CIAO DATE: 11/2010
Volume: 39, Issue: 4
Summer 2010
Truman the Politician and the Establishment of Israel (PDF)
Lawrence Davidson
Harry S. Truman was a temperamental and politically ambitious man. Both his sensitivities and ambition influenced his actions during his presidency. This was particularly the case when it came to Palestine because there existed a strong domestic Zionist lobby that played to Truman’s wants and needs in order to influence his decision making. This article examines that process of policy formulation and shows how personality played into the president’s behavior in ways that allowed the Zionist lobby to accomplish its ends. Though Truman’s actions can be seen as a product of his personal sensitivities, his prioritizing of domestic political ambitions with regard to policy on Palestine set a harmful precedent for the future.
From the Editor (PDF)
Rashid I. Khalidi
The role of U.S. presidents in making policy on Palestine is an insufficiently studied topic. Many believe that if the policy of a given administration is particularly favorable to Israel, this is entirely due to the president’s predilections. Disappointment with the policies of the Obama administration after the high hopes raised by his initial declarations is based on this belief. Others are convinced that the Israel lobby is and has always been all powerful, imposing its views on different administrations. Neither of these views is correct. There is no question that a president’s personal attitude is important, as could be seen during the Eisenhower and other administrations when U.S. policy showed a degree of balance between Israel and the Arabs. At the same time, the Israel lobby has grown much more powerful, especially since the 1980s and especially in Congress, where it initially focused its efforts and where it has virtually unchallenged influence.
The Fall of Acre in the 1948 Palestine War
Mustafa Abbasi
In studies of the 1948 war, little attention has been paid to the swift fall of one of Palestine’s most storied cities, the walled and fortified seaport of Acre. This article, based on archival sources, focuses on the six months leading up to the city’s conquest on 17 May 1948. Describing in detail the preparations of the city’s defense, the various military and political forces involved, and the dissensions and rivalries among them, the article goes on to trace the tightening siege and mounting harassment of the city and the growing despair of its residents, the city’s place in Haganah strategy, and the actual battle. Of particular interest is the role of the Druze Regiment stationed nearby. Most important, the author provides a clear understanding of why events unfolded as they did. ACRE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CITIES in the history of Palestine, its name associated with walls and fortifications that have withstood the attacks of powerful armies. In 1799, Napoleon and his army laid siege to the town but despite desperate attempts were forced to withdraw. In 1832, Ibrahim Pasha and the Egyptian army laid siege to Acre for a full six months before they could overcome the city’s fierce resistance. Yet on 17 May 1948, three days after the establishment of the State of Israel, this city of walls and fortifications fell to the Haganah forces in a military operation that met with relatively little resistance. ACRE BEFORE THE WAR After suffering decline and stagnation under Egyptian rule (1832–40), Acre began a new chapter with its return to Ottoman rule, entering a process of slow recovery that accelerated during the reforms of the late Ottoman period and continued under the British Mandate. This was reflected in the town’s demographic growth as recorded in the Mandate’s three censuses: from 6,420 in the 1922 census to 8,165 in the 1931 census. In the 1946 census, the population stood at 13,560, of which 10,930 were Muslim, 2,490 were Christian, 90 were from other denominations, and 50 were Jews. In other words, Acre was almost totally Arab. The city of Acre was the administrative, political, and economic center of a large district of the same name that contained 63 villages in 1922 and a total population of 55,970 in 1944. The city was governed by families well known and established at least since late Ottoman times. Prominent among these were the Abu al-Huda, Sa`di, Shuqayri, and Khalifa families. Tawfiq Bey Abu al-Huda, a well-known city leader who had once been Acre’s mayor, after 1948 became prime minister of Jordan. Shaykh As`ad al-Shuqayri, a senior religious figure, was a prominent local and national leader until his death in 1940. Of the Sa`di family, the most noteworthy was `Abd al-Fatah al-Sa`di, a dignitary who served as Acre’s mayor until his death in 1927. A prominent member of the Khalifa family was Husni Khalifa, Acre’s last Arab mayor and, as such, the one who had to cope with the catastrophe that befell the city in 1948. When clashes began to break out in Palestine following the 29 November 1947 passage of the UN partition plan, which divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, the fact that Acre was included in the Arab state gave its residents confidence during the following months. The hopes of the Galilee’s inhabitants also hung on the city, regarded as the region’s stronghold. The confidence that Acre would somehow be able to withstand the military forces of the Yishuv, a feeling that owed much to the town’s glorious past, was soon revealed to be ill-founded. The conquest of Acre, which, after Jaffa, was the first major town outside the territory allotted to the Jewish state to fall to the Haganah forces, was an important event. Despite this, it has not yet been the subject of any in-depth or comprehensive research. Most sources—both Israeli and Palestinian —deal with the subject at the macro level and in the wider context of the 1948 war. This study is based primarily on archival material from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Haganah, and State of Israel archives, which contain extensive Hebrew and Arabic material that can shed new light on the subject. ORGANIZING FOR ACRE’S DEFENSE AND FAILED ATTEMPTS AT DIALOGUE The vote on the UN partition plan had been awaited by the Palestinian Arabs with dread, as it was well known that if the resolution passed, the country would be plunged into a full-blown crisis. On 27 November 1947, therefore, two days before the vote, the Arab Higher Committee (AHC), the highest political authority of the Arabs of Palestine, decreed the establishment of national committees in all the Arab cities and villages throughout the country. The AHC instructed the heads of public authorities to act immediately to establish these committees, even transmitting clear instructions regarding their composition, fields of operation, and functions. In Acre, as in other Palestinian towns, the task of establishing national committees was complicated by local power struggles that often hinged on political alignments, notably in relation to Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the AHC, and persons or groups opposed to him. From the beginning of the Mandate, Acre’s leadership had been identified with the Palestinian opposition, and relations between the city’s leaders (particularly Shaykh As`ad al-Shuqayri) and Haj Amin were habitually tense. The nearly month-long struggle over the composition of the Acre national committee between the oppositional camp led by the mayor, Husni Khalifa, and certain local and external forces aligned with Haj Amin was a testament to these tense relations.
Jewels of the Occupation: Gold Wedding Jewelry in the West Bank
Elena N. Hogan
This article examines the social role and broader cultural meanings of gold jewelry used in Muslim weddings in the West Bank—“marriage jewelry” that by right belongs exclusively to the woman and whose socio-symbolic value extends far beyond its market value. Through interviews with muftis, gold dealers, and especially Palestinian women, the article explores the unwritten “rules” governing marriage jewelry’s exchange, and how these rules are affected in a context of occupation and economic hardship. In particular, the author discusses the relatively new phenomenon of imitation (or “virtual”) gold jewelry for public display in wedding rites, exploring the new rules growing up around it and speculating on its long-term impact on entrenched traditions. “[The] purchase of [gold] jewelry, from the wedding ring to all the other gold accessories, is viewed as the true expression [and] official announcement of a new marriage, no less important than the marriage certificate itself,” writes Palestinian economist Aziz al-Assa. Al-Assa’s confirmation of the pivotal role played by gold jewelry in Muslim Palestinian weddings should come as no surprise: gold jewelry is widely used in wedding rites from the Middle East to Central and South Asia. Likewise among West Bank Muslims, gold jewelry is publicly given to the bride by the groom and both sides of the family during the wedding. Gold jewelry, then, is closely associated with the marriage alliance and the gift, and signals an essential change in a person’s civil status in Muslim Palestinian culture. This has continued to be the case despite widespread poverty and political upheaval. At the time of my fieldwork, over half the Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank was living under the poverty line. Exacerbating the economic hardships produced by closures and occupation policies, international sanctions had been imposed on the Palestinian Authority (PA) following Hamas’s parliamentary victory in January 2006. With international aid frozen and Israel refusing to hand over Palestinian tax money to the PA, thousands of government employees including teachers and health professionals went unpaid for many months, resulting in unprecedented levels of economic hardship that afflicted most layers of Palestinian society. Yet despite these grave circumstances, gold jewelry stores were still in business and significant amounts of gold jewelry continued to circulate and be worn by Palestinian women. Given gold jewelry’s fundamental role in cementing marriage alliances, it stands to reason that the true value of these jewels is not simply their intrinsic value measurable in monetary terms but rather reflects their ability to fulfill multiple functions on a symbolic level. Many of gold jewelry’s more important functions are thus fundamentally anthropological. For this reason, a brief look at some key anthropological concepts regarding Palestinian gold jewelry is useful before we examine this commodity’s most salient exchange patterns. GOLD JEWELRY AS COMMODITY The first consideration to be made about Palestinian gold jewelry is that it can be defined as a commodity in the sense of Arjun Appadurai, who, starting from the alternative economic theories of Georg Simmel, holds that commodities are “economic objects” whose economic value is never intrinsic but wholly dependent on what value a subject attributes to them. A commodity is thus a “thoroughly socialized thing” and remains a commodity only as long as its possibilities for exchange (past, present, or future) are considered its socially relevant feature. The social value of gold jewelry to Palestinians, then, is so great that even at times of acute economic crisis this jewelry continues to be exchanged. From the Palestinians I interviewed, the following life cycle of gold jewelry can be deduced: • Its sale to a client (generally male) as a gift for a woman (usually a bride) • Its use by women as ornament during weddings and sometimes after giving birth • Its eventual resale to the jewelry store by the female owner (possibly after other ownership transfers between women) • Its subsequent resale by the jeweler to the wholesaler • The industrial production of new jewels from the gold obtained by melting down the initial jewels • The sale of these new jewels back to the jeweler who once again initiates the exchange cycle This sequence makes it clear that gold jewelry in Palestinian society fits categorization as a “quintessential commodity,” that is, gold jewelry is nearly always in the commodity state. If the life cycle of a piece of gold jewelry technically ends when it is melted down at the factory, the gold that it contained immediately reenters circulation in the form of other jewels. Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood have illustrated how commodities provide “marking services” within coherent information systems and how “[t]he cultural aspect of necessities is revealed as their service in low-esteem, high-frequency events, while luxuries tend to serve essentially for low-frequency events that are highly esteemed.” Marriage alliances are highly esteemed low-frequency events that give concrete form to Palestinian social structure and for which gold jewelry, as a luxury item, provides a fundamental marking service.
Under a Cloud of Uncertainty: AIPAC's 2010 Policy Conference, 21--23 March
Cléa Thouin
ON THE SECOND DAY of the 2010 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference, Eric Cantor, the Republican Whip for the 111th U.S. Congress, declared, “We gather today under a dark cloud of uncertainty.” Cantor may have been referring to most participants’ favorite subject, the Iranian “nuclear threat,” but his statement proved an apt description of the overall atmosphere at this year’s conference. The conference came in the midst of unusually fraught public tensions between the United States and Israel over the announcement two weeks earlier of new settlement construction in East Jerusalem. The dispute over an issue as important to the United States as the peace process, against the background of recently revealed statements by the U.S. military high command that the nonresolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was negatively impacting U.S. security and military operations elsewhere in the world, directly challenged AIPAC’s fundamental founding premise: the identity of U.S. and Israeli interests. As a result, the conference was colored by a palpable level of uncertainty about the way forward for the pro-Israel community in the United States. TELLING THE STORY AIPAC’s fifty-first annual conference, which took place from 21 to 23 March in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., was billed as the largest ever, with 7,500 delegates. The size itself posed challenges. To accommodate such numbers, the plenary sessions were held in a 780-foot-long conference hall—more than twice the size of a U.S. football field. This meant that despite the extravagant 500-foot split screen, the crowd on one side of the hall could not see what was happening at ground level on the other side, sometimes resulting in serious confusion. On more than one occasion, for example, half the audience, spontaneously joining with commotion on the other side of the hall without being able to see the source, unwittingly applauded pro-Palestinian activists protesting speeches, particularly by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Middle East Quartet envoy (and former British prime minister) Tony Blair. These were two of the main speakers, the other most highly anticipated speaker at this year’s conference being U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Besides four plenary sessions (and a gala dinner) that featured the main speakers, the program consisted of approximately one hundred “breakout sessions”—focused panels, university-type seminars, and advocacy training sessions led by scholars, professionals, or lobbyists. These took place concurrently before or after the plenary sessions, and most were repeated more than once in the course of the conference (sometimes with different speakers). There were also luncheons and dinners with distinguished guests, most of which (as well as some panels) were “by invitation only,” restricted to select AIPAC members. Only one plenary session was held on the last day of the conference, as most of the morning was dedicated to training workshops in preparation for AIPAC’s traditional day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. These workshops were organized by region, with participants attending lobbying sessions for their specific region so as to receive targeted training on their congressional representatives. The overall conference theme, “Israel: Tell the Story,” represented AIPAC’s effort to redirect the increasingly negative public narrative on Israel that has emerged since Israel’s winter 2008–2009 assault on Gaza. This was part of a broader attempt to shift from a defensive campaign aimed at refuting criticism of Israel to an offensive campaign focused on advancing a positive picture of Israel, that of “an innovator, a Jewish homeland, an open society, a light unto the nations.” AIPAC executive director Howard Kohr outlined in broad strokes the new strategy, expressly calling on his audience to shed their “defensive mentality,” which he argued focused “all too often on the slights Israel faces,” and instead “tell the story of Israel’s hand extended in peace . . . Israel’s example of freedom and democracy.” The results of the conference fell short of this goal. The only successful “storytelling” took place at the opening plenary session titled “Innovation Nation,” which framed Israel’s modern technological entrepreneurship as a continuation of early Zionist settlers’ alleged ability to “make the desert bloom,” and in a video (one of many screened on the conference hall’s mega screen) that depicted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a humanitarian vanguard without ever hinting at the possibility of improper conduct during Operation Cast Lead (OCL). Only four “breakout” panels addressed the Israel-as-innovation-nation theme—two on Israel’s economic and technological achievements, the other two on its military innovation. Moreover, most panels on Israel throughout the conference could be seen as “defensive,” for example, “Singled Out: Delegitimizing Israel at the United Nations,” “Mainstream to Fringe: Reality of Anti-Israel Effort in America,” or “Tough Questions: Answering Israel’s Detractors.” Similarly, although a number of secondary speakers, from a Paraguayan entrepreneur to a Nigerian doctor, were tasked with “telling Israel’s story” during the conference’s plenary sessions, they were never the focus of the sessions at which they spoke and instead seemed to be no more than fillers before anticipated speakers like Clinton and Netanyahu. Even main speakers like Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz inevitably found themselves defending Israel’s policies—whether on settlements or on the IDF’s conduct during OCL—rather than actually telling the story of what Kohr called the “small miracle we know as Israel.”
Roger Heacock
This book is largely the fruit of a research effort sponsored by the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, involving around twenty Israeli and three Palestinian contributors (one a coeditor), and comes highly praised on the jacket by sometime Van Leer visiting professor Ann Stoler.
Helena Cobban
Pity the poor writer who sets out to write a book about the “recent” history of the Palestine question, because this question continues to be dynamic and, like time and tides, stands still for no one. In the first sentence of Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine since 1989, cultural historian Mark LeVine tells us, “As I began writing this book, the Israel Defense Forces had just removed the last Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip,” placing it in September 2005. The writing evidently took some time because in later chapters LeVine refers (albeit in a less than satisfactory way) to events of 2007 and early 2008. For her part, political scientist Beverley Milton-Edwards brought her historical survey up only to 2005. Both books were published in 2009, in the aftermath of yet another landmark regarding the Palestine question: the lethal assault that Israel launched on Gaza in late 2008 and, even more significantly, the ability that Gaza’s elected Hamas rulers evinced to survive that assault.
Colonial Encounters among English and Palestinian Women, 1800--1948, by Nancy L. Stockdale. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. xi + 196 pages. Notes to p. 220. Bibliography to p. 240. Index to p. 246. $59.95 cloth.
Ellen Fleischmann
Colonial Encounters among English and Palestinian Women, 1800--1948, by Nancy L. Stockdale. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. xi + 196 pages. Notes to p. 220. Bibliography to p. 240. Index to p. 246. $59.95 cloth. Ellen Fleischmann, associate professor of history at the University of Dayton, is the author of The Nation and Its ‘New’ Women: The Palestinian Women’s Movement, 1920–1948 (University of California Press, 2003).
Turkish Jerusalem (1516--1917): Ottoman Inscriptions from Jerusalem and Other Palestinian Cities, by Mehmet Tütüncü. Haarlem, Netherlands: SOTA/Turkestan and Azerbaijan Research Centre, 2006. 256 pages. Bibliography to p. 260. Indices to p. 265. Appendix to p. 267. 150 photographs and 3 maps. CD rom. n.p
Abdul Rahim Abu Husayn
Turkish Jerusalem (1516--1917): Ottoman Inscriptions from Jerusalem and Other Palestinian Cities, by Mehmet Tütüncü. Haarlem, Netherlands: SOTA/Turkestan and Azerbaijan Research Centre, 2006. 256 pages. Bibliography to p. 260. Indices to p. 265. Appendix to p. 267. 150 photographs and 3 maps. CD rom. n.p Abdul Rahim Abu Husayn is a professor in the Department of History and Archaeology at the American University of Beirut.
The Holy Places of Jerusalem in Middle East Peace Agreements: The Conflict between Global and State Identities, by Enrico Molinaro. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2009. x + 139 pages. Annexes to p. 139. Notes to p. 175. References to p. 184. Index to p. 198. $37.50 paper; $99.50 cloth.
George Emile Irani
The Holy Places of Jerusalem in Middle East Peace Agreements: The Conflict between Global and State Identities, by Enrico Molinaro. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2009. x + 139 pages. Annexes to p. 139. Notes to p. 175. References to p. 184. Index to p. 198. $37.50 paper; $99.50 cloth. George Emile Irani, associate professor in international relations at the American University of Kuwait, is the author of The Papacy and the Middle East: The Role of the Holy See in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: 1962– 1984 (University of Notre Dame Press, 1986). He is currently working on a book dealing with papal diplomacy in the Middle East in the last twenty years.
Anguished Hope: Holocaust Scholars Confront the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, edited by Leonard Grob and John K. Roth. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008. 238 pages. Bibliography to p. 241. Contributors to p. 247. Index to p. 253. $25 paper. From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust, by Meir Litvak and Esther Webman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. vii + 385 pages. Bibliography to p. 416. Index to p. 435. $30 cloth
Mark Chmiel
Anguished Hope: Holocaust Scholars Confront the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, edited by Leonard Grob and John K. Roth. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008. 238 pages. Bibliography to p. 241. Contributors to p. 247. Index to p. 253. $25 paper. From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust, by Meir Litvak and Esther Webman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. vii + 385 pages. Bibliography to p. 416. Index to p. 435. $30 cloth Mark Chmiel teaches in the Honors program at Saint Louis University, Missouri.
Steven Salaita
Khalil Marrar’s The Arab Lobby and US Foreign Policy: The Two-State Solution is a provocative and comprehensive monograph that surveys and analyzes the role of Arab and Arab American activist and political organizations—together comprising what Marrar calls the “pro-Arab lobby”—in the policy discourses of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Marrar is concerned in particular with the now-widespread one-state/ two-state debate and its influence on both pro-Arab and pro-Israel lobbying efforts. He asks, “[W]hy has the US shifted away from an ‘Israel only’ position toward the Israeli- Palestinian conflict to supporting an ‘Israel and Palestine’ formula for peace?” (p. 3)
Mornings in Jenin: A Novel, by Susan Abulhawa. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010. xiii + 325 pages. Glossary to p. 330. References to p. 331. $15 paper.
Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman
Mornings in Jenin: A Novel, by Susan Abulhawa. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010. xiii + 325 pages. Glossary to p. 330. References to p. 331. $15 paper. Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman is associate professor of English at Amman Ahliyya University.
Arab Views (cartoons from al-Hayat)
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.
Selections from the Press
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.
Photos From the Quarter
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.
Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy-16 February–15 May 2010
Michele K. Esposito
The Quarterly Update is a summary of bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international events affecting the Palestinians and the future of the peace process. More than 100 print, wire, television, and online sources providing U.S., Israeli, Arab, and international independent and government coverage of unfolding events are surveyed to compile the Quarterly Update. The most relevant sources are cited in JPS's Chronology section, which tracks events day by day.
Settlement Monitor
Geoffrey Aronson
This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to Israeli settlement activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Unless otherwise stated, the items have been written by Geoffrey Aronson for this section or drawn from material written by him for Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories (hereinafter Settlement Report), a Washington-based bimonthly newsletter published by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. JPS is grateful to the foundation for permission to draw on its material.
A1. Middle East Quartet, Statement on the Middle East Peace Process, Moscow, 19 March 2010 (Excerpts)
A2. International Crisis Group (ICG0), Report on Palestinian Strategy, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Washington, Brussels, 26 April 2010 (excerpts)
A3. Jcall, Statement Launching a New European Jewish Pro-Peace Group, Brussels, 3 May 2010
B1. Gaza Salafist Leader Abu Hamza Al-Maqdisi, Interview On Salafi Jihadi Groups in Gaza, Ramallah, 20 August 2009 (Excerpts)
B2. Pa Pres. Mahmud Abbas, Remarks on Fatah-Fayyad Tensions, Ramallah, 9 May 2010 (Excerpts)
C1. Pm Benjamin Netanyahu, Address at the Annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) Policy Conference, Washington, 22 March 2010 (Excerpts)
C2. Gisha—legal Center for Freedom of Movement, "Electricity Shortage in Gaza: Who Turned out the Lights?" Haifa, May 2010 (Excerpts)
D1. Vp Joseph Biden, Statement on the Announcement of New Housing Units in Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 9 March 2010
D2. Vp Joseph Biden, "The Enduring Partnership Between the United States and Israel," Tel Aviv, 11 March 2010 (Excerpts)
D3. Mark Perry, "The Petraeus Briefing: Biden'S Embarrassment is not the Whole Story," Foreign Policy, 13 March 2010
D4. Gen. David Petraeus, Statement Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, 16 March 2010 (Excerpts)
D5. Secy. of State Hillary Clinton, Address at Annual Aipac Policy Conference, Washington, 22 March 2010 (Excerpts)
D6. U.S. House, Aipac-Sponsored Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Washington, 27 March 2010
D7. Pres. Barack Obama, Remarks on Israel, the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and U.S. Security, Washington, 13 April 2010 (Excerpts)
D8. American Jewish Committee (AJC), Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion, New York, 13 April 2010 (Excerpts)
D9. U.S. House, J Street-Sponsored Letter to President Barack Obama on Two-State Solution, Washington, 27 May 2010 (Excerpts)
Chronology
Michele K. Esposito
16 February–15 May 2010 This section is part 106 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 FEBRUARY As the quarter opens, Israel’s siege of Gaza continues, with Israel barring all exports, all but limited humanitarian imports, and most cross-border transit by individuals (with very limited exceptions for extreme medical cases, VIPs, and international NGO workers). The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) enforces a 300-meter-deep no-go zone along the full length of the Gaza border and limits the Palestinian fishing zone off Gaza to 500–1,000 m off the immediate Bayt Lahiya and Rafah coasts, and 3 nautical miles elsewhere. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Tubas. (PCHR 2/18) 17 FEBRUARY IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinians scavenging building materials fr. destroyed buildings n. of Bayt Lahiya, forcing them to flee but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a livestock pen nr. Kiryat Arba settlement after the settlers filed a petition with the IDF asking for it to be removed; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Am`ari refugee camp (r.c.) nr. al-Bireh and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Nablus. (PCHR 2/18, 2/24; OCHA 2/25) 18 FEBRUARY The IDF makes a day-long incursion into c. Gaza to level land inside the no-go zone e. of al-Maghazi and al-Musaddar, demolishing 3 Palestinian homes (displacing 13 residents), leveling 17 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of agricultural land, exchanging gunfire with armed Palestinians throughout the day (no injuries reported). In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Bayt Sira village w. of Ramallah in the evening, firing rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Ramallah. (OCHA 2/18; PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25) 19 FEBRUARY Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists (including Palestinian Authority [PA] PM Salam Fayyad, PA communications advisor Sabri Saydam, Fatah Central Comm. mbr. Nabil Shaath, PLO Exec. Comm. mbr. Taysir Khalid, Palestinian National Initiative party head Mustafa Barghouti, and the mayor of Geneva), some of whom throw stones at IDF troops, taking part in a nonviolent march to the separation wall in Bil`in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at Palestinian and international activists, some of whom throw stones at IDF troops, taking part in protests against the separation wall in Ni`lin (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, stun grenades at Palestinians staging a nonviolent march to land located between Dayr Nizam and al-Nabi Salih recently confiscated for the expansion of Halamish settlement (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); conducts late-night patrols in Rumana village w. of Jenin. Hamas accuses Fatah of links to the 1/20/10 assassination of Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades founder Mahmud al-Mabhuh, saying that 2 Palestinian suspects in custody in Dubai in connection with the assassination, Anwar Shhaybar and Ahmad Hassanayn, were former Fatah security officers and current employees of a senior Fatah official. Fatah denies the accusation. (NYT 2/20; PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25) 20 FEBRUARY In Gaza, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border e. of al-Qarara exchange cross-border fire with armed Palestinians, causing no reported injuries; Israeli naval vessels then shell the area, injuring 3 armed Palestinians, damaging a mosque. IDF troops in observation towers on the Gaza border e. of Jabaliya fire on Palestinian farmers working land 400 m fr. the border (outside Israel’s no-go zone), forcing them to leave. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. Late in the evening, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire at Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanun for 40 mins., causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF opens fire on a Palestinian vehicle driving nr. Husan village w. of Bethlehem, wounding 3 Palestinians (ages 17–21), claiming they fired on an IDF patrol; fires tear gas, stun grenades at Palestinians attempting to reach their agricultural land inside a closed military zone nr. Hebron, injuring an 8-yr.-old Palestinian boy; raids and seals (until 2/28) 2 Palestinian organizations in Sur Bahir nr. Jerusalem; imposes a late-night curfew on, conducts house searches in al-Zubaydat village nr. Jericho. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron throw stones and bottles at Palestinian houses in nearby Wadi Husayn, injuring a 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement n. of Ramallah seize 10 d. of Palestinian agricultural land to expand their settlement. (PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25) 21 FEBRUARY IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinians scavenging construction material from destroyed buildings 400 m fr. the border, forcing them to flee; no injuries are reported. Shortly after, the same IDF unit shells the area where the Palestinians had been scavenging as well as a Palestinian home in Bayt Lahiya, causing damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Bayt Rima nr. Ramallah during the day; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Some 50 Jewish settlers break into the ancient Na’aran synagogue in Palestinian-controlled area A in Jericho to hold religious services, declaring their hopes of “renewing Jewish settlement in Jericho” (see Quarterly Update for details); the IDF removes the settlers, arresting at least 35. Jewish settlers escorted by IDF troops enter Kafr Haris village n. of Salfit to perform Jewish prayers at monuments in the village. (HA 2/22; PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25) Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu adds 2 key West Bank Jewish shrines, the Tomb of the Patriarchs (known as al-Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians) in the center of Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb just inside Bethlehem, to Israel’s national heritage sites, allocating $1 m. for their maintenance and repair as part of a $100 m. project to refurbish and link 150 national heritage sites, creating a “historical biblical trail [to] educate the next generation about Jewish and Zionist history.” The PA condemns the action. (IFM 2/21; PCHR, WT 2/22; NYT 2/23; JPI 3/4) (see Quarterly Update for details) 22 FEBRUARY Palestinians protesting Netanyahu’s 2/21 decision to add sites in Bethlehem and Hebron to Israel’s national heritage roster clash with IDF troop in Hebron; no serious injuries are reported. IDF troops conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara`a r.c. s. of Tubas and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah. In Gaza, the IDF makes a day-long incursion to level land along the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Lahiya to clear lines of sight. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar settlement nr. Nablus uproot 45 Palestinian olive trees in nearby Burin village; the IDF imposes a curfew on the village while the settlers work. Palestinians report (PCHR 2/24) that in the previous wk. Israel’s Jerusalem planning comm. convened to discuss a plan to build 549 settlement housing units on 153 d. of Bayt Safafa land s. of Jerusalem as part of a 4-stage settlement expansion plan, though no decisions were taken; the plan (several parts of which were approved before Netanyahu declared a temporary settlement freeze in 11/09; see Quarterly Update for background) is aimed at reinforcing the separation of Jerusalem from the s. West Bank. (NYT, WT 2/23; PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25) 23 FEBRUARY In the West Bank, low-level clashes between Palestinian protesters and the IDF continue in Hebron for a 2d day, with no serious injuries reported. The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm. The UN reports that in the previous wk., the IDF demolished 1 Palestinian home nr. Hebron; 1 Palestinian died of electrocution in a smuggling tunnel nr. the Rafah border. (PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25; NYT 2/26; PCHR 3/4) 24 FEBRUARY The IDF makes a brief incursion 700 m into the al-Fukhari area of s. Gaza to level 60 d. of agricultural land. In the West Bank, low-level clashes between Palestinian protesters and the IDF continue in Hebron for a 3d day, with no serious injuries reported. The IDF demolishes 6 wells w. of Jenin that provide water to 47 greenhouses and 456 d. of agricultural land; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Ramallah. (NYT 2/26; OCHA, PCHR 3/4)
Bibliography of Periodical Literature
Norbert Scholz
REFERENCE AND GENERAL Hamoudi, Haider A. “Orientalism and the Fall and Rise of the Islamic State.” Middle East Law and Governance 2, no. 1 (10): 81–103. Smith, Robert O. “Toward a Lutheran Response to Christian Zionism.” Dialog 48, no. 3 (Fall 09): 279–91. HISTORY (THROUGH 1948) AND GEOGRAPHY Bouchard, Mathieu. “Les intellectuels et la question palestinienne (1945–1948).” CM, no. 72 (Win. 09): 19–27. Cahill, Richard A. “The Image of ‘Black and Tans’ in Late Mandate Palestine.” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 43–51. Chazan, Meir. “The Dispute in Mapai over ‘Self-Restraint’ and ‘Purity of Arms’ during the Arab Revolt.” Jewish Social Studies 15, no. 3 (Spr.–Sum. 09): 89–113. Cohen, Michael J. “Was the Balfour Declaration at Risk in 1923? Zionism and British Imperialism.” JIsH 29, no. 1 (Mar. 10): 79–98. Greenberg, Zalman, and Rakefet Kahanov. “The League of Nations Malaria Commission to Palestine” [in Hebrew]. Cathedra, no. 134 (Dec. 09): 49–64. Horowitz, Elliott. “‘Remarkable Rather for Its Eloquence Than Its Truth’: Modern Travelers Encounter the Holy Land—and Each Other’s Accounts There.” Jewish Quarterly Review 99, no. 4 (Fall 09): 439–64. Kedar, Nir. “Democracy and Judicial Autonomy in Israel’s Early Years.” IsS 16, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 25–46. Matossian, Bedross D. “The Young Turk Revolution: Its Impact on Religious Politics of Jerusalem (1908–1912).” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 18–33. Mazza, Roberto. “Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita: The Spanish Consul in Jerusalem 1914–1920.” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 34–42. Radzyner, Amihai. “A Constitution for Israel: The Design of the Leo Kohn Proposal, 1948.” IsS 16, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 1–24. Robson, Laura C. “Archeology and Mission: The British Presence in Nineteenth-Century Jerusalem.” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 5–17. Smith, Daniella O. “Hotel Design in British Mandate Palestine: Modernism and the Zionist Vision.” JIsH 29, no. 1 (Mar. 10): 99–123. PALESTINIAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY Abu Dakka, Muhammad. “After the 6th Conference: Fatah’s Priorities and Its New Political Rhetoric” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 11 (10): 75–90. Bistofli, Robert. “Les chrétiens dans la résistance palestinienne.” CM, no. 72 (Win. 09): 135–38. Dajani, Mohammed. “Il est temps de voire naitre un nouveau parti palestinien.” CO, no. 96 (Oct. 09): 49–55. Dajani, Munther. “La bande de Gaza est dans les limbes.” CO, no. 96 (Oct. 09): 19–23. Frisch, Hillel. “Strategic Change in Terrorist Movements: Lessons from Hamas.” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 32, no. 12 (09): 1049–65. Hilal, Jamil. “The Polarization of the Palestinian Political Field.” JPS 39, no. 3 (Spr. 10): 24–39. Hitti, Nassif. “La question palestinienne, une question résoluble mais un conflit structurant.” CO, no. 96 (Oct. 09): 37–48. Ibraghith, Sawfat. “La Palestine entre le marteau de l’occupation et l’enclume des divisions.” CO, no. 96 (Oct. 09): 27–36. Issa, Shawqi. “Palestine: Notes from the Inside.” Race and Class 51, no. 3 (Jan. 10): 66–72. Karmi, Ghada. “Interview: Ghada Karmi, a Voice from Exile.” MEP 17, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 82–89. Khalidi, Ahmad S. “An Evaluation of Salam Fayyad’s Plan” [in Arabic]. MDF, nos. 80–81 (Fall–Win. 09–10): 26–28. Mi’ari, Mahmoud. “Transformation of Collective Identity in Palestine.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 44, no. 6 (Dec. 09): 579–98. Pradhan, Bansidhar. “Palestinian Politics in the Post-Arafat Period.” International Studies 45, no. 4 (Oct.–Dec. 08): 295–339. Raafat, Saleh, et al. (roundtable). “Palestinian Politics: The Dilemma and Setbacks of Options” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 11 (10): 111–27. Talhami, Daoud. “The Palestinian People’s Choices and the Lack of Solutions in the Short Run” [in Arabic]. MDF, nos. 80–81 (Fall–Win. 09–10): 10–20. Tilley, Virginia. “A Palestinian Declaration of Independence: Implications for Peace.” MEP 17, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 52–67. Younes, Anna-Esther. “A Gendered Movement for Liberation: Hamas’s Women’s Movement and Nation Building in Contemporary Palestine.” CAA 3, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 21–37. Zayd, Sayyid. “Local Authorities in Palestine: Revenues and Ways of Development” [in Arabic]. Siyasat, no. 11 (10): 139–47. JERUSALEM Jacir, Emily (interview). “Destination: Jerusalem Servees; Interview by Adila Laïdi-Hainieh.” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 59–67. Khamaisi, Rassem. “Resisting Creeping Urbanization and Gentrification in the Old City of Jerusalem and Its Surroundings.” CAA 3, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 53–70. Matossian, Bedross D. “The Young Turk Revolution: Its Impact on Religious Politics of Jerusalem (1908–1912).” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 18–33. Omer-Sherman, Ranen. “Yehuda Amichai, Jerusalem, and the Fate of Others.” Cross Currents 59, no. 4 (Dec. 09): 467–83. Robson, Laura C. “Archeology and Mission: The British Presence in Nineteenth-Century Jerusalem.” JQ, no. 40 (Win. 09–10): 5–17. Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism Ben-Shalom, Uzi, and Shaul Fox. “Military Psychology in the Israel Defense Forces: A Perspective of Continuity and Change.” Armed Forces and Society 36, no. 1 (Oct. 09): 103–19. Benzion, Uri, Shosh Shahrabani, and Tal Shavit. “Emotions and Perceived Risks after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War.” Mind and Society 8, no. 1 (Jun. 09): 21–41. Berent, Moshe. “The Ethnic Democracy Debate: How Unique Is Israel?” Israeli Sociology 11, no. 2 (09–10): 303–35. Chaaban, Abdel Hussein, et al. “Israel’s Trial between Law and Politics” [in Arabic]. Dirasat Bahith 8, nos. 28–29 (Fall–Spr. 10): 39–67. Charbit, Denis. “La cause laïque en Israël est-elle perdue? Atouts, faiblesses et mutation.” Critique Internationale, no. 44 (Jul.–Sep. 09): 65–80. Cohen, Asher, and Bernard Susser. “Stability in the Haredi Camp and Upheavals in Nationalist Zionism: An Analysis of the Religious Parties in the 2009 Elections.” IsA 16, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 82–104. Conforti, Yitzhak. “East and West in Jewish Nationalism: Conflicting Types in the Zionist Vision?” Nations and Nationalism 16, no. 2 (Apr. 10): 201–19. Diskin, Abraham. “The Likud: The Struggle for the Centre.” IsA 16, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 51–68. Elias, Nelly, and Adriana Kemp. “The New Second Generation: Non-Jewish Olim, Black Jews and Children of Migrant Workers in Israel.” IsS 16, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 73–94. Friedberg, Chen, and Reuven Hazan. “Israel’s Prolonged War against Terror: From Executive Domination to Executive-Legislative Dialogue.” Journal of Legislative Studies 15, no. 2–3 (Jun. 09): 257–76. Gavrieli-Nuri, Dalia. “Saying ‘War,’ Thinking ‘Victory’—The Mythmaking Surrounding Israel’s 1967 Victory.” IsS 16, no. 1 (Spr. 10): 95–114. Gerstenfeld, Manfred. “The Run-up to the Elections: A Political History of the 2009 Campaign.” IsA 16, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 14–30. Ghanem, As`ad, and Mohanad Mustafa. “Arab Local Government in Israel: Partial Modernisation as an Explanatory Variable for Shortages in Management.” Local Government Studies 35, no. 4 (Aug. 09): 457–73. Goldberg, Giora. “Kadima Goes Back: The Limited Power of Vagueness.” IsA 16, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 31–50. Halperin, Eran, Daniel Bar-Tal, et al. “Socio-Psychological Implications for an Occupying Society: The Case of Israel.” JPR 47, no. 1 (Jan. 10): 59–70. Halperin, Eran, Daphna Canetti, Stevan Hobfoll, et al. “Terror, Resource Gains and Exclusionist Political Attitudes among New Immigrants and Veteran Israelis.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35, no. 6 (Jul. 09): 997–1014.