text that makes possible a comprehensive understanding of the Goldstone Report (GR)—the investigation commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) into war crimes allegations arising from the Gaza war (2008–09)— and the controversy that followed its release. Given the near certainty that no further official action will result from the report, without such a book the GR could well be removed to the vast graveyard of excellent UN reports prepared at great expense and effort, but which rarely see the light of day unless one is prepared to embark on a digital journey of frustration and discovery to track down the text and its necessary context online. Yet the GR, however discredited thanks to the tireless efforts of Israel and the United States, is a milestone in a number of ways, not least because its authoritative demonstration of the lawlessness of Israel's behavior in these attacks helps us understand why, at this stage of the conflict, the Palestinian struggle needs to rely on non-violent soft power coercion, as by way of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. The present volume, edited by Adam Horowitz, Lizzy Ratner, and Philip Weiss, offers not only substantial excerpts of the main body of the report, but also eleven solicited essays by expert commentators holding a range of views as well as an illuminating timeline of relevant events. All in all, the editors of The Goldstone Report have made an exemplary contribution to the ideal of an informed citizenship so crucial to the responsible functioning of a democratic society.
Topic:
Human Rights and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, New York, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

135. Hallowed Heritage

Author:
Musa Budeiri
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Rise and Fall of Arab Jerusalem: Palestinian Politics and the City since 1967 , by Hillel Cohen. New York and London: Routledge, 2011. vii + 136 pages. Notes to p. 148. Sources and Bibliography to p. 152. Index to p. 162. $124.00 cloth, $45.95 paper. Reviewed by Musa Budeiri In addition to a heavenly Jerusalem, there is an earthly one, also invented, yet very much a work in progress. Jerusalem and Jerusalemites are not one and the same thing. Israeli control of the city's physical space and its inhabitants serves only to highlight this distinction. As in other settler enterprises, the native population is of interest only as an obstacle to be overcome. In this particular case, its disappearance constitutes an essential part of Israel's imagined Jerusalem. This is the terrain of Hillel Cohen's text. His primary preoccupation is with attacks on Israeli sovereignty manifested in Hamas's attempt to establish a “balance of terror,” challenging as it does the legitimacy of Israel's annexation of the Arab part of the city conquered in June 1967. On 28 June 1967, Israeli law was extended to a new enclave carved out of the occupied West Bank, which became part of “municipal Jerusalem.” Settlements were built encircling it from east, north, and south; now that this has been accomplished, the establishment of Jewish enclaves within its historically Arab neighborhoods is on the agenda, primarily in Silwan, Ras al-Amud, al-Tur and Shaykh Jarrah.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and Jerusalem

136. Apartheid Alliance

Author:
Aslam Farouk-Alli
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa , by Sasha Polakow-Suransky. New York: Pantheon Books, 2010. ix + 242 pages. Acknowledgements to p. 245. Notes to p. 294. Bibliography to p. 307. Index to p. 324. $27.95 cloth. Reviewed by Aslam Farouk-Alli The sense of tragedy looms heavily through the book's prologue as the star-crossed protagonists are drawn together by cruel circumstance. Prior to 1967, Israel was the darling of the international Left, and its leaders vocally opposed apartheid and built alliances with newly independent African nations. South Africa, on the other hand, was in the clasp of Nazi-sympathizing Afrikaner nationalists ... and never the twain shall meet. However, after occupying Palestinian territories in 1967, Israel found itself estranged from former allies and threatened anew by old enemies. As both countries now found themselves outcast as international pariahs, their covert military relationship began to blossom... this is the central narrative that runs throughout the book and therefore deserves critical reflection.
Political Geography:
New York, Israel, South Africa, and Palestine

137. Shadow Authority

Author:
Steve Niva
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory, and Power by Elia Zureik; David Lyon; Yasmeen Abu-Laban DOI: 10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.115
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

138. America Abroad

Author:
Cheryl Rubenberg
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
America's Misadventures in the Middle East by Chas W. Freeman Jr. Charlottesville, VA: Just World Books, 2010. 221 pages + 3 maps. Glossary to p. 239. $22.95 paper. Reviewed by Cheryl Rubenberg Freeman defines the national interest in terms of four broad categories with subinterests. These broad categories include: (1) access to reliable sources of energy for the United States, and, more important, for the entire global community, which includes “burden sharing,” rather than unilateral U.S. management of the security and exports of the region; (2) securing the State of Israel, “given the prestige we have committed to it,” by achieving acceptance for it in the region, which includes the brokering of mutually respectful arrangements for stable borders between Israel and the Palestinians, peaceful coexistence between Israel and its neighboring states, and Israel's political, economic, and cultural integration into the region (p. 100); (3) unfettered access to the military, commercial, cultural, and religious institutions of the region, involving, among other things, untrammeled and nondiscriminatory access to the holy places in Jerusalem for all Jews, Muslims, and Christians; and (4) the containment of problems that arise in the Middle East in order to maintain stability, involving careful attention to dialogue among faiths, the enlistment of religious authorities in the cause of reasoned compromise, and seeking allies among these authorities who could discredit extremism among their coreligionists (pp. 97–103).
Political Geography:
United States, America, Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

139. Lebanon's Camps

Author:
Laleh Khalili
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Palestinians in Lebanon: Refugees Living with Long-Term Displacement by Rebecca Roberts DOI: 10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.118
Political Geography:
Palestine and Lebanon

140. Maintaining Legacy

Author:
Jean Fisher
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage by Widad Kamel Kawar Review DOI: 10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.119
Political Geography:
Palestine