[The Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) brings you this bouquet of pieces including peer-reviewed articles on Gaza. These items in our database were published in peer-reviewed academic journals for the years 2005-2021.]
Conflict and cooperation in the age of COVID-19: the Israeli–Palestinian case
By: Lior Lehrs
Published in International Affairs Volume 97, Issue 6 (2021)
Abstract: How do disasters influence conflict and diplomacy in conflict areas? The scholarship shows that while they can provide opportunities for cooperation and ‘disaster diplomacy’ between parties to a conflict, they can also intensify tension and hostility. This article uses the Israeli–Palestinian conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, exploring the impact of the crisis on relations between the rival parties and examining the conditions under which an ongoing pandemic might lead to either conflict or cooperation in a conflict area. The research is based on within-case analysis, comparing three conflict arenas: Israel–Palestinian Authority relations in the West Bank; relations between Israel and the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem; and Israel–Hamas government relations in the Gaza strip. The article outlines the possibilities and limitations of ‘disaster diplomacy’ in intractable conflicts and contributes to the literature by identifying how different contexts, relations and actors in each conflict arena affect the development of patterns of conflict and cooperation with regard to the pandemic. The study analyses the factors that shape how the pandemic affects the conflict, and the COVID-19-related diplomacy, in each sub-case, with attention to three main variables: the structure of the conflict arena, domestic politics and the developments in the pandemic. The analysis addresses the unique conditions of an ongoing global pandemic, as opposed to an isolated disaster event, and traces the changing impact of the pandemic on the conflict and on disaster-related cooperation at various stages.
The Partition Plans for Palestine—1930–1947
By: Gideon Biger
Published in Israel Studies Volume 26, Issue 3 (2021)
Abstract: [The idea of the “two-state solution” has been on the political agenda of Eretz-Israel/Palestine for the past 40 years. The idea was first discussed during the British Mandate period, especially from the 1930s onward. Jews, Arabs, the British and eventually the UN, all considered establishing two states, Jewish and Arab, side by side in Palestine. The article deals with the areal dimension of the proposals, which were based on the dispersion of existing Jewish and Arab settlements and the allotment of territory for future Jewish immigration to the Jewish state.]
Demography and the Struggle for Palestine, 1917–1947
By: Aviva Halamish
Published in Israel Studies Volume 26, Issue 3 (2021)
Abstract: [During the Mandate period, the struggle for Palestine was essentially a demographic race between the Jewish minority and the Arab majority, with the Mandate authorities determining the rules of the game. While the proportion of Arabs to Jews at the end of WWI was 11:1, by the eve of WWII, it was approximately two-thirds Arabs to one-third Jews, and remained as such until the outbreak of the 1948 War, with 600,000 Jews in the country and twice as many Arabs. The primary source of growth in the Jewish population was immigration whereas the rate of growth among the Arabs was due almost exclusively to natural population increase. The article surveys and analyzes the role of demography in shaping the policy and practice of the three sides of the Palestine triangle from the formulation of the Balfour declaration in 1917 to the 1947 United Nations’ partition resolution. The main contention is, that demographic calculations and estimations were behind the positions on the three main issues around which the conflict in Mandatory Palestine revolved: immigration, the establishment of institutions of representative self-government and the acquisition of land by Jews.]
Gaza and the One-State Reality
By: Tareq Baconi
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 50, Issue 1 (2021)
Abstract: In contemporary conversations around Israel/Palestine, the Gaza Strip is construed as a state of exception, rendering the territory either hypervisible or entirely invisible. Through the prism of the Covid-19 pandemic and Israel’s possible de jure annexation of portions of the West Bank, this piece argues that rather than being exceptional, the Gaza Strip represents the very embodiment of Israeli settler colonialism in Palestine. Its isolation and de-development constitute the endpoint of Israel’s policies of land theft and Palestinian dispossession. This endpoint, referred to as Gazafication, entails the confinement of Palestinians to urban enclaves entirely surrounded by Israel or Israeli-controlled territory. The Trump plan, otherwise known as the “deal of the century,” along with the Covid-19 crisis, have inadvertently exposed the reality of Gaza as an enclave of the one-state paradigm.
Defying Exception: Gaza after the “Unity Uprising”
By: Safa Joudeh
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 50, Issue 4 (2021)
Abstract: Over the past three decades, a series of regimes invoked by Israel have gradually constructed the Gaza Strip into a site of exception to commonly recognized rules and conventions, legitimizing and perpetuating the territory’s separation and confinement. The organizing principle behind Gaza’s state of exception is the separation, isolation, and confinement of a surplus Palestinian population into designated spatial zones, a fact that has been either ignored, absented, or obfuscated in Western normative discourse, which follows the Israeli narrative in exceptionalizing Gaza’s difference. With the recent wave of widespread popular Palestinian mobilization, however, the dominant narrative about Gaza has started to shift. The ongoing mobilization has reaffirmed the shared struggle of Palestinians across differentiated geographies of Israeli rule against a broader policy of territorial dismemberment and fragmentation.
From jihad to resistance: the evolution of Hamas’s discourse in the framework of mobilization
By: Imad Alsoos
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 57, Issue 5 (2021)
Abstract: This article is the first attempt to examine the dynamics of Hamas’s political discourse since the movement’s birth with relations to mobilization. Based on extensive primary sources and interviews with Hamas leaders in Gaza, the article identifies three key framing processes. First, at its inception, Hamas’s words and actions centered around the movement’s interpretation of Islam from 1987 to 1993. Second, during the Oslo period from 1993-2000, Hamas attempted to de-frame its religious discourse. Third, from 2000 to the present, Hamas has reframed its discourses around the more inclusive concept of muqawama or resistance. While Hamas was in office after 2006, Hamas’s notions of resistance, however, eschew a sole meaning and instead function as a floating signifier. Each of these framings are investigated by relation to changing socio-political realities. The article argues that Hamas is not necessarily becoming either less Islamic or more secular-nationalist. Rather, the employment of the discourses of muqawama – that is, as a non-religious and more inclusive term – is better suited to Hamas’s current mobilization needs, and the rearticulation of its evolving worldview, without jeopardizing its religious identity.
Israeli emigration policies in the Gaza Strip: crafting demography and forming control in the aftermath of the 1967 War
By: Omri Shafer Raviv
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 57, Issue 2 (2021)
Abstract: This article uses archival sources to demonstrate how Israel crafted policies in the Gaza Strip following the 1967 War to reduce the size of its population, and how, in a two-year process, it reformed its policies to meet the needs of a long-standing occupation. Underlying these policies was the Israeli aspiration to annex the Strip without absorbing a large number of Arabs. The Israeli government developed an economic policy, based on high unemployment rates and low standard of living, aimed to encourage Gazans, and particularly refugees, to leave. In face of growing resistance, the Israeli government introduced in early 1969 a new economic policy, designed to improve the local economy, while continuing to encourage the emigration to other countries of educated youth. This new policy explains long-term demographic and economic patterns in the Palestinian society under a prolonged occupation and illuminate the Israeli mechanisms of control in the Gaza Strip.
Two decades of the Arab Peace Initiative and the Two-State Solution ( )
By: Ali Abu-Shahla
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 26, Issue 1-2 (2021)
Abstract: The establishment of a distinct trade zone in Gaza Strip would improve the lives of the citizens and would contribute significantly to raising the standard of living, which in turn would reduce extremism in the region.
Youth in the Gaza Strip: Reality, Problems, and Ambition ( )
By: Riad Abdel Kareem Awwad
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 26, Issue 1-2 (2021)
Abstract: Due to the Israeli blockade, wars, and the division between Fateh and Hamas, young people are facing high rates of unemployment, poverty, disability, and psychological distress and suicide; they must not be denied political participation.
A Battle of Names: Hamas and Israeli Operations in the Gaza Strip
By: Ofir Hadad
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 33, Issue 5 (2021)
Abstract: This paper addresses the phenomenon of military operation-naming, that is, the act of giving names to war practices. Based on the four strategies of War Normalizing Discourse theory, I argue that, like nation-states, violent non-state actors also use the tool of naming to disseminate their wartime perceptions and mobilize public opinion for their own interests. Moreover, I argue that in its war-naming efforts the violent non-state actor seeks to defy and undermine the official names of its enemy state, using its own names to expand the physical battlefield to other fields of war and to present itself as an equal and legitimate player. To establish the above arguments, the article presents the case study of Hamas?specifically, the movement?s naming of rounds of fighting against Israel since the beginning of its rule in the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Individual Exposure to Terror and Political Attitudes: A Physiologically-Based Model of Militancy
By: Daphna Canetti, Amnon Cavari,Carmit Rapaport,Hadar, Shalev Stevan E. Hobfoll
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 33, Issue 5 (2021)
Abstract: How does exposure to terrorism affect political attitudes? This paper presents a new individual-level psychobiological model of political attitudes. Using a unique individual-level data of personal exposure to terrorism, a physiological marker of inflammation (CRP) and a psychological measure of perception of threat to an ongoing conflict?the Israel-Palestinian Conflict?we assess the effect of personal exposure to terrorism on militant attitudes concerning the conflict. Our data of physiological (blood samples), psychological, and attitudinal factors were collected in Israel during a military escalation along the Gaza Strip border. The findings reveal that among people personally exposed to terrorism, the perception of threat mediates an association between physiological conditions and militant attitudes. These findings contribute to the emerging literature on the biopolitics of political violence, suggesting a renewed focus on the dynamic interplay between physiological, psychological, and political factors.
‘No One Should Be Terrified Like I Was!’ Exploring Drivers and Impacts of Child Marriage in Protracted Crises Among Palestinian and Syrian Refugees
By: Bassam Abu Hamad, Samah Elamassie, Erin Oakley, Sarah Alheiwidi, Sarah Baird
Published in The European Journal of Development Research Volume 33, Issue 5 (2021)
Abstract: Exacerbated by 9 years of conflict and displacement, child marriage among Syrian refugees appears to be increasing, while in Gaza, the noticeable reduction in child brides over the past two decades has recently plateaued. This comparative study explores drivers and consequences of child marriage in protracted crises, drawing on mixed-methods research from Gaza and Jordan with married adolescent girls and their parents. Our findings suggest that conflict reignites pre-existing drivers of child marriage, especially conservative norms around family honour and clan inter-marriage. Poverty is a strong driver of child marriage among Syrian refugees, while social protection programmes and educational opportunities for girls have played a protective role in Gaza. In both contexts, our findings underscore the multiple and intersecting negative effects of child marriage on girls’ health and bodily integrity, and point to the urgency of tackling this harmful practice to ensure that no adolescent is left behind.
Contextualizing the Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Gaza Strip
By: Shadi Saleh
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 13, Issue 4 (2020)
Abstract: Refugee camp spaces are widely analyzed against their host territories. They are constantly associated with isolation and time–space suspension. However, empirical studies show that camps are not simply islands unto themselves. They can have varying levels of interactions with their surroundings. This paper is concerned with contextualizing the Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip by examining four inseparable dimensions: spatial, socioeconomic, political and time. It unfolds the historical and contemporary interplay between camp and non-camp areas and shows the similarities and distinctions between them. The findings are based on the analysis and fieldwork of Jabalya refugee camp, the largest in the Gaza Strip. Ethnographic research tools are used in addition to text and historical aerial photo analysis. The paper concludes that in a context such as the Gaza Strip in which the majority of the population are refugees, there is a great deal of connectivity between camps and non-camp areas. The camps are far from being described as enclaves, bare lives, or state of exception. The distinctions between them and their surroundings are very subtle. To a large extent, the camps in the Gaza Strip represent a special case of connectivity to a level that has normalized the territory to become a large enclaved refugee space.
An analysis of the public–private wage differential in the Palestinian labour market
By: Sami H. Miaari
Published in Defence and Peace Economics Volume 31, Issue 3 (2020)
Abstract: This paper measures and analyzes the dynamics of the public–private wage differential in the West Bank and Gaza for the period before and during the ‘second Intifada’ using data from the Palestinian Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Because the distribution of workers’ individual characteristics, such as skills, and the ‘returns’ to these characteristics may differ across workers, the wage differential is decomposed into two components: an ‘endowment’ effect and a ‘returns’ effect. The results show that in the pre-Intifada period, the wage gap between the public and private sectors narrowed in both the West Bank and Gaza. However, a sharp increase is seen after the outbreak of the Intifada. Moreover, most of this increase comes from an increase in ‘returns’ to skills composition in the public sector, (unexplained effect), rather than a change in the skills composition of public sector workers, (explained effect). Using recent econometric quantile regression techniques, the analysis of the public–private sector wage gap from 1998 to 2006, at various points along the wage distribution, shows that the wage premium, (penalty), for the public sector varies across the distribution, being higher, (lower), at the lowest end of the wage distribution and decreasing (increasing) along the wage distribution; it becomes negative in the top percentiles.
Studying an Occupied Society: Social Research, Modernization Theory and the Early Israeli Occupation, 1967–8
By: Omri Shafer Raviv
Published in Journal of Contemporary History Volume 55, Issue 1 (2020)
Abstract: In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip from Jordan and Egypt, and established a long-lasting military regime over their Palestinian population. In this article, recently declassified sources and published reports were used to demonstrate how the Israeli government initiated and funded academic research on Palestinian society to gain reliable, useful knowledge to inform its policies. The Israeli leadership was most specifically concerned with pacification of the occupied population, the Arab/Jewish demographic balance, and the status of the 1948 Palestinian refugees. By early 1968, the research team had produced a series of policy-oriented reports on Palestinian society, covering such subjects as employment, education, nationalism, migration, and general values. The team used surveys, questionnaires, and observations, with modernization theory providing the theoretical framework for analyzing their empirical findings and formulating policy recommendations. As the Israeli team had studied a population under military occupation, their recommendations differed from those reached by their US peers who studied traditional populations in the context of the Cold War. Israeli civil and military officials had great interest in this new knowledge, rendering social research an ongoing practice for the Israeli occupation regime in the years to come.
Applying Digital Methods to the Study of a Late Ottoman City: A Social and Spatial Analysis of Political Partisanship in Gaza
By: Yuval Ben-Bassat, Johann Buessow
Published in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Volume 63, Issue 4 (2020)
Abstract: This article takes the understudied Ottoman city of Gaza in southern Palestine at the end of the nineteenth century as a case study to illustrate the new possibilities available today to researchers of the Middle East by combining the study of historical sources with GIS and other digital technologies. It first surveys the main sources available for the study of this city, some of which have only become available to researchers in recent years. It then describes the construction of a comprehensive database based on these sources and ways to run statistical analyses based on it. Finally, it presents the research results on maps and aerial photos connected to a GIS system. The case of Gaza can thus serve as a model for studying other cities in Ottoman Greater Syria and the Ottoman Empire in general.
The Dilemmas of Practicing Humanitarian Medicine in Gaza
By: Osama Tanous
Published in Middle East Report Issue 297 (2020)
Abstract: Not available
Wine from the Desert : Late-Antique Negev Viniculture and the Famous Gaza Wine
By: Sára Lantos, Guy Bar-Oz, Gil Gambash
Published in Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 83, Issue 1 (2020)
Abstract: One of the most prestigious wines of late antiquity was Gaza wine, which, like Ashkelon wine, became popular in the late fourth century and reached peak demand in the second half of the fifth–early seventh centuries CE. The appetite for this and other southern Levantine wines arose as a result of several influential processes, leading among them the growth of the new capital at Constantinople and its positive economic effect on the eastern Mediterranean (Ostrogorsky 2003: 59; van Dam 2010: 77). More specifically, the growing popularity of Christianity, and the rise of both the pilgrimage movement and the ascetic communities, served as efficient platforms for familiarizing the Mediterranean world with wines originating in the Holy Land. With the spread of the ritual of the Eucharist, wine from the Holy Land gained particular sanctity. While the western part of the Mediterranean may have been lost to the empire, the new kingdoms that now controlled the region adopted essential elements of Mediterranean routine and Roman culture, including Christianity, and the wine trade between the eastern and western parts of the Mediterranean continued to prosper regardless of political changes (Chrysos 1997: 18; Pohl 1997; Lebecq 1997; Halsall 2007: 19–22; Brown 1971: 144).
Entity-Elimination or Threat Management? Explaining Israel’s Shifting Policies Towards Terrorist Semi-States
By: Or Honig, Ido Yahel
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 32, Issue 5 (2020)
Abstract: Israel’s policy towards both terrorist semi-states (TSS)—Fatahland and Hamas-controlled Gaza—shows a puzzling variation over time between threat-management (i.e., deterrence and/or brute force capacity-reduction) and entity-elimination. We hold that a military-based cost-benefit analysis cannot fully account for this variation. This explanation predicts that Israel would avoid the costly and risky TSS-elimination as long as Israel can effectively manage the military danger through the much cheaper deterrence/periodical capacity reduction or when there is a high risk of not getting a much better option partly due to the danger of creating a power-vacuum into which other terrorists may reenter. Yet, some Israeli Prime Ministers pursued TSS-elimination notwithstanding the vacuum consideration and deterrence working. By adding a non-military variable—the extent to which Israel’s policy-makers believe that the TSS harms their ideologically-preferred foreign policy goals—we can better reconstruct changes in threat perception and hence better explain policy variation. The TSSs became an intolerable danger only when non-military threats were involved. Israel was willing to tolerate TSSs when the Prime Minister believed they did not pose a political/ideological threat but sought to eliminate them when he thought they did, if there seemed to be a feasible alternative.
"We Were Getting Close to God, Not Deportees": The Expulsion to Marj al-Zuhur in 1992 as a Milestone in the Rise of Hamas
By: Elad Ben-Dror
Published in The Middle East Journal Volume 74, Issue 3 (2020)
Abstract: In December 1992, Israel deported hundreds of Hamas activists to Lebanon. The deportees ensconced themselves at a camp near the village of Marj al-Zuhur, close to the Israeli border. Their sojourn there bolstered Hamas and became a milestone in its development. This article shows how the deportees' success in running the camp as an exemplary Islamic society turned the deportation into a foundational myth for the movement, one centered on nonviolent resistance in the spirit of Islamic values.
Comic Images and the Art of Witnessing: A Visual Analysis of Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza Nawal
By: Musleh-Motut
Published in Arab Studies Journal Volume 27, Issue 1 (2019)
Abstract: Not available
Political Division and Social Destruction: Generalized Trust in Palestine
By: Abdalhadi Alijla
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 12, Issue 2 (2019)
Abstract: This article discusses the effect of the political division between Fatah and Hamas on the level of generalized trust in Palestine. It argues that the level of trust in Palestinian society has been shaped and influenced by the ongoing political division since 2007. As the level of trust has been declining since 2007, this research suggests that distrust in the political system, the deteriorated healthcare and education services, the high level of unemployment, corruption, and the violation of human rights in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have led to the decline of the level of generalized trust in society at large. This study uses statistical test results to support the main argument. Data available from 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017 from the Arab Barometer are used to examine how institutional and contextual factors affect the level of generalized trust in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The article discusses the results and how creating a hybrid society has contributed to lowering the level of trust generally. It seeks to understand the change in social trust among Palestinians over the years of the ongoing division, and examines how the political division, directly or indirectly, has led to the current low level of trust that has left remarkable changes and deep polarization in Palestinian society.
Escape from the Gaza Submarine: Toward Ending an Avoidable Tragedy
By: Donald Macintyre
Published in Georgetown Journal of International Affairs Volume 20, Issue (2019)
Abstract: Not available
Rebel Groups between Adaptation and Ideological Continuity: The Impact of Sustained Political Participation
By: Benedetta Berti
Published in Government and Opposition Volume 54, Issue 3 (2019)
Abstract: The question of how involvement in institutional politics and governance affects rebel groups’ behaviour is pertinent when studying violent non-state actors, both during and in the aftermath of conflict. This is especially the case when participation in the political system becomes sustained over time. The interactions between the political and governance practices of a rebel group and its overall ideological orientation and state-building aspirations are not sufficiently analysed in the literature, especially in the context of hybrid armed-political organizations operating in latent, frozen or protracted conflicts. This article aims to begin to fill this gap by examining how involvement in institutional politics has shaped both Hamas’s and Hezbollah’s branding, interpretation and reliance on their own constitutive ideological manifestos, with an emphasis on both organizations’ dynamic processes aimed at reconciling political participation with their previous ideological rejection of the legitimacy of the political system and their constitutive calls to dramatically restructure the political order. Based on these detailed accounts, this article reflects on how the complex relationship between politics, electoral competition, governance and ideological principles can shape an armed group’s political identity.
Targeting infrastructure and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza
By: Erika Weinthal; Jeannie Sowers
Published in International Affairs Volume 95, Issue 2 (2019)
Abstract: State and non-state actors across many protracted conflicts and prolonged occupations in the Middle East and North Africa have systematically targeted civilian infrastructures. We use the cases of the West Bank and Gaza, characterized by more than five decades of occupation and periods of intermittent violent conflict, to analyse how the targeting of water, energy, and agricultural infrastructures has created humanitarian crises and undermined civilian livelihoods. Our analysis draws upon an original database tracking the targeting of environmental and civilian infrastructures and on interviews with humanitarian organizations, government officials and civil society actors. The analysis shows how the targeting of infrastructure has differed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, damage to essential infrastructure and restrictions on infrastructure development are forms of slow violence that accumulate over time, carried out by both state authorities and settlers. In the Gaza Strip, recurrent violent conflict between Israel and Hamas has produced extensive destruction across all types of infrastructure, while the internationally-sanctioned blockade has hindered effective reconstruction. In both cases agriculture is the most frequently targeted sector, undermining livelihoods and connections to land, while damage to water and energy systems has limited economic activity and rendered civilian life increasingly precarious.
“Every Sperm is Sacred”: Palestinian Prisoners, Smuggled Semen, and Derrida's Prophecy
By: Mohammed Hamdan
Published in International Journal of Middle East Studies Volume 51, Issue 4 (2019)
Abstract: This paper investigates the contemporary phenomenon of smuggling sperm from within Israeli jails, which I treat as a biopolitical act of resistance. Palestinian prisoners who have been sentenced to life-imprisonment have recently resorted to delivering their sperm to their distant wives in the West Bank and Gaza where it is then used for artificial insemination. On the level of theory, my analysis of this practice benefits from Jacques Derrida's commentary in The Post Card on imaginative postal delivery of sperm to distant lovers. I use Derrida's heteronormative implication to examine how Palestinian prisoners defy the Israeli carceral system via the revolutionary act of sperm smuggling. The article then argues that smuggling sperm challenges the conventional gender codes in Palestinian society that see women in passive roles. Drawing on Derrida's metaphorical connection between masturbation and writing, I problematize the perception of speech/orality as primary in traditional Palestinian culture. Women, who mostly act as smugglers, become social agents whose written stories of bionational resistance emerge as a dominant mode of representation.
Apprehending the “Telegenic Dead”: Considering Images of Dead Children in Global Politics
By: Helen Berents
Published in International Political Sociology Volume 13, Issue 2 (2019)
Abstract: Images of suffering children have long been used to illustrate the violence and horror of conflict. In recent years, it is images of dead children that have garnered attention from media audiences around the world. In response to the deaths of four children killed by the Israeli army while playing on a Gazan beach, Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu accused Hamas of generating “telegenically dead” Palestinian children for their cause (CNN 2014). In this article, it argues with this term to consider the appearance of images of dead children in global politics. I draw on a growing literature relating to the corpse as a subject in international relations (IR), asking how children's bodies are understood, following Butler, as “grievable lives.” It explores the notion of “iconic” images and the politics of sharing images of dead bodies and consider global power relations that allow certain children's deaths to be visible and not others. Through this analysis, the article argues that the idea of telegenic death might be productively considered to understand how the fleshy reality of children's deaths contribute to discussions about the representation and visibility of children in contexts of crisis and conflict.
“Battling” for Legitimacy: Analyzing Performative Contests in the Gaza Flotilla Paradigmatic Case
By: Daniel F Wajner
Published in International Studies Quarterly Volume 63, Issue 4 (2019)
Abstract: How can we explain the dynamics of nonconventional struggles such as the Gaza flotilla case of May 2010? Most international relations scholars analyze international disputes using a “chess logic,” according to which the actors seek to outmaneuver their opponents on the battleground. However, an increasing number of clashes are guided by a “performance logic”: although the players interact with one another, their real targets are audiences. The present study aims to bridge this gap, proposing a phenomenological framework for analyzing this particular kind of performative contest over legitimation and delegitimation in contemporary conflicts. It expands upon the idea that current anarchical global politics increasingly lead contending actors to engage in “pure” legitimation struggles—“battles for legitimacy”—seeking to persuade international audiences that they deserve political support. After providing guidelines for the identification of these phenomena, this article presents a model for the methodical examination of their interactive dynamics based on three legitimation functions (appropriateness, consensus, empathy). This model is applied to the flotilla case by mapping the protagonists’ framing contests across “legitimation (battle)fields.” The findings of this study, which emphasize the strong interplay between normative, political, and emotional mechanisms for empowering (de)legitimation strategies, can contribute to expanding the research program concerning international legitimacy.
From the River to the Sea to Every Mountain Top: Solidarity as Worldmaking
By: Robin D. G. Kelley
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 48, Issue 4 (2019)
Abstract: This essay questions a key takeaway from the Ferguson/Gaza convergence that catalyzed the current wave of Black-Palestinian transnational solidarity: the idea that “equivalence,” or a politics of analogy based on racial or national identity, or racialized or colonial experience, is the sole or primary grounds for solidarity. By revisiting three recent spectacular moments involving Black intellectuals advocating for Palestine—Michelle Alexander’s op-ed in the New York Times criticizing Israeli policies, CNN’s firing of Marc Lamont Hill, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s initial decision to deny Angela Davis its highest honor—this paper suggests that their controversial positions must be traced back to the post-1967 moment. The convergence of Black urban rebellions and the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war birthed the first significant wave of Black-Palestinian solidarity; at the same time, solidarities rooted in anti-imperialism and Left internationalism rivaled the “Black-Jewish alliance,” founded on analogy of oppression rather than shared principles of liberation. Third World insurgencies and anti-imperialist movements, not just events in the United States and Palestine, created the conditions for radically reordering political alliances: rather than adopting a politics of analogy or identity, the Black and Palestinian Left embraced a vision of “worldmaking” that was a catalyst for imagining revolution as opposed to plotting coalition.
The Red Thread of Israel's “Demographic Problem”
By: Ian S. Lustick
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 26, Issue 1 (2019)
Abstract: In the spring and early summer of 2018, Israeli forces shot or gassed more than 16,000 people. The ferocity of this response to the massing of Palestinians near the barrier surrounding the Gaza Strip is striking but not astonishing. It reflects a fundamental truth and springs from a deep fear. The truth is that the essential aspiration of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century architects of the Zionist movement was to ensure that somewhere in the world — and that place came to be Palestine — there would be a majority of Jews. The fear is of Jews losing the majority they achieved.
Israel’s Permanent Siege of Gaza
By: Ron Smith
Published in Middle East Report Issue 290 (2019)
Abstract: Not available
The Future of the Two-State Solution and the Alternatives — A View from Gaza ( )
By: Husam Dajni
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 24, Issue 1&2 (2019)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas as a Wasati (Literally: Centrist) Movement: Pragmatism within the Boundaries of the Sharia
By: Sagi Polka
Published in Studies in Conflict &Terrorism Volume 42, Issue 7 (2019)
Abstract: This article examines Hamas as a test case for the struggle within Islam between two rival ideological streams: wasatiyya, whose principles were formulated by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b. 1926), and Salafi-jihadism, which is the wellspring of global jihad. Hamas is a wasati movement, and its wasati principles serve as the basis for its polemic with Salafi-jihadists, who accuse both it and al-Qaradawi of heresy. The article also shows how the principles of wasatiyya afford Hamas flexibility and allow it to adopt pragmatic positions by distinguishing between immutable long-term goals and flexible means of pursuing them. Hamas translates the principles of wasati jurisprudence into practical political and military ones.
A tale of two cities and one telegram: The Ottoman military regime and the population of Greater Syria during WWI
By: Yuval Ben-Bassat, Dotan Halevy
Published in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Volume 45, Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract: This article compares the evacuations of the two port cities of Gaza and Jaffa in southern and central Palestine, respectively, by their civilian population on the orders of Cemal Pasha, the Ottoman commander of the Syrian front, during the spring of 1917. While these evacuations are usually regarded as mutually exclusive events, they were in fact part of the same process. We claim that the general evacuation order for two of the main coastal cities of Palestine was driven by the exigency of war and military considerations, rather than by political motivations such as the desire to destroy Zionism or take revenge against the Arab population. This view does not negate the exceptionality of each case but rather aims to better contextualize them within the larger framework of civilian affairs in the region and the Empire at large during WWI. For this purpose we analyse a 17-page enciphered Ottoman telegram that sheds new light on the rationale and the execution of the evacuation of populations in Palestine and compare it to other controversial events in Greater Syria during the war.
Toxic Occupation: Leveraging the Basel Convention in Palestine
By: Selma Abdel-Qader, Tanya Lee Roberts-Davis
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 47, Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract: Reports by UN-affiliated institutions, human rights organizations, academic researchers, and individual community members, as well as Palestine’s Environment Quality Authority (EQA), point to the continuing transfer to the West Bank of hazardous wastes from inside Israel, and by illegal Israeli settlement industries operating in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Such transfers occur in contravention of the Geneva Conventions and of binding multilateral environmental agreements such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, to which both Israel and Palestine are party. This article argues that despite inherent limitations, there are opportunities for leveraging the Basel Convention to hold accountable perpetrators, given the severe environmental, health, and human rights consequences of the uncontrolled movement and disposal of waste on the Palestinian population in the oPt. To date, such opportunities have remained largely unexplored both in academia and by broader sectors of civil society.
Toward a Palestinian History of Ruins: Interwar Gaza
By: Dotan Halevy
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 48, Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract: Ruins typically mark the endpoint of historical stories, regarded as objects worthy of attention only for the bygone times they represent. But what might a history reveal if it took ruins as its departure point? How would a history of ruins look? This article aims to write ruins into history by pondering the case of Gaza in the aftermath of World War I. The ruins of the city, it is argued here, were the site of a transformation in the modalities of urban change: what had been a ubiquitous and organic process of evolution in the cityscapes of the Middle East up to the late nineteenth century was replaced by top-down spatial convention, imposed by the modern state. This transformation deprived ruins from their long-standing role as essential elements of the urban landscape and flattened them into mere emblems of cultural decay. Consistent with the ontological stance of the progress/decline binary, by the early twentieth century, spatial ruination had become regarded as a unidirectional rather than multidirectional process. This modern framing of ruins proved especially significant for postwar Gaza, whose reconstruction efforts were consequently plagued by internal contradiction.
Urban Factionalism in Late Ottoman Gaza, c. 1875-1914: Local Politics and Spatial Divisions
By: Yuval Ben-Bassat, Johann Büssow
Published in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Volume 61, Issue 4 (2018)
Abstract: During the late Ottoman period the city of Gaza was caught up in internal political strife. The city’s elite families tended to operate within rival factions while trying to draw Istanbul into its internal conflicts. In this context, they formed complex relationships with the elite of Jerusalem that dominated Palestine’s politics, as well as with peasants and Bedouins in Gaza’s hinterland. The article presents the first systematic account of factional strife in Gaza during the period. In addition, it examines what caused the internal divisions in Gaza to be so severe and considers whether factionalism also played out in the urban space. It is argued that (1) the severity of this factionalism derived from the rising stakes resulting from imperial politics and economic benefits, and (2) factionalism and urban development interacted with each other, leading to a particular type of ‘spatialized factionalism’. We suggest that this perspective can lead to a better understanding of both urban politics and urban development in other towns and cities in the Ottoman Empire’s Arab provinces.
The Everyday as Survival among Ex-Gaza Refugees in Jordan
By: Michael Vicente Pérez
Published in Middle East Critique Volume 27, Issue 3 (2018)
Abstract: This article examines the role of repetition in the making of everyday life among ex-Gaza refugees in Jordan. It argues that the quotidian struggles of stateless ex-Gazans challenge theories of the everyday that align repetition with domination and creativity with resistance. I suggest that the ability to repeat ordinary activities in work and at home possesses its own form of agential effort: Survival. Concerned with the existential struggles of stateless refugees, I argue that the mundane repetitive practices of everyday life in a precarious situation can enable various opportunities for subjective stability and the promise of a better life in an unstable world.
Withdrawing from the Oslo Accords: The Day After
By: Hassan Asfour
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 23, Issue 2&3 (2018)
Abstract: Given Israel's failure to comply with the Oslo Accords and wars waged against Gaza, it is time for the Palestinian leadership to withdraw from the accords and declare the State of Palestine.
Ideological Rigidity and Flexibility of Secular and Religious Terror Groups: The Case of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Hamas
By: Alon Burstein
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 41, Issue 9 (2018)
Abstract: This article explores the ideological rigidity of secular and religious terror groups. Analyzing leaflets disseminated by two Palestinian groups during the First Intifada, it examines if and how each shifted its identity and goals in response to repression, political shifts, or resource changes. The results suggest that while similar catalysts led to ideological reformation among the secular and the religious group, the extent of ideological change within the religious group was more limited. The article argues for the need to disaggregate ideological analysis further in order to identify more subtle shifts, alterations, and omissions, in the positions held by religious terror groups, moving past the exploration of if such changes exist in ideological templates and instead focusing on the extent and type of alterations the different groups allow.
The Politics of Representation on Social Media: The Case of Hamas during the 2014 Israel–Gaza Conflict
By: Jinjin Zhang
Published in Arab Media & Society Issue 24 (2017)
Abstract: Alongside the military confrontation that took place in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in July and August 2014, a battle in the media sector was also underway. This study focuses on the agenda of Hamas during different stages of the psychological war between the two sides involved, namely itself and the Israeli government. By selecting texts and images from two Hamas-affiliated Arabic social media accounts respectively, the study applies grounded theory to inspect the themes of Hamas’s political marketing and tracks the evolution of the themes in terms of time and frequency by cross-referencing events on the timeline. It also explores how the themes interacted and co-evolved with local and international attitudes towards the Gaza Conflict.
A proper study of the discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Methodological implications of a large-scale study of the first Gaza war
By: David Kaposi
Published in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Volume 44, Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract: Drawing on a large-scale study examining the British broadsheets’ coverage of the first Gaza war, this paper proposes some methodological considerations for analyzing the particularly emotive discourse on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and suggests a reflective multi-methodological approach to account for both the complexities and the intensities of the conflict. The paper starts by arguing that, working with a large data-set, quantitative data are both required and required to be interpreted by acts of contextualisation. Two strategies of contextualization are then introduced: interpreting patterns and associations in the numerical data. Following this, the paper continues by examining the findings and dilemmas that have emerged from quantitative analysis, using qualitative analysis of editorial extracts. It therefore shows examples for how quantitative codes can be built into and built up by narratives and arguments. Doing this, it also demonstrates possible ways of connecting qualitative to quantitative research: explanation, extension, and transformation/subversion.
In the shadow of the 1967 war: Israel and the Palestinians
By: Amal Jamal
Published in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Volume 44, Issue 4 (2017)
Abstract: The 1967 war in the Middle East has had major ramifications on the entire region including Israel. This article focuses on three of the major longstanding ramifications namely the change in the demographic balance between Jews and Palestinians west of the Jordan River, the challenge that the military regime imposed on the Palestinians in the newly occupied Palestinian territories poses regarding the nature of the Israeli regime as a whole and the reconnecting of Palestinians, citizens of Israel, with their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This article demonstrates how Israeli policies towards Palestinians impacted on the disposition of the Palestinian community inside Israel and how the coming together of Israeli policies, changes in Palestinian struggle for independence and social transformations inside the Palestinian community in Israel have led to different adaptation strategies among the Palestinians to face their in-between reality.
The Hamas Movement and its political and democratic practice, 1992–2016
By: Aqel Mohammed Ahmed Salah
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 10, Issue 4 (2017)
Abstract: The concept of a political opportunity structure contributes to the analysis of the behaviour of political actors and is one of the current central topics that has importance for political systems at the regional and international levels, as well as for political and social scientific research centres. This study falls within the range of studies on ideological movements and political parties, and the political variables that affect the political system and these movements which lead them to adapt their ideology, by changing their position – from one of rejection to one of acceptance – with regard to participation in parliamentary elections. To achieve their aim of getting into power, ideological movements and political parties can adapt to political changes, influence the structure of political opportunities and exploit ones available to them. This study focuses on the analysis of factors that led to the change in the position of Hamas with regard to democratic practice, from boycotting the first parliamentary elections in 1996 to actively participating in the 2006 elections. It discusses a number of factors: first, the internal organizational factors of the movement; second, the political variables in the Palestinian arena; and third, the internal factors related to the ruling party (Fatah). In light of this, the study principally aims at providing an objective view on the position of Hamas with regard to its political and democratic practice prior to its participation in the Palestinian political system and beyond, using the concept of political opportunities structure. Given that the movement was restricted by its ideology and governed by the political changes that had taken place in the Palestinian political system, it was forced to adapt to the new circumstances that followed the Oslo Treaty by changing its position from opposition and rejection to political participation.
The Hamas Movement and its political and democratic practice, 1992–2016
By: Aqel Mohammed Ahmed Salah
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 10, Issue 4 (2017)
Abstract: The concept of a political opportunity structure contributes to the analysis of the behaviour of political actors and is one of the current central topics that has importance for political systems at the regional and international levels, as well as for political and social scientific research centres. This study falls within the range of studies on ideological movements and political parties, and the political variables that affect the political system and these movements which lead them to adapt their ideology, by changing their position – from one of rejection to one of acceptance – with regard to participation in parliamentary elections. To achieve their aim of getting into power, ideological movements and political parties can adapt to political changes, influence the structure of political opportunities and exploit ones available to them. This study focuses on the analysis of factors that led to the change in the position of Hamas with regard to democratic practice, from boycotting the first parliamentary elections in 1996 to actively participating in the 2006 elections. It discusses a number of factors: first, the internal organizational factors of the movement; second, the political variables in the Palestinian arena; and third, the internal factors related to the ruling party (Fatah). In light of this, the study principally aims at providing an objective view on the position of Hamas with regard to its political and democratic practice prior to its participation in the Palestinian political system and beyond, using the concept of political opportunities structure. Given that the movement was restricted by its ideology and governed by the political changes that had taken place in the Palestinian political system, it was forced to adapt to the new circumstances that followed the Oslo Treaty by changing its position from opposition and rejection to political participation.
Taking the Land without the People: The 1967 Story as Told by the Law
By: Noura Erakat
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 47, Issue 1 (2017)
Abstract: This paper seeks to show how Israel has deployed Occupation Law in strategic ways to incrementally take the land of Palestine without its people. It argues that Israel has used UN Security Council Resolution 242 to retroactively legitimate those colonial takings in a political framework shaped by U.S. intervention. In themselves, the constituent pieces of the argument are not new and they have been extensively discussed in legal, political science, and historical literature. Rather than consider them as the sum of their parts, this paper attempts to view the issues that have been kept distinct and separate within disciplinary silos as a mutually-reinforcing whole, demonstrating that the United States' political position made an otherwise bankrupt legal argument effective and showing how the Security Council's deliberations gave Israel ample room for maneuver in spite of the drafting parties' original intent. In examining the relationship between law and political power, the article points to the ways in which the balance of power bears upon the meaning and significance of law in international conflict. Thus, the failure of Occupation Law to regulate the occupation of the Palestinian Territories ultimately reflects the outcome of a political, not a legal, contest: Israel's legal argumentation that the territories are merely under its administration would have no value were it not for the power politics that shape international relations in the region.
A Newer Hamas? The Revised Chapter
By: Khaled Hroub
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 46, Issue 4 (2017)
Abstract: On 1 May 2017, Hamas released its “Document of General Principles and Policies” following years of periodic speculation that the movement was working on a new political platform. Heralded by some as a significant milestone in Hamas’s political thought and practice, the document reiterates longstanding positions but also lays out some new ones. Given the timing of its release, as well as its contents and possible implications, the document could be considered Hamas’s new charter: it details the organization’s views on the struggle against “the Zionist project” and Israel and outlines its strategies to counter that project. This essay aims to provide a fine-grained analysis of the substance, context, and ramifications of the recently released document. The discussion starts with an overview highlighting aspects of the document that could be considered departures from Hamas’s original 1988 charter, and pointing to changes in the movement’s discourse, both in form and substance. A contextual analysis then probes the regional, international, and internal impetuses behind the issuance of the document. Finally, the discussion concludes with a look at the possible implications for the movement itself, as well as for the Palestinians and for Israel.
Developing a Palestinian Resistance Economy through Agricultural Labor
By: Rayya El Zein
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 46, Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract: In 2013, four Palestinians incorporated Amoro Agriculture, Palestine’s only mushroom farm. In the absence of an alternative to Israeli mushrooms on the Palestinian market, Amoro’s products were welcomed as an engaged example of the boycott of Israeli goods and were hailed as an iteration of a Palestinian resistance economy based in the agricultural sector. Using the testimony of the farmers and their experience of what proved to be a short-lived agritech venture, this article explores questions of agricultural development in the occupied Palestinian territories generally, and the development of a “resistance economy” based in agriculture specifically. It argues for recentralizing the question of the development of agricultural labor in the occupied West Bank and for abandoning the depoliticizing romanticism that surrounds the land and the farmer in the discourses of Palestinian struggle. It further contends that growth in the agricultural sector needs to be addressed in a holistic fashion, which includes a recalibration of the relationship of capital and the quasi-state bureaucracy of the Palestinian Authority to labor.
A Newer Hamas? The Revised Chapter
By: Khaled Hroub
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 46, Issue 4 (2017)
Abstract: On 1 May 2017, Hamas released its “Document of General Principles and Policies” following years of periodic speculation that the movement was working on a new political platform. Heralded by some as a significant milestone in Hamas’s political thought and practice, the document reiterates longstanding positions but also lays out some new ones. Given the timing of its release, as well as its contents and possible implications, the document could be considered Hamas’s new charter: it details the organization’s views on the struggle against “the Zionist project” and Israel and outlines its strategies to counter that project. This essay aims to provide a fine-grained analysis of the substance, context, and ramifications of the recently released document. The discussion starts with an overview highlighting aspects of the document that could be considered departures from Hamas’s original 1988 charter, and pointing to changes in the movement’s discourse, both in form and substance. A contextual analysis then probes the regional, international, and internal impetuses behind the issuance of the document. Finally, the discussion concludes with a look at the possible implications for the movement itself, as well as for the Palestinians and for Israel.
Of Production, Trade, Profit and Destruction: An Economic Interpretation of Sennacherib’s Third Campaign
By: Caroline van der Brugge
Published in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Volume 60, Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract: Sennacherib’s campaign to the southern Levant in 701 BC is an extensively studied episode in the Neo-Assyrian period. Nevertheless, despite the abundance of sources, the existing scholarship has left several questions unanswered. Furthermore, although economic growth is suggested to have been a motor behind Neo-Assyrian expansion, current interpretations of the campaign do not consider this to have been its main goal. This article will present an analysis focussing particularly on this economic motive, an analysis that requires an alternative interpretation of the Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions. The outcome sheds a new light not only on Assyrian confrontations with Egypt in the late 8th-century BC southern Levant but also on Judah’s and Gaza’s roles in the events, revealing altogether a world of long-distance trade.
The Gaza Fighting: Did Israel Shift Risk from Its Soldiers to Civilians?
By: Yagil Levy
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 24, Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract: Not available
Morocco's Palestinian Politics
By: Zakia Salime, Paul Silverstein
Published in Middle East Report Volume 47, Issue 282 (2017)
Abstract: Not available
Lone-wolf or terror organization members acting alone: new look at the last Israeli–Palestine incidents
By: Shaul Bartal
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 53, Issue 2 (2017)
Abstract: The ‘sacrificial attacks’ in Jerusalem and throughout all of Israel, from July 2014 until August 2015, were the promo of the full-scale knife-attack that started from October 2015 until now. The uniqueness of this wave of terror is its length – over a year – and its use of the old-new ‘white weapons’ which, since October 2015, has included women and children. This research answers how and why these lone-wolf attacks started. The ‘lone-wolf’ attacks, as nicknamed in the Israeli and worldwide press, are, in reality, a continuation of the organized terror activities of the Palestinian liberation organizations especially the Islamic Jihad and Hamas. This is not a popular intifada drawing the masses, nor an armed intifada, but a wave of terror that includes a large number of initiated attacks by known anti-Israel Palestinians connected to terrorist organizations by their past activities or through relatives (prisoners or martyrs) or inspired by the Internet sites and social media. The Palestinian liberation organizations are all protecting al-Aqsa and supporting, without any restrictions, a continuation of the attacks against Israeli targets in Jerusalem and competing with each other.
The Implications of Siege and the Internal Palestinian Division on the Situation in the Gaza Strip Since 2007
By: Omar Shaban
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 22, Issue 2 & 3 (2017)
Abstract: Not available
Leadership Matters: The Effects of Targeted Killings on Militant Group Tactics
By: Max Abrahms, Jochen Mierau
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 29, Issue 5 (2017)
Abstract: Targeted killings have become a central component of counterterrorism strategy. In response to the unprecedented prevalence of this strategy around the world, numerous empirical studies have recently examined whether “decapitating” militant groups with targeted killings is strategically effective. This study builds on that research program by examining the impact of targeted killings on militant group tactical decision-making. Our empirical strategy exploits variation in the attack patterns of militant groups conditional on whether a government’s targeted killing attempt succeeded against them operationally. In both the Afghanistan-Pakistan and Israel-West Bank-Gaza Strip theaters, targeted killings significantly alter the nature of militant group violence. When their leaderships are degraded with a successful strike, militant groups become far less discriminate in their target selection by redirecting their violence from military to civilian targets. We then analyze several potential causal mechanisms to account for these results and find strongest evidence that targeted killings tend to promote indiscriminate organizational violence by empowering lower level members with weaker civilian restraint.
The Dual Legal System in Gaza
By: Ali Abu Shahla
Published in Palestine-Israel The Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 21, Issue 3 (2016)
Abstract: Not available
Rethinking Palestine: settler-colonialism, neo-liberalism and individualism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
By: Jamil Hilal
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 8, Issue 3 (2015)
Abstract: The 1967 occupied Palestinian territories have undergone three major types of development since the Oslo agreement between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel was signed in 1993 and the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994. These developments have brought far-reaching structural changes in Palestinian politics and society. They have rendered Palestinian communities – inside historic Palestine and outside - very vulnerable, and made collective action against collective colonial repression (including a third intifada) more difficult. The three developments are identified as: the emergence of a political discourse that evicts Palestinians from history and geography and denies them a national identity; the escalation of collective repression, and settler-colonization; and the localization of Palestinian politics and the atomization of Palestinian society (in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and probably elsewhere) under the impact of settler-colonialism and neo-liberalism.
The Vicious Cycle of Building and Destroying: the 2014 War on Gaza
By: Dimitris Bourisa
Published in Mediterranean Politics Volume 20, Issue 1 (2015)
Abstract: The 2014 summer war on Gaza was the third in the last six years and in many ways the most devastating one. While the triggers to this war were the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli teenagers and the subsequent kidnapping and burning alive of a Palestinian teenager, the real reasons can be traced back to the international community's failed and myopic policies towards Gaza. Moreover, by adopting the ‘West Bank first’ strategy the international community has failed to blow some fresh air into what is left of the so-called Middle East Peace Process and has acted as the abettor of the recent war.
Bringing Back the Palestinian State: Hamas between Government and Resistance
By: Somdeep Sen
Published in Middle East Critique Volume 24, Issue 2 (2015)
Abstract: Most of the literature on Hamas that focuses on its role as both a government and a resistance movement has emphasized how the organization either is conditioned historically to being a sociopolitical and military entity or is treading a path of de-radicalization. Emphasizing the limitations of such analyses, this article proposes a recalibration of the manner in which we study Palestinian politics in general and the Islamic Resistance in particular. To this effect, and drawing on reflections from fieldwork experiences in the Gaza Strip, it claims that Hamas today isn't necessarily engaging in a praxis of political behavior of its own creation but rather is living a Palestinian vernacular condition mandated by the Oslo Accords. That said, and within this condition, political behavior not only is informed by the state as an aspiration but also by the state as a model and inspiration, as it marks and informs the conduct of political factions. Then, by proposing the existence of a Palestinian state in oscillation between being an aspiration and an inspiration, it is hoped that it would allow for new parameters and a vocabulary for understanding Palestinian politics as more than a ‘problem’ waiting to be solved. Rather, Palestinian politics emerge as a site for reconsidering the manner in which the politics of liberation movements can be understood.
Did Israel Weaken Hamas?
By: Efraim Inbar
Published in Middle East Quarterly Volume 22, Issue 2 (2015)
Abstract: Not available
Rethinking Operation Protective Edge
By: Eitan Shamir
Published in Middle East Quarterly Volume 22, Issue 2 (2015)
Abstract: Not available
Gaza as an Open-Air Prison
By: Ilana Feldman
Published in Middle East Report Volume 45, Issue 275 (2015)
Abstract: Not available
Sheikh Qaradawi and the Internal Palestinian Struggle Issues Preventing Reconciliation Between Fatah and Hamas and the Influence of the Qaradāwi Era over the Struggle Between the Organizations
By: Shaul Bartal
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 51, Issue 4 (2015)
Abstract: Sheikh Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi is one of the most influential Muslim thinkers in the world. Western observers consider him a moderate, a bridge between Muslim conservatives and Islamic activists. This article, through direct translation of Sheikh al-Qaradawi's verbal and written expressions, shows the view of him as a moderate to be wishful thinking when it deals with the Palestinian problem. This article deals with issues preventing reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas and the influence of the Qaradawi era over the struggle between the organizations.
Gaza: Visioning Peace in a Place Like Hell
By: Ian S. McIntosh
Published in Palestine-Israel The Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 20, Issue 2-3 (2015)
Abstract: Not available
Non-State Actors as Providers of Governance: The Hamas Government in Gaza between Effective Sovereignty, Centralized Authority, and Resistance
By: Benedetta Berti
Published in The Middle East Journal Volume 69, Issue 1 (2015)
Abstract: The article tracks Hamas’s political evolution by analyzing its governance record, as well as its political, economic, and social policies as the effective government in the Gaza Strip between 2007 and 2013. By providing a specific snapshot in time, the study focuses on understanding Hamas’s approach to governance, as well as how the group has been able to function as a “rebel government” since taking over the Gaza Strip. The article also highlights the complex interactions between Hamas the political party, Hamas the effective government, and Hamas the non-state armed group.
Palestinian Public Opinion in the Wake of the Gaza War
By: Rosa Lia
Published in Palestine-Israel The Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 19, Issue 4 and Volume 20, Issue 1 (2014-2015)
Abstract: Not available
Thoughts on the 2014 Gaza War
By: Daniel Bar-Tal
Published in Palestine-Israel The Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 19, Issue 4 and Volume 20, Issue 1 (2014-2015)
Abstract: Not available
Operation 1000 for the Settlement of Jewish-American Immigrants in the Occupied Territories
By: Sara Yael Hirschhorn
Published in Israel Studies Volume 19, Issue 3 (2014)
Abstract: The article examines the unknown settlement program Mivza Ha-Elef [Operation 1000], a partnership between the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the World Zionist Organization (WZO), Gush Emunim [Bloc of the Faithful], Hadassah, and the American-Jewish religious denominations that aimed to attract Jewish-Americans to live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 1980 and 1985. Through an examination of archival documents, periodical press, film, and other existing media never before brought to light, I reconstruct this unique initiative and its discourses for the first time in the scholarly literature. This study is based in historical methodology, but draws upon an interdisciplinary framework of inquiry. While the program itself bore mixed results, its discussion adds an important dimension to our understanding of the participation of Jewish-American immigrants within the Israeli settlement enterprise as well as new theoretical alternatives offered by considering this case-study within the framework of ethnic return migration.
Politicide in Gaza How Israel's Far Right Won the War
By: Max Blumenthal
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 44, Issue 1 (2014)
Abstract: At the end of the fifty-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, neither Israel nor Hamas had achieved their stated goals there: the armed resistance was still standing (despite the massive damage the territory and its people sustained) and the crippling Israeli siege was not lifted. Rather, this essay argues, it was Israel's far right that emerged the victor. Not only did religious nationalists and secular extremists outflank the right-wing establishment, they justified the brutality of their actions in the military battle zone with messianic pronouncements, and fanned the flames of genocide in the public arena. The far right's wartime success represented the culmination of a strategy Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling has called “politicide,” a coinage denoting the partial or total destruction of a community of people with a view to denying them self-determination.
The Twelve Wars on Gaza
By: Jean-Pierre Filiu
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 44, Issue 1 (2014)
Abstract: The fifty-day war on the Gaza Strip during the summer of 2014 was far more devastating than previous conflicts. But it was neither unprecedented nor unpredictable, being, in effect, Israel's twelfth war against Gaza. This essay contends that if the seemingly endless cycle of violence is to be broken, the latest conflict must be placed in its proper context: the eleven wars on Gaza that preceded this one and Israel's obdurate refusal to countenance the national rights of the Palestinians or recognize Gaza as an integral part of Palestine.
Tightening the Noose The Institutionalized Impoverishment of Gaza, 2005–2010
By: Trude Strand
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 43, Issue 2 (2014)
Abstract: This article outlines and analyzes Israel's Gaza policy during the period from 2005 to 2010. Based on primary materials, including the testimony of Israeli officials before the Turkel Commission investigating the Mavi Marmara incident, classified documents that have come to light through Wikileaks, and Israeli government documentation, the article argues that in the wake of Israel's evacuation of the territory under its 2005 Disengagement Plan, the Gaza Strip became the object of a deliberate and sustained policy of institutionalized impoverishment. Looking at Israeli policy-making as both process and outcome, the article highlights how measures ostensibly implemented to “punish” Hamas-from the incremental tightening of restrictions to the imposition of a full blockade, in addition to periodic military assaults-have pauperized a large proportion of Gaza's more than 1.5 million inhabitants.
The Implications of Joining the ICC after Operation Protective Edge
By: Victor Kattan
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 44, Issue 1 (2014)
Abstract: Since the summer 2014 Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, the calls have grown louder for Palestine to ratify the Rome Statute and join the International Criminal Court (ICC). Palestinian factions across the political spectrum have indicated that they would support such a move. But in spite of gaining the status of an observer-state at the United Nations, Palestine has yet to join the ICC. While acceding to the Rome Statute and filing the application to the ICC is a relatively straightforward process, there are numerous risk factors involved. This article investigates a variety of possible scenarios and their likely outcomes, including the legal mechanisms necessary for acceding to the Rome Statute, and alternative measures that the Palestinian leadership might envisage.
Beyond Fateh Corruption and Mass Discontent: Hamas, the Palestinian Left and the 2006 Legislative Elections
By: Manal A. Jamal
Published in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Volume 40, Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract: The unanticipated victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections was a defining moment in the study of Islamist politics; the results were a startling surprise to all parties, not least Hamas. Much of the literature that assesses the electoral success of Islamists focuses on the distinct characteristics of Islamist groups, paying less attention to the complex interplay of factors that may account for their success. Examining Hamas's performance in the 2006 legislative elections, this article endeavours to: (1) challenge pervasive analysis which asserts the distinctiveness of Islamist political organisations; (2) situate the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections within a broader discussion of opposition politics in the Arab world; and (3) highlight the significance of long-term organisational trajectories and election campaign strategies in accounting for Islamist electoral performance. Findings in this article have important implications for how we understand Islamist and leftist opposition politics in light of the Arab Spring.
The Punishment of Gaza
By: Edward Sayre
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 42, Issue 2 (2013)
Abstract: Not available
Gas Finds in the Eastern Mediterranean Gaza, Israel, and Other Conflicts
By: Anaïs Antreasyan
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 42, Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract: This article looks at the gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean since the late 1990s and how they have fueled-or otherwise intersected with-the various regional conflicts. About half of the article examines the fate of the 1999 gas discoveries off Gaza (within the maritime space set for the Palestinians by Oslo), and Israel-s role in controlling the outcome. The other half is devoted, collectively, to the gas discoveries off Israel, Egypt, and Cyprus, as well as to the ensuing disputes and shifts of alliances involving these three states plus Lebanon and Turkey. Given the state of flux in the region, it is too soon to speculate on the ultimate geopolitical impact of the new finds.
Hamas and the Arab Spring: Strategic Shifts?
By: Beverley Milton-Edwards
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 20, Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas and the Syrian Uprising: A Difficult Choice
By: Valentina Napolitano
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 20, Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas-PLO Relations Before and After the arab Spring
By: Dag Tuastad
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 20, Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract: Not available
Growth in Per Capita GDP in the West Bank and Gaza 1950–2005
By: Andrew Schein
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 49, Issue 6 (2013)
Abstract: This paper examines the growth of per capita GDP in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBG) from 1950 to 2005. Data from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank is integrated with Angus Maddison's estimates of per capita GDP of the WBG and Israel to produce new estimates of per capita GDP for the WBG from 1950–2005 in 1990 international dollars. With these new estimates, it is possible to compare the growth in WBG from an international perspective. One finding is that from 1968 to 1999 the economic growth in WBG was the tenth highest in the world.
Israel’s Blockade of Gaza, the Mavi Marmara Incident, and its Aftermath
By: Carol Migdalovitz
Published in Current Politics and Economics of The Middle East Volume 3, Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract: Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but retained control of its borders. Hamas, a U.S. State Department-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and forcibly seized control of the territory in 2007. Israel imposed a tighter blockade of Gaza in response to Hamas's takeover and tightened the flow of goods and materials into Gaza after its military offensive against Hamas from December 2008 to January 2009. That offensive destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure, but Israel has obstructed the delivery of rebuilding materials that it said could also be used to manufacture weapons and for other military purposes. Israel, the U.N., and international non-governmental organizations differ about the severity of the blockade's effects on the humanitarian situation of Palestinian residents of Gaza. Nonetheless, it is clear that the territory's economy and people are suffering. In recent years, humanitarian aid groups have sent supply ships and activists to Gaza. However, Israel directs them to its port of Ashdod for inspection before delivery to Gaza. In May 2010, the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and the pro-Hamas Turkish Humanitarian Relief Fund organized a six-ship flotilla to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and to break Israel's blockade of the territory. The ships refused an Israeli offer to deliver the goods to Ashdod. On May 31, Israeli naval special forces intercepted the convoy in international waters. They took control of five of the ships without resistance. However, some activists on a large Turkish passenger vessel challenged the commandos. The confrontation resulted in eight Turks and one Turkish-American killed, more than 20 passengers injured, and 10 commandos injured.
Malaysian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Humanitarian Issues in Gaza, Palestine
By: Asmady Idris
Published in International Journal of West Asian Studies Volume 4, Issue 1 (2012)
Abstract: Since Israel‟s blockade and the Operation Casting Lead (OCL)in the Gaza Strip, many international NGOs have come forward to render help and lessen the plight of the Palestinians. For the Malaysian NGOs, particularly Aman Palestin and Lifeline4Gaza, easing the burden of the Palestinians is a responsibility that must be shared. Although these two groups applied different approaches, with Aman Palestin using the land route of the Rafah crossing and the Lifeline4Gaza joining the international flotillas, the same goals are being pursued: to help the people of Palestine to be safe and free. To some extent, the rise of many NGOs in championing the issue of human rights at the international level has been considered as a challenge for the state. The continuous reaction of NGOs challenging the state on the issue of human rights has indirectly furthered the rivalry in the discipline of international relations, namely „state actor versus non-state actors (or NGOs)‟. Without relying on the influence of the powerful states, many international NGOs have successfully managed to show to the world that they can do things that states „cannot do‟. By using more diplomatic ways (delivering humanitarian aid), and not in the form of terrorism, this has been found to be more effective to tell the world leaders of the sufferings of the Gaza people. Nevertheless, in the case of Malaysia, it can be argued that both the state and non-state actors (Malaysian NGOs) are co-operating well in promoting the issue of human rights internationally. Both are supporting each other to ensure the mission and the vision of helping the Palestinians becomes a reality.
Digital Occupation: Gaza’s High-Tech Enclosure
By: Helga Tawil-Souri
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 2 (2012)
Abstract: In disengaging from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Israel did not end the occupation but technologized it through purportedly “frictionless” hightechnology mechanisms. The telecommunications sector was turned over to the Palestinian Authority under Oslo II and subcontracted to Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL), furthering a neoliberal economic agenda that privately “enclosed” digital space. Coming on top of Israel's ongoing limitations on Palestinian land-lines, cellular, and Internet infrastructures, the result is a “digital occupation” of Gaza characterized by increasing privatization, surveillance, and control. While deepening Palestinian economic reliance on Israel and making Palestinian high-tech firms into dependent agents, digital occupation also enhances Israel's territorial containment of the Strip.
Compounding Vulnerability: Impacts of Climate Change on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank
By: Michael Mason, Mark Zeitoun, Ziad Mimi
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract: Coping with (and adapting to) climatological hazards is commonly understood in intergovernmental and aid agency fora as a purely technical matter. This article examines the UN Development Programme's stakeholder consultations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to challenge the donor-driven technical-managerial framing of Palestinian climate vulnerability by showing how Israeli occupation practices exacerbate environmental stresses. While emphasizing the importance of social, economic, and political contexts in shaping populations' responses to climate change in general, the authors demonstrate the multiple ways in which the occupation specifically compounds hazards reveals it as constitutive of Palestinian climate vulnerability.
Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege
By: Nicolas Pelham
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 4 (2012)
Abstract: This article traces the extraordinary development of Gaza's tunnel phenomenon over the past decade in response to Israel's economic asphyxiation of the small coastal enclave. It focuses on the period since Hamas's 2007 takeover of the Strip, which saw the industry's transformation from a clandestine, makeshift operation into a major commercial enterprise, regulated, taxed, and bureaucratized. In addition to describing the particulars of the tunnel complex, the article explores its impact on Gaza's socioeconomic hierarchy, strategic orientation, and Islamist rule. The larger geopolitical context, especially with regard to Israel, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Nile Valley, is also discussed. The author argues that contrary to the intentions of its architects, the siege precipitated the reconfiguration of Gaza's economy and enabled its rulers to circumvent the worst effects of the blockade.
The Politics of International Aid to the Gaza Strip
By: Tamer Qarmout, Daniel Beland
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 4 (2012)
Abstract: International aid to the Palestinian Authority is conditioned in part on democratization and good governance. However, since Hamas's victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections and its takeover of the Gaza Strip, aid agencies have supported the international boycott of the Hamas government. This article argues that aid agencies, by operating in Gaza while boycotting its government, subvert their mandates and serve the political interests of donors and the PA rather than the humanitarian and development needs of Gazans. As a consequence, assistance has, inadvertently and unintentionally, increased Gazans' dependence on humanitarian aid, impeded economic development, and enabled Israel to maintain its occupation and the blockade of Gaza.
The Origins of Hamas: Militant Legacy or Israeli Tool?
By: Jean-Pierre Filiu
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract: Since its creation in 1987, Hamas has been at the forefront of armed resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories. While the movement itself claims an unbroken militancy in Palestine dating back to 1935, others credit post-1967 maneuvers of Israeli Intelligence for its establishment. This article, in assessing these opposing narratives and offering its own interpretation, delves into the historical foundations of Hamas starting with the establishment in 1946 of the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (the mother organization) and ending with its emergence as a distinct entity at the outbreak of the first intifada. Particular emphasis is given to the Brotherhood's pre-1987 record of militancy in the Strip, and on the complicated and intertwining relationship between the Brotherhood and Fatah.
Facts on the Ground: The Growing Power of Hamas's Gaza Leadership
By: Jonathan Spyer
Published in Middle East Review of International Affairs Volume 16, Issue 2 (2012)
Abstract: This article will observe the process whereby Hamas has consolidated and maintained its rule in Gaza. It will argue that the gradual strengthening of the Gaza leadership within Hamas preceded the upheavals of 2011. The fallout from the events in Egypt and Syria, however, served to accelerate and accentuate the process whereby the Gaza leadership made gains at the expense of the external leadership.
Hamas and its Vision of Development
By: Guy Burton
Published in Third World Quarterly Volume 33, Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract: This article accounts for the conceptualisation of development by the Palestinian Islamist party, Hamas. It concludes that Hamas's position on development can be seen in either two ways: 1) as broadly similar to mainstream neoliberal development; or 2) as significantly different and an alternative type of development. Which view taken depends on whether an Orientalist or non-Orientalist approach to understanding development is employed (with Orientalism linking development, modernity and progress with the West and denying it to the non-West). While an Orientalist view assumes that development only occurs within narrow parameters, obliging the non-West to ‘catch up’, a non-Orientalist approach would study Islam on its own terms—and therefore see Hamas's approach to development as an alternative to mainstream thinking. To account for this, the article studies the basis of knowledge in Orientalism and Islamic thought alongside Hamas's rise from its foundation in 1987 to its control of Gaza in mid-2007.
Violence and Control in Civil Conflict: Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza
By: Ravi Bhavnani, Dan Miodownik, Hyun Jin Choi
Published in Comparative Politics Volume 44, Issue 1 (2011)
Abstract: What explains the use of selective and indiscriminate violence in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza from 1987 to 2005? Using micro-level data, an aggregated analysis indicates that areas of dominant but incomplete territorial control consistently experience more frequent and intense episodes of selective violence, providing support for Stathis Kalyvas's theory on the logic of civil violence. Disaggregating the analysis by each zone of control and perpetrator, however, offers only mixed empirical support for Kalyvas's predictions. While Palestinian-perpetrated violence is still consistent with theoretical expectations, Israel more frequently resorts to the use of selective violence where Palestinians exercise greater control. Such disconfirming evidence points to causal mechanisms previously unaccounted for and contributes to a more nuanced specification of the microfoundations of violence in civil conflict.
Having It Both Ways: The Question of Legal Regimes in Gaza and The West Bank
By: Hilly Moodrick-Even Khen
Published in Israel Studies Volume 16, Issue 2 (2011)
Abstract: The discourse on legal issues deriving from the second Intifada contains many controversial or undecided issues. For example, does Israel have a right to self-defense in Gaza or in the West Bank? What legal regimes should apply in Gaza and in the West Bank? In light of the above questions, the article discusses the differences and similarities of the legal status of these two territories and makes three claims. First, that Gaza and the West Bank should be considered separate legal units, and that different legal regimes should apply in each area. Second, the jus ad bellum, in particular the right to self-defense, can be applied to both the Israeli––Gaza conflict and the situation in the West Bank. Third, that despite the differences between the two legal units, neither of these geographical areas can be administered by a single legal regime.
A Balance of Fear: Asymmetric Threats and Tit-For-Tat Strategies in Gaza
By: Margret Johannsen
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 41, Issue 1 (2011)
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.
Hamas “Foreign Minister” Usama Hamdan Talks About National Reconciliation, Arafat, Reform, and Hamas's Presence in Lebanon
By: Editorial Staff
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 40, Issue 3 (2011)
Abstract: Usama Hamdan, since mid-2010 in charge of Hamas's international relations (in effect, its foreign minister), was born in al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1965. After earning his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1986 from Jordan's Yarmouk University, where he was active in the Islamic Student Movement, he worked in private industry in Kuwait until the first Gulf war. Appointed Hamas representative to Iran in 1992, he held that post until 1998, when he was named Hamas representative to Lebanon. Since taking charge of the movement's foreign affairs portfolio, Hamdan commutes between Beirut and Damascus.
The Gaza War: Instrumental Civilian Suffering?
By: Andrew Flibbert
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 18, Issue 1 (2011)
Abstract: Not available
Gaza's Tunnel Complex
By: Nicolas Pelham
Published in Middle East Report Volume 41, Issue 261 (2011)
Abstract: Not available
An Intifada in Europe? A Comparative Analysis of Radicalization Processes Among Palestinians in The West Bank and Gaza Versus Muslim Immigrants in Europe
By: Boaz Ganor
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 34, Issue 8 (2011)
Abstract: Groups of second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants in Europe are increasingly undergoing radicalization processes that can lead to violent activity. These immigrants find relief for their frustrations in global jihadi ideology and radical Islam. In seeking to understand these radicalization processes within the European context, the author draws lessons from the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza on the eve of the “First Intifada” (popular uprising) in 1987. While these cases have different root causes and implications, the author's comparative analysis demonstrates that the social processes and generational clashes that lead to radicalization are shared by the two arenas.
Objects of Security: Gendered Violence and Securitized Humanitarianism in Occupied Gaza
By: Hagar Kotef
Published in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East Volume 30, Issue 2 (2010)
Abstract: This essay seeks to define the current regime of national security, tracing a shift within the gender categories that subtend notions of justified (state) violence. It focuses on Israel's occupation, and in particular its violent control over the Gaza Strip, to examine the relations between war and enmity on the one hand and humanitarianism and subject-citizens on the other. I argue that security relies on a new mechanism of justifying violence, wherein the distinction between (feminized) civilians and (masculinized) aggressors is replaced with more “gender-blind” violence, which incorporates both humanitarian language and aberrant, thin disciplinary processes to form a subject whose killing is always already justifiable.
Selected Indicators On The Palestinian Economy (West Bank and Gaza Strip), 2003–2008
By: Gabi El‐Khoury
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 3, Issue 1 (2010)
Abstract: Not available
A Gendered Movement for Liberation: Hamas's Women's Movement and Nation Building in Contemporary Palestine
By: Anna–Esther Younes
Published in Contemporary Arab Affairs Volume 3, Issue 1 (2010)
Abstract: This research on Hamas's women's movement explains the contemporary political and social involvement of women with a multilayered perspective of different theories based on a textual analysis of the movement's publications (the Hamas Charta 1988 and the Electoral Program 2006, as well as women's testimonies to popular media outlets). Subsequently, it is claimed that only a comprehensive combination of post-colonial studies, gender and nationalism studies can fully grasp women's roles within the Hamas movement. Uniting these three approaches, there are three main hypotheses for women's activism and role within Hamas. First, Hamas propagates gendered worldviews and roles within the nationalist project as well as within the movement. Those outlooks intersect with historized notions of Arab–Muslim identity as well as with notions of liberation against foreign (Western) occupation and colonialism. Second, the ‘women of Hamas’ use such gendered roles in order to pave the way for a pious, yet determined, women's participation within the nationalist venture as well as the movement's overall project of national liberation. Third, the gendered defence calculus springing from those views allows a restructuring of society in general, vis-à-vis the Palestinian population as well as vis-à-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel and Hamas: Conflict in Gaza
By: Jim Zanotti, Jeremy M. Sharp, Carol Migdalivitz, Casey L. Addis, Christopher M. Blanchard
Published in Current Politics and Economics of The Middle East Volume 1, Issue 1-2 (2010)
Abstract: Not available
Armed Conflicts and Capital Markets: The Case of The Israeli Military Offensive in The Gaza Strip
By: Christos Kollias, Stephanos Papadamou, Apostolos Stagiannis
Published in Defense and Peace Economics Volume 21, Issue 4 (2010)
Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of the impact that armed conflicts have on capital markets. It focuses on the recent Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip launched in late 2008 and concluded in early 2009. The paper examines the effects of this armed conflict on the return and volatility of the general index of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), as well as on the government bond index. Furthermore, event study methodology is applied to identify markets’ reactions to the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Political Instability, Closures and Labor Reallocation in The West Bank and Gaza Strip
By: Edward Sayre
Published in Defense and Peace Economics Volume 21, Issue 4 (2010)
Abstract: This paper investigates the labor market responses to conflict and labor market disruptions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. From 1987 to 1995 the West Bank and Gaza Strip witnessed an increase in instability as political conflict disrupted the economy. This paper finds that disruptions later in the period are associated with increased reallocation between sectors and lower unemployment, compared to equivalent shocks earlier in the period. Additionally, the effects of these shocks are primarily felt by younger workers. The findings are consistent with a decrease in human capital investment during this time, but several alternative explanations are also explored.
Reframing resistance and democracy: narratives from Hamas and Hizbullah
By: Larbi Sadiki
Published in Democratization Volume 17, Issue 2 (2010)
Abstract: There is no model of politics without violence and no violence without a vision of the political, democratic and non-democratic. This article investigates how this claim applies to the case studies of Hamas and Hizbullah. More specifically, it looks at the archaeology of violence practised by both organizations in the name of Islamic resistance (muqawamah), examining its moral and politico-religious foundation and lineage as well as demotic impulses. Islamic resistance, I argue, not only sabotages the Weberian template of single monopoly, legitimacy and centre in the dispensation of violence, but also deploys it from the margins as part of a Godly-sanctioned ethical quest for notions of sacrifice, worship, emancipation, transnational solidarity, and civic community. It reveals a politics of knowledge-making, and power founded on a heterodoxy that interrogates Western systemic political orthodoxy and its attendant formal constructs and dogmas of violence and, indirectly, of organized politics. The discussion is prefaced by a critical assessment of this claim within Western democracies.
"The Most Moral Army in The World"?: The New "Ethical Code" of The Israeli Military and The War On Gaza
By: Muhammad Ali Khalidi
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 39, Issue 3 (2010)
Abstract: This article examines the content of and justification for a new "ethical code" designed for the Israeli army to take into account the "fight against terror. " It argues that the code contains two innovations: it includes acts aimed exclusively at military targets in its definition of "terrorism," and it contains a principle of distinction that prioritizes the lives of citizen combatants over those of noncitizen noncombatants, contrary to centuries of theorizing about the morality of war as well as international humanitarian law. The article suggests that the principle of distinction played a direct role in Israel's offensive in Gaza in winter 2008––2009, as demonstrated by a preponderance of testimony indicating that Israeli military commanders explicitly instructed soldiers to give priority to their own lives over those of Palestinian noncombatants.
The Gaza War, Congress, and International Humanitarian Law
By: Stephen Zunes
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 17, Issue 1 (2010)
Abstract: Not available
The Hamas Agenda: How Has It Changed?
By: Baudouin Long
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 17, Issue 4 (2010)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas’s Web School for Suicide Bombers
By: Yohanan Manor, Ido Mizrahi
Published in Middle East Quarterly Volume 17, Issue 2 (2010)
Abstract: Not available
Democratization, Instability, and War: Israel's 2006 Conflicts With Hamas and Hezbollah
By: Evan Braden Montgomery, Stacie Pettyjohn
Published in Security Studies Volume 19, Issue 3 (2010)
Abstract: In 2006 Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip and conducted a war in Lebanon following attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, respectively. Due to the elections that had recently taken place in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, these events seem to support the argument that democratizing nations are particularly war-prone. Yet the dynamics this perspective identifies as dangerous were largely absent. To address this puzzle, this paper offers three arguments. First, democratization enhanced the power of groups openly hostile to Israel, increasing Israel's perception of threat. Second, democratization was threatening because it occurred within highly divided societies governed by weak state institutions that allowed radical groups to attain political power. Finally, Israel's response to the increased threat posed by these groups was ultimately counterproductive because it further eroded the capacity of the Palestinian and Lebanese governments, heightened polarization within both societies, and therefore exacerbated the same conditions that made democratization threatening to begin with.
The E-Marketing Strategy of Hamas
By: Tomer Mozes, Gabriel Weimann
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 33, Issue 2 (2010)
Abstract: Given the growth of Internet research in recent years, it is rather surprising that research of online terrorism and countermeasures has been lacking theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The present study suggests applying the concepts and models taken from e-marketing to the study of terrorist websites. This work proves that when Hamas builds an array of sites in the Internet, it complies with the same rules that the Western business world follows.
“Martyrdom Is Life”: Jihad and Martyrdom in The Ideology of Hamas
By: Meir Litvak
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 33, Issue 8 (2010)
Abstract: This article analyzes the articulation of the doctrine of “Jihad of the Sword” and martyrdom by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine, Hamas, as a central pillar of Palestinian identity and as a major source of political mobilization and national empowerment. As part of this concept Hamas presents martyrdom as the epitome of jihad and of Islamic belief. The end-goal of jihad is the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jews. By emphasizing the centrality of “Jihad of the Sword” Hamas's ideas reveal a certain similarity to, or inspiration by, radical Salafi-jihadist Islamic movements. While Hamas adopted a pragmatic approach on short-term tactics, these doctrines impose constraints on the scope of a profound ideological transformation it can undergo.
Legitimizing Pragmatism: Hamas' Framing Efforts from Militancy to Moderation and Back?
By: Joas Wagemakers
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 22, Issue 3 (2010)
Abstract: This article shows how Hamas legitimized its policy choices during the Al-Aqsa intifada and the Gaza war. The organization's policy moved from violent during the initial stages of the uprising to more moderate during later years. While this entailed huge changes in the organization's course of action, Hamas nevertheless always managed to frame its choices in a way that seemed consistent with its long-held beliefs. The same occurred during the Gaza war, when Hamas moderated its discourse even further. This shows Hamas' flexibility and pragmatism but also that seemingly rigid ideological views can change quite dramatically when circumstances change too.
Gaza's Humanitarianism Problem
By: Ilana Feldman
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 38, Issue 3 (2009)
Abstract: This essay explores the possible negative consequences of identifying the current situation in Gaza primarily as a humanitarian problem. Scholarship on the complicated effects of humanitarian action in general, the early history of humanitarian intervention in the lives of Palestinians, and the current politics of aid in Gaza all underscore these problems. The essay reflects on several aspects of what can be called the “humanitarianism problem” in Gaza by considering both how humanitarianism is sometimes deployed as a strategy for frustrating Palestinian aspirations and the often unintended political effects of the most well-intentioned humanitarian interventions.
Shooting Gaza: Photographers, Photographs, and The Unbearable Lightness of War
By: Peter Lagerquist
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 38, Issue 3 (2009)
Abstract: Barred entry to Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, Western photojournalists and TV crews found themselves confined to the Israeli side of the border during the assault, peering along the barrels of IDF artillery. The following essay reflects on what was said and heard among them on a sunny day in January 2009, how they and local Israeli spectators related to the violence, and how these two perspectives were tacitly elided in photographs of the war.
Notes On The Aftermath: Gaza, Summer 2009
By: Elena N. Hogan
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 38, Issue 4 (2009)
Abstract: This personal account describes aspects of closure, siege, and daily life witnessed in the Gaza Strip from May to July 2009, with emphasis on the impact of the blockade in the wake of Operation Cast Lead. As an international worker made to grapple with increasingly complicated Israeli bureaucracy, but “allowed” access into Gaza for purposes of humanitarian aid, the author describes her impressions of the current Gazan situation as an instance of isolation whose plight is increasingly hidden from the gaze of the outside world.
Reflections On The War On Gaza
By: Camille Mansour
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 38, Issue 4 (2009)
Abstract: This essay looks at the Gaza war of winter 2008–2009 within its broader politico-military context. At the political level, Israel's post-2005 disengagement policies and initiatives with regard to Gaza (and Egypt) and their implications relative to the future of the West Bank are emphasized. Militarily, in examining the background and objectives of the war, the author gives particular importance to the testing of lessons drawn from the past, especially the summer 2006 war on Lebanon, in the aim of regaining a kind of “Dahiya” deterrence based on reprisals against civilians rather than on battlefield victory.
Hamas Inside The Beltway
By: Pete W. Moore
Published in Middle East Law and Governence Volume 1, Issue 1 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Gaza, Israel, Hamas and The Lost Calm of Operation Cast Lead
By: Sherifa Zuhur
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 16, Issue 1 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Negative Impact of Policy On The Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance in The Gaza Strip
By: Martha Myers
Published in Middle East Policy Volume 16, Issue 2 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Goldstone's Gaza Report: Part One: A Failure of Intelligence
By: Richard Landes
Published in Middle East Review of International Affairs Volume 13, Issue 4 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Goldstone's Gaza Report: Part Two: A Miscarriage of Human Rights
By: Richard Landes
Published in Middle East Review of International Affairs Volume 13, Issue 4 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Against The Consensus: Oppositionist Voices in Hamas
By: Menachem Klein
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 45, Issue 6 (2009)
Abstract: Despite its dogmatic image, Hamas has a tradition of debate in its ranks. It is shown below through critical articles and manifestos composed in the years 1993–2007 by senior members of the movement. The common denominator among all these documents is their critique of the consensus in Hamas. Oriented pragmatically rather than theologically, the writers cover Hamas' most important issues and are diverse in their styles and structures. By analyzing these documents we can peer into Hamas' ‘political-ideological kitchen'.
Strategic Change in Terrorist Movements: Lessons from Hamas
By: Hillel Frisch
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 32, Issue 12 (2009)
Abstract: Existing literature is weak in explaining strategic change among terrorist movements, especially regarding the question of why these organizations often switch between contesting the external enemy, usually the government or the occupying power, and the internal arena in which they compete against fellow rebel groups. A rebel force facing diminishing returns from a formerly successful tactic with no equally effective tactical substitute in sight is likely to switch from conflict against a government to achieve dominance in the rebel camp. The terrorist movement will switch from the external to the internal arena even if such substitution compromises the overall goals of the rebel camp. The following article explores these dynamics in Hamas's strategy in the latest round of conflict between the movement and Israel.
Al Qaeda Confronts Hamas: Divisions in The Sunni Jihadist Movement and Its Implications for U.S. Policy
By: Kim Cragin
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 32, Issue 7 (2009)
Abstract: Almost eight years after the September 2001 attacks, U.S. counterterrorism strategy would benefit from a clearer definition of its adversaries. Some have suggested that U.S. counterterrorism policy focus primarily on Sunni jihadists. This term would account for groups such as Al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines, but not Shi'ite militias in Iraq or Hizbullah. Although any attempt to narrow the scope of U.S. counterterrorism strategy has merit, it is worth noting that important distinctions exist between the various groups. To explore these distinctions, this article examines the different historical trajectories and current arguments between two of the most well-known Sunni jihadists: Al Qaeda and Hamas.
Christmas in Gaza: An Adventitious War?
By: Leonard Binder
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 21, Issue 3 (2009)
Abstract: Not available
Making Palestinian “Martyrdom Operations”/“Suicide Attacks”: Interviews With Would-Be Perpetrators and Organizers
By: Ariel Merari, Jonathan Fighel, Boaz Ganor, Ephraim Lavie, Yohanan Tzoreff, Arie Livne
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 22, Issue 1 (2009)
Abstract: Knowledge about the ways in which suicide attacks are recruited and prepared and on the motivation of suicide bombers and the factors that influence the decisions of organizers of suicide attacks has so far been sketchy and sporadic, derived mostly from media sources. In this study, 15 Palestinian would-be suicides and 14 organizers of suicide attacks participated in semi-structured interviews designed to fill this lacuna. The paper focuses on the self-reported feelings and behavior of the suicide bombers from recruitment to dispatching, as well as on the organizers' self-reported views and decisions concerning suicide attacks.
Bin Ladin, Palestine and Al-Qa‘ida’s Operational Strategy
By: Asaf Maliach
Published in Middle Eastern Studies Volume 44, Issue 3 (2008)
Abstract: Not available
Ideological Change and Israel’S Disengagement from Gaza
By: Jonathan Rynhold, Dov Waxman
Published in Political Science Quarterly Volume 123, Issue 1 (2008)
Abstract: Not available
The Ascendance of Political Islam: Hamas and Consolidation in The Gaza Strip
By: Beverley Milton-Edwards
Published in Third World Quarterly Volume 29, Issue 8 (2008)
Abstract: This article outlines the means by which the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas has developed and implemented a consolidation of power strategy that is inexorably driving it to a state of increasingly authoritarian control in the Gaza Strip. It discusses the factors that have driven Hamas in terms of power seeking as primordial to all radical Islamist movements or as a result of or response to other factors outside its control. The article highlights the concurrent demise of the Fatah organisation in the Gaza Strip as the largest and most visible symbol of secularism. It then reflects on the role of external, including international, actors in accelerating consolidation tactics following the Hamas 'takeover' of power from the Fatah-dominated institutions of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in June 2007. The article aims to demonstrate that Hamas' control in Gaza is an important signpost in terms of developing Islamism in the Middle East region.
Hamas: Victory With Ballots and Bullets
By: Beverley Milton-Edwards
Published in Global Change, Peace & Security Volume 19, Issue 3 (2007)
Abstract: Since the electoral win of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas's ‘Change and Reform’ candidates in legislative elections in January 2006 and the subsequent formation of a Hamas government in April 2006 the dynamics of democratic politics on the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been severely undermined and challenged. By June 2007 Hamas had complete control of the Gaza Strip and President Abbas had formed a separate ‘emergency government’ located on the West Bank. This paper examines the prospects for democracy in the Palestinian Authority territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to what extent political factions are subverting institutions and frameworks for democratic rule in order to create outcomes where they extend a monopoly of power. The paper questions the extent to which the lexicon of Hamas's ‘Islamism’ has manifested itself as Islamic governance since the organization obtained power through the ballot box in 2006. The paper ends with a discussion of some of the challenges facing Hamas and Fatah and the new political arrangements for governance, given the dynamics and debate outlined.
Notes from The Field: Return to The Ruin That Is Gaza
By: Jennifer Loewenstein
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 36, Issue 3 (2007)
Abstract: This personal account of the author's November 2006 visit to Gaza, which coincided with Israel's launch of its “Operation Autumn Clouds,” examines the impact on the Strip of economic and military siege, which intensified following Hamas's victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections. The author also addresses post-election changes in Gaza, both politically (especially the rise of open conflict between factions) and socially. She concludes by examining Gaza's grim and uncertain future in the wake of the intense devastation—economic, political, and social—wreaked over the past several years.
Commercial Closure: Deleting Gaza’S Economy from The Map
By: Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 14, Issue 2 (2007)
Abstract: Not available
Future Scenarios After The Gaza Events
By: Mohammed Migdad
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 14, Issue 2 (2007)
Abstract: Not available
June Violence in Gaza Weakens Hamas in The West Bank, Increases Support for Early Elections
By: Khalil Shikaki
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 14, Issue 2 (2007)
Abstract: Not available
The Gaza Economy: Current Status and Future Prospects
By: Mahmoud K. Okasha
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 14, Issue 3 (2007)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas Between The Unseen (Al-Ghayb) and The Real
By: Fayssal Hourani
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 14, Issue 2 (2007)
Abstract: Not available
Could Hamas Target The West?
By: Matthew Levitt
Published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume 30, Issue 11 (2007)
Abstract: A violent Islamist organization, Hamas, is also a nationalist movement that holds “resistance” to Israel as its highest goal. Unlike global terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Hamas has traditionally confined its violent activities to the local arena comprising Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. While citizens of Western countries have been killed in Hamas' indiscriminate suicide bombings, Hamas has not taken its violent campaign abroad targeting Israeli diplomats or Western allies. Indeed, several layers of disincentives mitigate against Hamas targeting Israeli interests abroad or targeting Western interests. But under what conditions might Hamas be prepared to target Western interests? The answer to this question requires a level of analysis approach that considers Hamas as an organization, as a conglomerate of semi-independent cells, and as a wellspring for rogue cells and independent actors, with these last two entities posing the greatest future threat. Contrary to conventional wisdom, there is precedent for Hamas considering the attacks on Israeli interests abroad and on Western interests themselves. In final analysis, the author believes Hamas unlikely to attack Western interests in the short term. But the following analysis reveals that under certain conditions Hamas' attack calculus could change in the future.
Hamas in Power
By: Menachem Klein
Published in The Middle East Journal Volume 61, Issue 3 (2007)
Abstract: This article challenges the static approach to Hamas as a simple fundamentalist organization by analyzing its political documents. It shows that Hamas' Islamist ideology has not prevented it from moving from fundamentalism to radicalism. Hamas has innovated ways of allowing its leaders to declare or acquiesce in political positions that contradict its fundamentalist creed. Hamas accomplished this change in the course of a domestic debate. The international boycott of its government did not create the change - Hamas began to talk in two voices before winning the 2006 elections.
Building Democracy in Palestine: Liberal Peace Theory and the Election of Hamas
By: Mandy Turner
Published in Democratization Volume 13, Issue 5 (2006)
Abstract: The victory of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, in the January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Authority, was greeted with dismay by the international community, which responded by cutting off aid. This article seeks to understand why Hamas was elected, as well as the international community's response, through an analysis of the liberal peace thesis. This thesis states that democracies do not go to war with one another, thus it was thought that building a democratic Palestinian state would buttress the peace process. The Palestinian people have, however, elected an organization that rejects the peace process. This has provided a wake-up call for the US to face up to the fact that promoting democratization may not always produce the results it desires. The US sees the election of Hamas as the cause of the current crisis and the main obstacle to peace. This article, however, argues that this is merely a symptom, not the cause, of the crisis. The Palestinian Authority's lack of sovereignty and its complete dependence on Israel put severe limitations on the building of a viable, democratic state. The article concludes that the US's uncompromising response to Hamas could well undermine democracy promotion in the region.
Hamas, Israel, and The Prospects for Peace
By: Casimir A. Yost
Published in Georgetown Journal of International Affairs Volume 7, Issue 2 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
The Palestinian Elections: Beyond Hamas and Fatah
By: Riad Malki
Published in Journal of Democracy Volume 17, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: January’s remarkably free and affair parliamentary elections broke the PLO’s long-standing monopoly over Palestinian politics. As future free elections unfold, the prospects for a multiparty system await testing through the creation of a third option that is distinct from what Fatah or Hamas represents. For Palestinians who love democracy; believe in moderation; long for peace, prosperity, and improved governance; and want to honor national and religious sentiments within a humane and well-built framework of liberal constitutionalist political principles, the time to act is now.
The Gaza Strip As Laboratory: Notes in The Wake of Disengagement
By: Darryl Li
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 35, Issue 2 (2006)
Abstract: Chronically described as poor, overcrowded, and dangerous, the Gaza Strip exemplifies the longstanding Zionist ““dilemma”” of how to deal with dense concentrations of Palestinians who must not be granted equality but who cannot be removed or exterminated en masse. This article analyzes key Israeli policies toward the Gaza Strip---specifically, the use of closure, buffer zones, and air power---in the context of the Zionist movement's broader geographic and demographic goals. It argues that the Gaza Strip can be usefully seen as a ““laboratory”” in which Israel fine-tunes a dubious balance of maximum control and minimum responsibility, refining techniques that are also suggestive of possible futures for the West Bank.
Hamas’s Rise As Charted in The Polls, 1994–2005
By: Jamil Hilal
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 35, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: This report analyzes Palestinian opinion surveys over the past decade, tracking the shifting levels of support for Fatah and political Islam according to various indicators (e.g., refugee status, age, gender, occupation, and income level) and linking the shifts to political developments on the ground; the data are organized to highlight the impact of the second intifada. Among the interesting findings is the sharp gender division in support for the two movements, with women constituting the majority of political Islam's support and men dominating support for Fatah. Less surprising is Hamas's growing support in the poorest segment of the population, showing a degree of social ““class”” polarization. The author ends with a brief analysis of the results of the 2006 legislative elections in the light of the survey findings.
The Democratic Resistance: Hamas, Fatah, and The Palestinian Elections
By: Graham Usher
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 35, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: This article examines the lead-up to the recent Palestinian legislative elections, looking especially at the Fatah's long-brewing internal crisis, born of Fatah's inability to reconcile its role as a national liberation movement with that as ruling party of the Palestinian Authority. The author assesses the impact of the new reality presented by Hamas's victory on Hamas, Fatah, and the international community, specifically addressing the post-election strategy put forward by certain Fatah elements, and backed by the United States, to undermine Hamas's victory by shifting power away from the Hamas-dominated legislative branch to the executive under the presidency of Mahmud Abbas.
A “New Hamas” Through Its New Documents
By: Khaled Hroub
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 35, Issue 4 (2006)
Abstract: Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, its political positions as presented in the Western media hark back to its 1988 charter, with almost no reference to its considerable evolution under the impact of political developments. The present article analyzes (with long verbatim extracts) three recent key Hamas documents: its fall 2005 electoral platform, its draft program for a coalition government, and its cabinet platform as presented on 27 March 2006. Analysis of the documents reveals not only a strong programmatic and, indeed, state building emphasis, but also considerable nuance in its positions with regard to resistance and a two-state solution. The article pays particular attention to the sectarian content of the documents, finding a progressive de-emphasis on religion in the three.
Hamas Risen
By: Graham Usher
Published in Middle East Report Volume 36, Issue 238 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
The Hamas Headache
By: Ranjit Singh
Published in Middle East Report Volume 36, Issue 238 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Lessons from The Gaza Disengagement
By: Mohammed Dajani
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 2 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Dissatisfied With Hamas, But Would Not Vote for Fateh
By: Khalil Shikaki
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas and Palestinian Religious Moderation
By: Mohammed Dajani
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas Between Hope and Disillusionment
By: Ata Qaymari
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas, Islam, and The Authority
By: Ali Khashan
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
Impact of The Lebanon War On Hamas and Kadima.
By: Mustafa Abu Sway, Bernard Sabella, Naomi Chazan, Menachem Klein
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 13, Issue 3 (2006)
Abstract: Not available
The Hamas Victory: Shifting Sands Or Major Earthquake?
By: Mahjoob Zweiri
Published in Third World Quarterly Volume 27, Issue 4 (2006)
Abstract: This paper discusses the background to the Palestinian elections and highlights the fact that they are the first democratic elections since 1996. It discusses the reasons for Hamas's participation and the problems it faced. It also examines what issues the electoral candidates needed to touch on in order to win the election. The paper highlights the fact that Fatah's days are over because of widespread corruption. It touches on how Hamas now needs to deal with the international community and how it can compromise with Israel. The paper emphasises that Hamas is the people's choice and that, because it has many obstacles ahead of it, the international community needs to allow it time and to monitor its progress, watching how it deals with being in the real political realm.
The Hamas Victory: Implications and Future Challenges
By: Ziad Abuzayyad
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 12, Issue 4 and Volume 13, Issue 1 (2005-2006)
Abstract: Not available
Everyday Government in Extraordinary Times: Persistence and Authority in Gaza's Civil Service, 1917-1967
By: Ilana Feldman
Published in Comparative Studies in Society and History Volume 47, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
Hamas and The Destruction of Risk Society
By: Neve Gordon, Dani Filc
Published in Constellations Volume 12, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
Government Without Expertise? Competence, Capacity, and Civil-Service Practice in Gaza, 1917–67
By: Ilana Feldman
Published in International Journal of Middle East Studies Volume 37, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
Issues Arising from The Implementation of Israel’S Disengagement from The Gaza Strip
By: Geoffrey Aronson
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 34, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: This report is a lightly edited version of a 2005 study commissioned by the Canadian government's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in anticipation of Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip slated to take place by the end of 2005. The study addresses possible implications of the disengagement, particularly for the international community, and makes recommendations for an international response. In preparing the study, the author conducted numerous interviews with a wide range of Israeli officials, experts, and others involved in the disengagement process, many of whom were prepared to speak only without attribution. The report is valuable not only for the issues it lays out, but also for the light it sheds on the thinking of the Israeli political and security establishment concerning how to implement and present the disengagement and what is required to secure international recognition of the end to Israel's occupation of Gaza and hence of its responsibility for the population.
Praying With their Eyes Closed: Reflections On The Disengagement from Gaza
By: Sara Roy
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 34, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Israel's disengagement plan is widely hailed by the international community, led by the United States, as a first step toward the final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. This essay is a refutation of that view. After presenting the current situation of Gaza as the result of deliberate Israeli policies of economic integration, deinstitutionalization, and closure, the author demonstrates how provisions of the plan itself preclude the establishment of a viable economy in the Strip. Examining the plan's implications for the West Bank, the author argues that the occupation, far from ending, will actually be consolidated. She concludes with a look at the disengagement within the context of previous agreements, particularly Oslo—all shaped by Israel's overwhelming power—and the steadily shrinking possibilities offered to the Palestinians.
The Al-Aqsa Intifada: Military Operations, Suicide Attacks, Assassinations, and Losses in The First Four Years
By: Michele K. Esposito
Published in Journal of Palestine Studies Volume 34, Issue 2 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
The Gaza Disengagement: Palestinian Perceptions and Expectations?
By: N/A
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 12, Issue 2-3 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
The Anti-Semitism of Hamas
By: Meir Litvak
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 12, Issue 2-3 (2005)
Abstract: Not available
Suicide Bombing As A Strategic Weapon: An Empirical Investigation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad
By: Dipak K. Gupta, Kusum Mundra
Published in Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 17, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Using twice-yearly data from 1991 to 2003, we analyze the incidents of suicide attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad within Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Given the exploratory nature of the question, we have first estimated the relevant coefficients by using a Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Ratio and then checked their robustness by reestimating the model with the help of a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) as an interrelated system. The results indicate that the two groups deliberately use suicide bombings as strategic weapons within the larger Israeli-Palestinian political milieu. With the Western world locked in an armed struggle with the militant extremists of Islam based on millenarian ideologies, this study emphasizes the need to develop appropriate analytical capabilities to distinguish among terrorist groups and their motivations, ideologies, and tactics.
Forcing Choices: Testing The Transformation of Hamas
By: Haim Malka
Published in The Washington Quarterly Volume 28, Issue 4 (2005)
Abstract: Hamas is at a crossroads: although it will not disarm or renounce the use of violence now, it has been willing to participate within the bounds of the political establishment. To test Hamas's commitment, the PA must establish certain benchmarks that ultimately strengthen the rule of law.
Crescent and Sword: The Hamas Enigma
By: Are Knudsen
Published in Third World Quarterly Volume 26, Issue 8 (2005)
Abstract: This article analyses the popular support for Hamas, the most important of the Palestinian Islamist movements today and charts the movement's historical ascendancy from a fringe Gaza-based group to a mainstream Islamist movement and mouthpiece for dispossessed Palestinians. Since 2001 Hamas's leadership has come under increasing attack from Israel, which has killed a number of the movement's leaders and senior members, most prominently Sheikh Yasin, the movement's founder and spiritual leader, and his successor as Hamas leader, Abd al-Aziz Rantissi. Nonetheless, Hamas's duality as ‘worshippers’ and ‘warmongers’ has made the organisation extraordinarily popular among dispossessed Palestinians and has created a mounting political challenge to the secular nationalism of the plo. At present two-thirds of the Palestinians live below the ‘poverty line’ and it is likely that it is in this disenfranchised segment of the population that Hamas finds its core support. About one in every six Palestinians in the Occupied Territories benefits from support from Islamic charities. Hamas, for its part, allocates almost all its revenues to its social services, but there is no evidence that Hamas or the other Islamic charities provide assistance conditional upon political support.
Gaza Disengagement: The Practical Dimensions and Implications of Potential Settlement Evacuation
By: David Newman
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 11, Issue 3-4 (2004-2005)
Abstract: Not available
The Attitudes of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians toward Governance and The Relationship Between Religion and Politics
By: Mark Tessler
Published in Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture Volume 11, Issue 3-4 (2004-2005)
Abstract: Not available