CIAO DATE: 04/2009
Volume: 38, Issue: 1
Autumn 2008
Palestinian Refugee Compensation and Israeli Counterclaims for Jewish Property in Arab Countries
Michael R. Fischbach
Palestinian Refugee Compensation and Israeli Counterclaims for Jewish Property in Arab Countries
Michael R. Fischbach
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 6
Article
Unlike its demands for Holocaust reparations, Israel's compensation claims for properties that Jews left behind in the Arab world have aimed not to provide individual financial reparations, but rather to counter and offset Palestinian refugees' claims for restitution and the right of return. In U.S.-sponsored negotiations in 2000, Israel announced it would drop its counterclaim policy and agreed with the Palestinians that individual compensation would be paid out to all sides from an international fund. More recently, however, a new counterclaim strategy has emerged, based not on financial reparations, but rather on an argument that a fair population and property exchange occurred in 1948. By pursuing this strategy, Israel and international Jewish organizations risk exacerbating tensions between European Jews who have received Holocaust reparations, and Arab Jews angry that their claims are held hostage to diplomatic expediency.
ON 1 APRIL 2008, the New York-based coalition Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) announced that the U.S. House of Representatives had passed Resolution 185 (H.Res. 185), a nonbinding "sense of the House" resolution concerning the fate of 800,000 Jews who left Arab countries in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948, some without their property. Describing these Jews as "refugees," the resolution called on the U.S. president to ensure that American representatives participating in international fora refer to the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries whenever mention is made of the 1948 Palestinian refugees. H.Res. 185-which JJAC helped to write-was not an effort to demand compensation for Jewish property losses in the Arab world, but rather a tactic to help the Israeli government deflect Palestinian refugee claims in any final Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, claims that include Palestinian refugees' demand for the "right of return" to their pre-1948 homes in Israel.
The counterclaim strategy is not new. Indeed, it had formed the bedrock of Israeli refugee compensation policy since 1951, when Israel announced that it would factor in property losses sustained by Jews emigrating from Arab countries when the time came to compensate Palestinians. The onset of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in 1993, however, cast the compensation issue in a new and sharper light. At Camp David in 2000, and at Taba in 2001, Israeli negotiators proposed the establishment of an international fund capitalized with Israeli and foreign contributions to pay compensation to claimants from all sides of the conflict.
For years, Palestinians had steadfastly rejected any linkage of their claims to those of Jewish emigrants from Arab countries. After the Camp David and Taba meetings, however, they agreed to the international fund proposal. Some supporters of Israel, worried about the implications of this agreement, began to refashion the 1951 counterclaim policy with the intent of obstructing the implementation of the right of return, which Israel and its supporters viewed as far more threatening than demands for financial compensation. H.Res. 185 is but the most recent fruit of this diplomatic campaign. Yet, by using a counterclaim strategy to thwart Palestinian demands for compensation and the right of return, Israel risks exacerbating longstanding grievances between its Mizrahi/Sephardic ( Jews of Middle Eastern, North African, and Asian descent) and Ashkenazi ( Jews of Central and Eastern European descent) communities. The ultimate battle may end up pitting Jews who left Arab countries against European Jewish Holocaust survivors in a divisive argument over who has received the lion's share of international Jewish compensation funds. This is because-unlike demands for Holocaust reparations, compensation, and restitution that Jewish groups and the State of Israel have pursued vigorously for decades-JJAC's campaign on behalf of Mizrahi/Sephardic Jews did not seek restitution for properties seized by Arab governments; nor did it pursue compensation for individuals. The differences between these two compensation schemes stem from debates and decisions dating back to the first months of Israel's existence, as well as diplomatic developments of the last fifteen years.
Linking Jewish and Palestinian Compensation
Soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war ended and the full dimensions of the Palestinian exodus became apparent, Israel agreed to compensate Palestinian refugees for property they had been forced to abandon during the hostilities. This commitment was quickly qualified, however: Israel would pay compensation only for individually owned land and real estate, not for communal and collectively owned land or moveable assets such as household goods, farm animals and tools, and factory inventories. In 1951, the Israeli government first articulated the linkage of Palestinians' property losses to property losses sustained by over 250,000 Jews from Arab countries who had entered Israel between 1948 and 1950. ...
Secrets and Lies: The Persecution of Muhammad Salah (Part 2)
Michael E. Deutsch, Erica Thompson
Secrets and Lies: The Persecution of Muhammad Salah (Part 2)
Michael E. Deutsch and Erica Thompson
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 25
Special Feature
Among the handful of high-profile terrorism cases in which the U.S. government has failed to win convictions in jury trials, that of Muhammad Salah stands out. Like the cases against Sami Al-Arian, Abdelhaleem Ashqar, and the Holy Land Foundation, the case against Salah was built on the criminalization of political support for the Palestinian resistance. But while the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is at the core of all four cases, Salah's, unlike the others, was primarily about Israel: the case was manufactured in Israel, the evidence on which it was based was generated in Israel, and its prosecution depended on close U.S.-Israeli cooperation at every turn.
Salah, a Palestinian-American Chicago resident and former grocer, was arrested in Israel in January 1993 while on a mission to distribute money to poverty-stricken Palestinians in the occupied territories. Accused of being a U.S.-based Hamas terrorist commander, he was interrogated by Shin Bet, tried before a military tribunal, and spent almost five years in prison in Israel. While the U.S. initially supported Salah and rejected Israel's accusations against him, in January 1995 he became (while still in prison) the first and (to date) only U.S. citizen to be branded a "specially designated terrorist" by his government. Upon his return home in November 1997, he was one of the main targets of an intensive terrorism funding investigation, dropped in 2000 for lack of evidence but reactivated in 2002 in the wake of 9/11.
In this two-part exclusive report, Salah's lawyers recount for the first time the details of their client's labyrinthine case. Part I focused on the Israeli phase of the story, including the political context of Salah's arrest, and the investigations and legal proceedings launched against him in the United States when he returned. In essence, part I laid the foundation for the trial to come, emphasizing in particular its complex legal underpinnings and implications as well as its importance as a "test case." Part II focuses on the post-9/11 period that unfolded under the George W. Bush Justice Department, starting with Salah's indictment in November 2004, continuing with the two years of contentious pretrial preparations and hearings, and ending with the trial itself. As in part I, the legal dimensions of the case are emphasized, as are the government's maneuvers to advance new standards governing the admissibility of coerced confessions and secret evidence at trial and to manipulate other established principles of the U.S. criminal justice system.
This article deals solely with Muhammad Salah, but Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a former professor of business administration in Virginia, was his codefendant at trial. Both were indicted, along with twenty other coconspirators, for participation in a fifteen-year "racketeering conspiracy" to "illegally finance terrorist activities" in Israel and the occupied territories, as well as for several lesser charges. The two men had never met before the trial opened in October 2006. Despite the common charge, their cases were very different and went forward in parallel fashion, with different lawyers, witnesses, arguments, and entirely separate pretrial proceedings. When the jury trial ended in February 2007, both men were acquitted of all terrorism-related charges.
The U.S. war on terror launched in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks cleared the way for the GeorgeW. Bush administration's pursuit of neoconservative foreign and domestic policy objectives already on the drawing board. The tragedy also served to extend and deepen the U.S.-Israeli partnership in the U.S.war on terror, both at home and abroad. Within this context, the government's prosecution of Muhammad Salah-a test case meant to demonstrate how bedrock constitutional principles governing the admissibility of coerced confessions and secret evidence at trial, closed courtrooms, and cross-examination rights could be stretched in the post-9/11 era to make U.S. trials resemble Israeli military tribunals in the occupied territories-is an outstanding example of a U.S.-Israeli joint venture in the legal realm.
Salah and the "Financial War on Terror"
Within weeks of 9/11, the 500-page Patriot Act, which greatly expanded domestic surveillance and prosecutorial powers while strengthening financial controls on funds that could be construed as supporting "terrorism," was ready for presentation to Congress, and was signed into law on 26 October 2001. But already on 24 September 2001, the less visible "financial war on terror" had been declared by President Bush, who vowed to launch "a strike on the financial foundation of the global terror network."1 The main targets were the Muslim charities claimed to constitute a "significant source of terrorist financing." Almost immediately, the Treasury Department began naming the charities as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists" and closing them down. Most prominently, the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the largest Muslim charity in the United States, was closed and its assets were frozen in December 2001. ...
Postscript to Oslo: The Mystery of Norway's Missing Files (PDF)
Hilde Henriksen Waage
Postscript to Oslo: The Mystery of Norway's Missing Files
Hilde Henriksen Waage
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 54
Report
In Norway, the secret negotiations culminating in the 1993 Oslo agreement are still seen as a shining moment in the nation's history, so when the files of the entire process were discovered to be missing from government archives, a minor public scandal erupted. After laying out the Oslo "myth" and its cast of characters, the author recounts the story of the disappearance of the files, new revelations concerning their scope, and the (thus far unsuccessful) quest to recover them. The author concludes by exploring the implications of the backchannel negotiations for the entire Oslo process and its lessons for conflict resolution, particularly third-party mediation in highly asymmetrical conflicts.
Recollections of the Nakba through a Teenager's Eyes
Muhammad Hallaj
Recollections of the Nakba through a Teenager's Eyes
Muhammad Hallaj
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 66
Palestinian Voices
Muhammad Hallaj, a political scientist specializing in Palestinian affairs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was born in Qalqilya, Palestine, in 1932. After earning his doctorate from the University of Florida in 1966, he taught at Florida's Jacksonville University and then at the University of Jordan in Amman. Hallaj returned to the West Bank in 1975, where he served as dean of social sciences and later as academic vice president of Birzeit University before becoming the first director of the Council for Higher Education in the West Bank and Gaza. While taking a leave to go to Harvard University as a visiting scholar in 1983, Hallaj was denied a visa to return to the West Bank. Among the positions he has held since then have been editor of Palestine Perspectives (1983-1991), member (and subsequent head) of the Palestinian delegation on Refugees to the multilateral peace talks following the Madrid conference (1991-1993), and executive director of the Palestine Center and the Jerusalem Fund. At the request of JPS, Dr. Hallaj shared his memories of the 1948 war and its aftermath, which he experienced as a high school student in Jaffa, and then in Qalqilya and Tulkarm.
PERHAPS BECAUSE I was sixteen at the time, and perhaps because I was in school in Jaffa, the epicenter of the political and military earthquake that ended in the destruction of Palestine and the dismantling of Palestinian society, the events of the catastrophe of 1948 retain a searing clarity in my memory sixty years later.
Jaffa: Oranges and Explosives
From my youthful vantage point, it began on a morning in late fall 1947. I arrived at my school, al-Amiriyya, in Jaffa. On the wall facing the entrance of the school was a small blackboard where every morning something clever or interesting (referred to as hikmat al-yawm, or "wisdom of the day") would be written in chalk. That particular day, 30 November to be exact, I glanced at the board, and what I saw there I will never forget: "Yesterday, on 29 November 1947, the United Nations decided to partition Palestine and establish a Jewish state in it." I was stunned. What did it mean to "partition" a country? How could you establish a country inside a country? Why would the United Nations do this? Why didn't they come and see for themselves that Palestine is our country? The whole idea was absurd and incredible. ...
Rashid Khalidi
Remembering Mahmud Darwish
Rashid Khalidi
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 74
Reflection
Echoes of the Present: S. Yizhar's Khirbet Khizeh and Israel Today
Raja Shehadeh
Echoes of the Present: S. Yizhar's Khirbet Khizeh and Israel Today
Raja Shehadeh
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 78
Review Essay
Khirbet Khizeh, by S. Yizhar. Translated by Nicholas de Lange and Yaacob Dweck. Afterword by David Schulman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008. 134 pages. $16.95 paper.
A few months after the 1948 war, the Israeli writer S. Yizhar-the pen name of Yizhar Smilansky-wrote the novella Khirbet Khizeh, which was published in Hebrew in 1949. This year, it was published in English, under the same name, for the first time.
Khirbet Khizeh describes the violent expulsion of the inhabitants of a Palestinian village by a detachment of Israeli soldiers. At the time the soldiers arrived, most of the young men of the village had already taken to the surrounding hills. It was mainly the elderly, the infirm, the women and children who were left behind. The soldiers were following their pre-battle orders, when they blew up the houses, razed the village, and drove out its inhabitants.
The story is closely based on the experience of the author, who had taken part in a similar atrocity. Both in its achievements and its failures, the novella continues to have contemporary relevance. The moral and legal issues it raises, and the consequences of the 1948 war it illuminates, remain unresolved almost sixty years after it was first published. The passage of time appears to have made it no easier for Israelis to write about the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the way that Yizhar did, let alone deal with its moral and legal consequences. The majority of the Israeli public has preferred to hold on to the official line: that close to three quarters of a million Palestinians left their homes in Palestine on orders of the Arab leaders. And six decades after the cataclysmic event, the Israeli army continues to pursue policies based on the denial of Palestinians as a nation entitled to self-determination, and the consequent violations of their civil and human rights. ....
Darwish: Athar al-farasha: Yawmiyyat [The Butterfly Effect: A Diary]
Noha Radwan
Darwish: Athar al-farasha: Yawmiyyat [The Butterfly Effect: A Diary]
Reviewed by Noha Radwan
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 84
Recent Books
Athar al-farasha: Yawmiyyat [The Butterfly Effect: A Diary], by Mahmud Darwish. Beirut: Riad El-Rayyes Books, 2008. 286 pages. n.p.
Shehadeh: Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape
Gregory Orfalea
Shehadeh: Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape
Reviewed by Gregory Orfalea
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 85
Recent Books
Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape, by Raja Shehadeh. New York: Scribner, 2008 (originally published by Profile Books, Great Britain, 2007). xxii + 200 pages. $15.00 paper.
Doumani: Academic Freedom after September 11; and Hagopian: Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims
Laurie King
Doumani: Academic Freedom after September 11; and Hagopian: Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims
Reviewed by Laurie King
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 86
Recent Books
Academic Freedom after September 11, edited by Beshara Doumani. New York: Zone Books, 2006 (Distributed by MIT Press). 268 pages. Appendix to p. 314. Bibliography to p. 325. Notes on contributors to p. 327. $42.00 cloth; $21.95 paper.
Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims, edited by Elaine C. Hagopian. Chicago: Haymarket Books and London: Pluto Press, 2004. xi + 238 pages. Notes to p. 308. Index to page 319. Contributors to p. 322. $22.95 paper.
Khalidi: The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood
Philip S. Khoury
Khalidi: The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood
Reviewed by Philip S. Khoury
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 89
Recent Books
The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood, by Rashid Khalidi. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007. xlii + 217 pages. Notes to p. 263. Acknowledgments to p. 266. Index to p. 281. $24.95 cloth; $15.00 paper.
Hochberg: In Spite of Partition: Jews, Arabs, and the Limits of Separatist Imagination
Haim Bresheeth
Hochberg: In Spite of Partition: Jews, Arabs, and the Limits of Separatist Imagination
Reviewed by Haim Bresheeth
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 90
Recent Books
In Spite of Partition: Jews, Arabs, and the Limits of Separatist Imagination, by Gil Z. Hochberg. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007. xiii + 141 pages. Notes to p. 165. Bibliography to p. 183. Index to p. 192. $35.00 cloth.
Haim Bresheeth, professor of media and cultural studies at the University of East London, is co-editor of "The Conflict and Contemporary Visual Culture in Palestine & Israel," Third Text 20, nos. 3-4, Oct. 2006; Cinema and Memory: Dangerous Liaisons [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 2004); and The Gulf War and the New World Order (London: Zed Books, 1992).
Cook: Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State
Gil Anidjar
Cook: Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State
Reviewed by Gil Anidjar
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 91
Recent Books
Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State, by Jonathan Cook. London and Ann Arbor: Pluto Press, 2006. xiv + 179 pages. Appendix to p. 182. Notes to p. 208. Select Bibliography to p. 211. Index to p. 222. $85.00 cloth; $24.95 paper.
Bennis: Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer
Adel Samara
Bennis: Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer
Reviewed by Adel Samara
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 92
Recent Books
Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, by Phyllis Bennis. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2007. ix + 185 pages. Index to p. 196. $10.00 paper.
Dr. Adel Samara is an economist living in Ramallah.
This section aims to give readers a glimpse of how the Arab world views current events that affect Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict by presenting a selection of cartoons from al-Hayat, the most widely distributed mainstream daily in the Arab world. JPS is grateful to al-Hayat for permission to reprint its material.
This section includes articles by Israeli journalists and commentators that have been selected for their frank reporting, insightful analyses, or interesting perspectives on events, developments, or trends in Israel and the occupied territories.
This small sample of photos, selected from hundreds viewed by JPS, aims to convey a sense of the situation on the ground in the occupied territories during the quarter.
The Quarterly Update is a summary of bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international events affecting the Palestinians and the future of the peace process. Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 111 Michele K. Esposito
This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to Israeli settlement activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Unless otherwise stated, the items have been written by Geoffrey Aronson for this section or drawn from material written by him for Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories (hereinafter Settlement Report), a Washington-based bimonthly newsletter published by the Foundation for Middl
International A1. French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy, Address to the Knesset, Jerusalem, 23 June 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 156
A2. International Crisis Group, "Ruling Palestine II: The West Bank Model?" Amman, 17 July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 157
A3. British PM Gordon Brown, Address to the Knesset, Jerusalem, 21 July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 164
Arab B1. Palestinian Authority PM Salam al-Fayyad, Letter to EU Prime Ministers Concerning the Upgrade of EU-Israeli Relations, Ramallah, 27 May 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 165
B2. Al-Haq, "Torturing Each Other: The Widespread Practices of Arbitrary Detention and Torture in the Palestinian Territory," Ramallah, July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 166
B3. Palestine Strategy Study Group, "Regaining the Initiative: Palestinian Strategic Options to End the Israeli Occupation," August 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 169
Israel C1. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Backgrounder on Defense Ministry Order to Ban West Bank Charities, Jerusalem, 10 July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 172
C2. Adalah, Report on Arabic Language Policy in Israel, July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 174
C3. Physicians for Human Rights--Israel, "Holding Health to Ransom: GSS interrogation and Extortion of Palestinian Patients at Erez Crossing," Tel Aviv, 4 August 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 176
United States D1. J Street Exec. Dir. Jeremy Ben-Ami, Interview on the Formation of a Liberal Pro-Israeli Lobby Group, Newsweek, 27 May 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 178
D2. OMB Watch, "Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve," Washington, DC, July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 180
D3. Griff Witte, "Israeli Leaders Find Generous Donors in U.S.," Washington Post, 26 July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 185
D4. Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, USSC, Interview on the Reform of the PA Security Forces, Ha'Aretz, 9 August 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 187
D5. Glenn Kessler, "Falling Short [Table]: Arab Aid to Palestinians Doesn't Fulfill Pledges," Washington Post, 27 July 2008 (excerpts) Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 189
16 May - 15 August 2008 Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 190 Michele K. Esposito
Michele K. Esposito
6 May - 15 August 2008
Michele K. Esposito
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 190
Chronology
This section is part of a chronology begun in JPS 13, no. 3 (Spring 1984). Chronology dates reflect Eastern Standard Time (EST). For a more comprehensive overview of events related to the al-Aqsa intifada and of regional and international developments related to the peace process, see the Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy in this issue.
16 MAY
Israel's siege of Gaza, imposed after Hamas's takeover of the Strip in 6/07, remains tight. In Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in Shuka nr. Rafah, arresting 3 Palestinians, wounding 1 with live ammunition, bulldozing 8 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of greenhouses and a poultry farm (killing 50,000 chickens). In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Qaryut nr. Nablus, detaining 4 Palestinians (including 3 teenagers) for questioning; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and Hebron (partially bulldozing a Palestinian home in Bayt Umar); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil`in n. of Jerusalem nr. Ramallah (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); and beats demonstrators at a similar protest al-Ma`sara nr. Bethlehem (lightly injuring 3). Nr. Nablus, 10s of armed Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar vandalize Palestinian homes in nearby Asira al-Qibliyya. In Gaza City, unknown assailants detonate a bomb outside a Catholic school in Gaza City, causing damage but no injuries. (OCHA 5/21; PCHR 5/22)
U.S. pres. George W. Bush ends a 4-day visit to Israel to mark Israel's 60th anniversary (see Quarterly Update in JPS 148). (NYT, WP, WT 5/17; NYT 5/19)
17 MAY
IDF troops on the c. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers working a plot of land nr. al-Maghazi refugee camp (r.c.), causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Dura nr. Hebron, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no reported injuries; conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem and late-night raids, searches in and around Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba nr. Hebron vandalize nearby Palestinian property; the IDF observes but does not intervene. For a 2d day, 10s of armed Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar vandalize Palestinian homes in nearby Asira al-Qibliyya. In Gaza's Jabaliya r.c., Hamas mbrs. raid a mosque controlled by the Salafist group al-Kitab wa al-Sunna, where the imam had denounced (5/16) Hamas in his Friday sermon, and evict at least 5 Palestinian worshippers. (OCHA 5/21; PCHR 5/22)
Bush arrives in Egypt to attend the World Economic Forum meetings, which open on 5/18. Today he meets in Cairo with PA pres. Mahmud Abbas to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (WP 5/18; NYT, WT 5/19)
In Doha, Qatar, 14 of Lebanon's leading politicians open national unity talks aimed at resolving the ongoing government crisis (see Quarterly Update for details). (WP, WT 5/18)
18 MAY
Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., nr. Nablus. (OCHA 5/21; PCHR 5/22)
19 MAY
The IDF sends tanks, armored vehicles, bulldozers into 2 areas e. of al-Maghazi in c. Gaza and around the Qarni industrial zone to level land. On the Rafah border, Egyptian border police find, demolish 7 smuggling tunnels. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Ramallah. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Dov Nesher nr. Hebron attack Palestinian farmers and shepherds on nearby land, forcing them to flee the area. A Jewish settler wounds a Palestinian in a drive-by shooting in Hebron; the IDF transports the Palestinian to an Israeli hospital. A dispute erupts btwn. Hamas, Islamic Jihad mbrs. over control of a Gaza City mosque; Hamas-affiliated police intervene, dispersing the groups and closing the mosque. (OCHA 5/21; PCHR 5/22)
20 MAY
The IDF makes air strikes on a rocket-launching site in n. Gaza (decapitating a 12-yr.-old Palestinian boy, wounding another child), a group of unidentified armed Palestinians in Gaza City (wounding 4), and a group of Hamas mbrs. in Gaza City (killing 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding 3); sends armored vehicles, bulldozers into Gaza to level land around the Qarni industrial zone. IDF troops on the central Gaza border nr. Juhur al-Dik exchange fire with armed Palestinians inside Gaza, causing no reported injuries; troops later shell farmers working a field in the same area, killing 1 Palestinian farmer, wounding 2. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Nablus, nr. Tulkarm. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that since 5/16, Jewish settlers have seized and leveled 200 d. of Palestinian land around Revava Settlement nr. Salfit for construction of settler-only bypass roads. (OCHA, WP 5/21; PCHR 5/22)
21 MAY
In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an empty car in Jabaliya r.c. owned by a member of Hamas's Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) in an apparent assassination attempt, destroying the car, damaging surrounding homes, causing no reported injuries; sends tanks, troops into areas southeast of Gaza City to bulldozes 200 d. of olive groves. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shell an alleged rocket-launching site w. of Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, injuring 2 Palestinian children (ages 4, 17) and damaging a house. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border direct heavy machine gun fire towards residential areas of Abasan, wounding 1 Palestinian inside his home. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches a store in Yatta nr. Hebron, arresting the owner and confiscating a computer; chases and detains 17 Palestinian children who throw stones at an IDF post outside al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, questioning and releasing 12, arresting 5; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. The IDF also demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem, displacing a family of 7. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus seize an area of Palestinian land and begin leveling work for construction of a new settler-only bypass road. Jewish settlers angry over the removal of an IDF roadblock nr. Hebron demonstrate, block Palestinian traffic. Israel's Housing min. issues tenders for construction of 286 new settlement housing units in Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem. A Palestinian teenager injured during the IDF's 4/11/08 raid on al-Bureij r.c. dies (see Chronology in JPS 148). (PCHR 5/22; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)
Israeli police hold a press conference to announce serious new corruption and financial impropriety allegations against Israeli PM Ehud Olmert (see Quarterly Update for details). (NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 5/28)
Israel, Syria, Turkey announce that Israel and Syria have been holding "serious and continuous" indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators since 2/07; high-level Israeli and Syrian negotiating teams are in Istanbul taking part in a preliminary round of indirect negotiations (see Quarterly Update for details). (IFM 5/21; NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12)
Lebanese political figures holding national unity talks in Doha formally announce that they have reached a comprehensive agmt. ending their 18-mo. political standoff and paving the way for Gen. Michel Suleiman's election as pres, including agmts. on redistricting Beirut, an electoral law, and allotment of cabinet seats that will give Hizballah veto power over major decisions (see Quarterly Update for details). (MM, NYT, WP 5/21; MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/22)
Autumn 2008 Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 211
Autumn 2008
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1 (Autumn 2008), p. 211
Bibliography of Periodical Literature
This section lists articles and reviews of books relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Entries are classified under the following headings: Reference and General; History (to 1948) and Geography; Palestinian Politics and Society; Jerusalem; Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism; Arab and Middle Eastern Politics; International Relations; Law; Military; Economy, Society, and Education; Literature and Art; Book Reviews; and Reports Received.
Reference and General
Alkim, Hassan H. "Challenges Facing the Arab World in the Twenty-First Century: An Overview." CAA 1, no. 3 (Jul. 08): 417-44.
---. "The Arab World and the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century" [in Arabic]. MAUS, no. 19 (Sum. 08): 75-108.
Marzouki, Abou Yaareb. "The Recurrent Islamic Crisis: Cultural Heritage and Social Progress." CAA 1, no. 3 (Jul. 08): 347-73.
Rabdi, Mas`ud M. "The Impact of Globalization on Citizenship" [in Arabic]. MAUS, no. 19 (Sum. 08): 109-26.
Walid Muhammad, Ahmad M. "Contemporary Arab Thought" [in Arabic]. MA 31, no. 351 (May 08): 24-39.
History (through 1948) and Geography
Abbasi, Mustafa. "The War on the Mixed Cities: The Depopulation of Arab Tiberias and the Destruction of Its Old, ‘Sacred' City (1948-9)." HLS 7, no. 1 (May 08): 45-80.
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Amit, Gish. "Ownerless Objects? The Story of the Books Palestinians Left Behind in 1948." JQ, no. 33 (Win. 08): 7-20.
Charters, David A. "Terrorism and the Founding of Israel." JCS 27, no. 2 (Win. 07): online.
Fetter, Henry D. "‘Showdown in the Oval Office': 12 May 1948 in History." IsA 14, no. 3 (Jul. 08): 499-518.
Gil-Har, Yitzhak. "Political Developments and Intelligence in Palestine, 1930-40." MES 44, no. 3 (May 08): 419-34.
Greenberg, Ela. "Majallat rawdat al-ma`arif: Constructing Identities within a Boys' School Journal in Mandatory Palestine." BRIJMES 35, no. 1 (Apr. 08): 79-98.
Hanania, Mary. "Jurji Habib Hanania: The History of the First Arab Newspaper in Palestine (1908-14)" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 125-41.
Hindi, Hani. "With George Habash in His University Days" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 79-82.
Hershco, Tsilla. "France and the Partition Plan: 1947-1948." IsA 14, no. 3 (Jul. 08): 486-98.
Hess, Tamar S. "Henya Pekelman: An Injured Witness of Socialist Zionist Settlement in Mandatory Palestine." Women's Studies Quarterly 36, nos. 1-2 (Spr.-Sum. 08): 208-13.
Khalidi, Walid. "The Fall of Haifa Revisited." JPS 37, no. 3 (Spr. 08): 30-58.
Khalilieh, Hasan S. "The Ribat of Arsuf and the Coastal Defence System in Early Islamic Palestine." JIS 19, no. 2 (May 08): 159-77.
Macleod, Roy. "Balfour's Mission to Palestine: Science, Strategy, and the Inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem." Minerva 46, no. 1 (Mar. 08): 53-76.
Mansur, Johnny. "The Partition Resolution (181): Imposing a Colonial Agenda on Palestine" [in Arabic]. QI 7, no. 28 (07): 78-84.
Medzini, Meron. "Israel's Midwife: Golda Meir in the Closing Years of the British Mandate." IsA 14, no. 3 (Jul. 08): 374-97.
Naor, Moshe. "Israel's 1948 War of Independence as a Total War." JCH 43, no. 2 (Apr. 08): 241-57.
Rein, Raanan. "Echoes of the Spanish Civil War in Palestine: Zionists, Communists, and the Contemporary Press." JCH 43, no. 1 (Jan. 08): 9-23.
Taxel, Itamar. "An Uncommon Type of Smoking Implement from Ottoman Palestine." Palestine Exploration Quarterly 140, no. 1 (08): 39-54.
Palestinian Politics and Society
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Abu al-Hasan, Wa'il M. "The Crisis of Palestinian Political Rhetoric: A Psychological Analysis" [in Arabic]. MA 31, no. 351 (May 08): 56-69.
Abu-Manneh, Bashir. "The Question of Palestine." New Politics 11, no. 4 (08): 53-64.
Abu Sayf, `Atif. "Fatah: The Forty-Third Anniversary" [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 3 (07): 57-64.
Abu Sitta, Salman. "The Forgotten Half of Palestine: Beersheba and the Continuous Nakba" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 37-50.
Abu al-Zuluf, George, et al. (Roundtable). "Palestinian Civil Society: Different Directions and Many Problems" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 102-17.
Alshech, Eli. "Egoistic Martyrdom and Hamas's Success in the 2005 Municipal Elections: A Study of Hamas Martyrs' Ethical Wills, Biographies, and Eulogies." Welt des Islams 48, no. 1 (08): 23-49.
Bader, Araj. "Harsh State Repression as a Cause of Suicide Bombing: The Case of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict." Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 31, no. 4 (Apr. 08): 284-303.
Bishara, Azmi. "The Sixtieth Anniversary of al-Nakba: In Search of Its Meaning" [in Arabic]. MA 31, no. 252 (Jun. 08): 6-13.
Blanc, Pierre. "Palestine: Sortir de la fatalité hydraulique." Futuribles, no. 341 (May 08): 61-74.
Brom, Shlomo. "Gaza: And the Wall Came Tumbling Down." StA 10, no. 4 (Feb. 08): 4-5.
Challand, Benoît. "The Evolution of Western Aid for Palestinian Civil Society: Bypassing Local Knowledge and Resources." MES 44, no. 3 (May 08): 397-417.
Chasdi, Richard J. "What Is Known and Not Known about Palestinian Intifada Terrorism." JCS 27, no. 2 (Win. 07): NA.
Fahs, Hani. "Khalil al-Wazir in the Twentieth Anniversary of His Martyrdom" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 97-101.
Farraj, Khalid. "The Jalzun Camp: Four Scenes" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 142-49.
Giacaman, George. "The Palestinian Political System and the Future of the Cause" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 51-56.
Hamad, Mu`atassim. "Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return-Part 3" [in Arabic]. Mukhtarat Isra'iliyya 14, no. 160 (Apr. 08): 121-34.
Hilal, Jamil. "In Commemoration of the Sixtieth Year of al-Nakba: Palestinian Division and National Destiny" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 57-65.
Hill, Tom. "1948 after Oslo: Truth and Reconciliation in Palestinian Discourse." MP 13, no. 2 (Jul. 08): 151-70.
Jamal, Amal. "The Counter-Hegemonic Role of Civil Society: Palestinian-Arab NGOs in Israel." CS 12, no. 3 (Jun. 08): 283-306.
Kayyali, Majid. "The Palestinian Scene and the Political Options: The Choice between an Independent State and a Unified Democratic State" [in Arabic]. ShA, no. 134 (Sum. 08): 33-45.
Kersel, Morag M. "The Trade in Palestinian Antiquities." JQ, no. 33 (Win. 08): 21-38.
Khalidi, Raja. "Sixty Years after the Partition of Palestine: What Future for the Arab Minority of Israel?" [in Arabic]. MDF, no. 73 (Win. 08): 24-36.
Kulick, Amir. "Action, Not Words: Principal Trends in Palestinian Public Opinion of 2007." StA 10, no. 4 (Feb. 08): 57-64.
Labid, Salim. "Arab Thought and the Palestinian Cause" [in Arabic]. ShA, no. 134 (Sum. 08): 187-97.
LeBor, Adam. "Zion and the Arabs: Jaffa as a Metaphor." World Policy Journal 27, no. 4 (Win. 07-08): 61-75.
Le More, Anne. "La dégradation de la situation dans les territoires occupés." QIn, no. 28 (Nov.-Dec. 07): 86-92.
Malawa, `Abd al-Rahim. "The Development of Palestinian Politics and the Future" [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 3 (07): 49-55.
Mavroudi, Elizabeth. "Palestinians in Diaspora, Empowerment, and Informal Political Space." Political Geography 27, no. 1 (08): 57-73.
Milstein, Michael. "Twenty Years since the Intifada: The Palestinian Arena, Then and Now." StA 10, no. 4 (Feb. 08): 65-71.
Mishal, Khalid, interview. "The Making of a Palestinian Islamic Leader." JPS 37, no. 3 (Spr. 08): 59-73.
---. "A Hamas Perspective on the Movement's Evolving Role." JPS 37, no. 4 (Sum. 08): 59-81.
Mitnick, Joshua. "Rooms with a View: Palestinian Affairs." Jerusalem Report 18, no. 22 (18 Feb. 08): 16-29.