Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Palestine

491. Grondahl: Gaza Graffiti: Messages of Love and Politics

Author:
Toufic Haddad
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
Swedish photojournalist Mia Gröndahl complements her thirty-year history of documenting the Palestinian experience in this beautiful, illustrated book exploring the rich and colorful world of Gaza's graffiti. But this work is more than just a collection of images suitable as a gift for urban art aficionados. It equally provides insightful commentary on Gaza's graffiti culture and the society that produced it, demonstrating the acumen of a veteran investigative journalist. Images and commentary combine to guide readers into a world they would otherwise have little exposure to, allowing them to assess Gaza's graffiti both as free-standing works of art and as objects of propaganda.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

492. Transforming the Quartet principles: Hamas and the Peace Process

Author:
Carolin Goerzig
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Despite the clear necessity of an inclusive approach that involves all relevant actors, the Middle East Quartet (comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia) has made political and financial cooperation with the Palestinian Authority dependent on the recognition of the three Quartet principles — the recognition of Israel, the renunciation of violence and adherence to previous diplomatic agreements — in exchange for the recognition of a Palestinian government. But instead of compelling Hamas to consider compliance, the Quartet principles have in fact led the group to become more entrenched in its defiant stance. There is a fundamental problem with the three Quartet conditions. While decision-makers proclaim that the three principles come as a package and are inseparable, it is precisely the fact that they are so interlocked and that Hamas is required to comply with them simultaneously that makes compliance problematic. This is the case because the three principles are mutually constraining to such an extent that complying with one principle effectively prevents Hamas from complying with another. Originally, the three Quartet principles were intended as a basis or a framework for a potential peace process. They define the conditions a negotiating partner has to fulfil in order to take part in Middle East peace talks. In reality, however, they have acted as an impediment. This paper seeks to find a way of overcoming the constraints that the EU has imposed upon itself by insisting on simultaneous adherence to the three Quartet principles. It looks at what room for manoeuvre there remains for the EU within the framework of the Quartet conditions and at how they can be modified in such a way that they facilitate rather than obstruct compliance.
Topic:
Political Violence, Islam, Politics, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and United Nations

493. The Battle of Tannenberg in 1410: Strategic Interests and Tactical Implementation

Author:
LTC (GS) Dr. Martin Hofbauer
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The Teutonic Order dates back to the time of the Third Crusade (1189-1192). Around 1190, during the siege of Acre in the Holy Land an order of nurses was founded. This order was converted in 1198 into an order of knights, the so-called Teutonic Order. It was confirmed a year later by Pope Innocent III. The Order acquired its first properties in Palestine, Armenia and Cyprus, and from 1200 on also in Germany. Eventually it spread over large parts of Europe. The competition with older orders of knights in the Kingdom of Jerusalem as well as the failed crusades prompted the order to look for a new field of activity.
Political Geography:
Europe, Lithuania, Palestine, Germany, Armenia, and Cyprus

494. The "new" Turkish foreign policy and its implications for Norwegian peacebuilding

Author:
Jean-Paul Marthoz
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This paper is based on interviews with diplomats, experts and political analysts and provides an overview of Turkey's foreign policy, particularly in relation to peacebuilding. In the past year, Turkey has moved to the centre stage on the international scene. After making the headlines with its joint mediation initiative with Brazil on Iran's nuclear issue, in May Ankara clashed with Israel over the storming of the Gaza-bound “humanitarian flotilla”. Suddenly all eyes were on a country situated in this most turbulent and strategic region of the world – a country that had appeared at least until recently to be a reliable and predictable ally of the West, and of Israel. However, the country's actions and reactions should not have come as a surprise. Over the past ten years Turkey has been busy developing a very active foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. It has reached out to countries traditionally considered as adversaries, such as Russia, Iran and Syria. Ankara has also not been afraid to express its differences and diverge from the West on certain issues, from Cyprus to Armenia to Palestine.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Asia, Palestine, Armenia, Syria, and Cyprus

495. Victor Kattan. From Coexistence to Conquest, International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891–1949.

Author:
Robbie Sabel
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
It may be that only in Middle East negotiations would the interpretation of a century-old letter from a British official addressed to a tribal Sheikh be considered a topical legal issue. The reality is, however, that the parties in the Middle East conflict are still interpreting, for example, the 1915 correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, and Sharif Hussein of Mecca. Kattan's book is an invaluable, albeit partisan, resource book for those of us who enjoy delving into such minutiae of the legal arguments of Israelis and Palestinians.
Political Geography:
Middle East, Palestine, and Egypt

496. From the Editor

Author:
Rashid I. Khalidi
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
IN THIS ISSUE, JPS addresses many elements of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestine question that appeared to be immutable certainties but have recently come into question. One such element is the feasibility, and indeed the desirability, of a two-state resolution to the conflict. Many of those who feel that such an outcome is desirable have come to the conclusion that it has been rendered moot by Israel's ceaseless creation of facts on the ground in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. This growth of new thinking about Palestine and Israel is reflected in this issue's Open Forum section, which contains two pieces, one by a Swedish diplomat and another by an Israeli academic, that offer new alternatives and modifications to the well-known one- and two-state models for a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Arabia

497. From Law and Order to Pacification: Britain's Suppression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936-39

Author:
Matthew Hughes
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This article examines British human rights abuses against noncombatants during the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in Palestine, contextualizing brutality in Palestine within British military practice and law for dealing with colonial rebellions in force at the time. It shows that the norms for such operations, and the laws that codified military actions, allowed for some level of systemic, systematic brutality in the form of "collective punishments" and "reprisals" by the British army. The article also details the effects of military actions on Palestinian civilians and rebels and describes torture carried out by the British on Palestinians. Finally, it highlights a methodological problem in examining these sorts of abuses: the paucity of official records and the mismatch between official and unofficial accounts of abuse during counterinsurgency.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Palestine and Arabia

498. Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in U.S. Public Discourse: Legitimizing Dissent

Author:
Sara Roy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This essay argues that the climate of intimidation and fear surrounding a more critical discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the United States has begun to change. Despite the obstacles that still remain, a counterdiscourse challenging dominant conceptualizations and understandings of the conflict, particularly Israel's role, has not only emerged but also gained growing legitimacy and weight. These changes can be found in academia (at all levels of the educational hierarchy), civil society, and policy circles. Some of the most dramatic changes have occurred within the U.S. Jewish community in which an oppositional movement-in part, generational-has grown increasingly strong and well organized, ending any notion of a Jewish consensus on Israel.
Topic:
Civil Society and Climate Change
Political Geography:
United States, Israel, and Palestine

499. One Land, Two States? Parallel States as an Example of "Out of the Box" Thinking on Israel/Palestine

Author:
Mathias Mossberg
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
In recent years, faced with a stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Israel's continued creation of facts on the ground, many have started to question whether it is still possible to implement a viable two-state solution, which is the peace process's stated goal. A number of alternative ways forward in the conflict have therefore been suggested that go beyond the usual one-state solution. As part of an exercise of "thinking outside the box," JPS is running two essays that suggest unconventional frameworks for dealing with the conflict.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

500. 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