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Begin New Search Political Geography Israel Journal Journal of Palestine Studies

161. The Israeli-Palestinian Union: The "1-2-7 States" Vision of the Future

Author:
Lev Grinberg
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
IMAGINATION IS A NECESSARY but insufficient precondition for political change. Equally crucial are the political capacity to negotiate and compromise, a relatively even balance of power, and the authority (and popular support) to implement agreements. In addition to a lack of any shared vision, all these elements were absent in the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" of 1993- 2000. Two charismatic leaders allegedly committed to the two-state solution, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat, failed to agree on borders, postponed negotiations, and neglected to take steps to start decolonization. Their failure, compounded by subsequent developments on the ground, critically jeopardized the two-state solution's future chances of success. The one-state scenario on the other hand has not even reached the table. In light of the obstacles in the way of these two most commonly mentioned solutions, this essay suggests an alternative vision of how to contain the conflict in the absence of reaching a "solution".
Topic:
Democratization, Post Colonialism, and International Security
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

162. Monterescu and Rabinowitz: Mixed Towns, Trapped Communities: Historical Narratives, Spatial Dynamics, Gender Relations and Cultural Encounters in Palestinian-Israeli Towns

Author:
Elizabeth Faier
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This edited collection of essays examines how processes of modernity and nationalism intersect in the production and shaping of urban spaces. By focusing on "mixed towns" in Israel/Palestine, the authors illuminate the varied ways in which individuals and groups articulate identity, conflict, collective memory, nationalism, and daily life. Unlike much literature on the Middle East that favors homeland/Holy Land dichotomies or other static models, this volume eschews such tidy frameworks and instead reveals what the editors describe as "a fascinating array of contradictions, overlaps, collusions, protrusions" (p. 2) that characterize interpersonal and structural interactions between Jewish and Palestinian urbanites in both historical and contemporary contexts. Strikingly, the chapters demonstrate how the realization of one set of national goals comes directly in the face of "the other," often involving processes of erasure that rewrite the city. As editors Daniel Monterescu and Dan Rabinowitz argue, the "competition over space, including urban space, was part and parcel of reality from the initial stages of the bifurcated national effort".
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

163. Schanzer: Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine

Author:
Khaled Hroub
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine belongs to that genre of sensational and populist journalism that eschews objective analysis and has no use for academic rigor. Packaging prejudice and hatred against Palestinians under the guise of academic work, Jonathan Schanzer, a director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center and counterterrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of Treasury, aims to build an anti-Palestinian polemic whose vulgarity would stun many readers, including many mainstream Israelis. Anti-Palestinianism infests the book from cover to cover as the author recycles every tired Zionist misconception about the Palestinians in a new disguise: the Hamas-Fatah rivalry. Thus, we read that the PLO and its factions "became the preeminent model for terrorism in the modern era" and that "violence in the name of Palestinian nationalism has led to death and destruction in nearly every territory that the Palestinians have inhabited" (p. 8). All military activities against Israel and its armed forces are naturally labeled "terrorist attacks," but Israeli atrocities, say, against the unarmed village of Samu' in November 1966, in which "more than 70 people" (p. 18) were killed, is not.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

164. Isaksen: Literature and War: Conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Writers

Author:
Lital Levy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
In the vast sea of literature on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rarely do we find literature on literature itself. Major Israeli writers such as David Grossman and AmosOz are well known in the West. But aside from the late poet Mahmud Darwish, even many Middle East scholars would be hard-pressed to name a Palestinian writer. What is the role of literature in the conflict? Could literature serve as a "cultural backdoor" to a deeper understanding of the "other" and the conflict? Could it even serve as an avenue for reconciliation? Runo Isaksen's Literature and War: Conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Writers attempts to answer these questions by means of interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian authors. This is a book of many, perhaps too many, stated goals, which nonetheless provides an important perspective on both the possibilities and limits of literature as a tool of conflict resolution.
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

165. Arab Views (cartoons from al-Hayat)

Publication Date:
12-2010
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, Palestine, and Arabia

166. Selections from the Press

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This section includes articles and news items, mainly from Israeli but also from international press sources, that provide insightful or illuminating perspectives on events, developments, or trends in Israel and the occupied territories not readily available in the mainstream U.S. media.
Political Geography:
Israel

167. Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy

Author:
Sasha Heroy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Quarterly Update is a summary of bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international events affecting the Palestinians and the future of the peace process. More than 100 print, wire, television, and online sources providing U.S., Israeli, Arab, and international independent and government coverage of unfolding events are surveyed to compile the Quarterly Update. The most relevant sources are cited in JPS's Chronology section, which tracks events day by day.
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Arabia

168. Settlement Monitor

Author:
Geoffrey Aronson
Publication Date:
12-2010
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:
Israel

169. A1. The Geneva Initiative, Security Annex to the Geneva Accord, Geneva, 15 September 2009 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
On 15 September 2009, the private Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative known as the Geneva Initiative published 13 detailed annexes to the Geneva Accord, the draft framework for a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians unveiled in 2003. The Geneva Initiative was launched by former Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin and then Palestinian Authority (PA) minister Yasir Abid Rabbuh in their private capacities in 2001. The original accord, while immediately rejected by then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, was met with considerable international backing, but never formed the basis of any official negotiations.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Geneva, Israel, and Palestine

170. A3. Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), "Employment and Workers Rights in Israel and the West Bank," Paris, 21-23 October 2009 (excerpts)

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The OECD opened membership discussions with Israel in May 2007, and in November of that year approved a road map for accession involving a process of review by a number of OECD committees, including the Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee for which this report was written. While Israels admission, which ultimately requires the approval of all member states, is expected to be voted on in May 2010, OECD ofcials never committed to an ofcial deadline.The three main areas in which Israel's candidacy have been considered problematic are bribery of foreign officials, intellectual property rights, and Israel's definition of its territory, which includes occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Political Geography:
Israel and Jerusalem