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CIAO DATE: 10/04
Summer 2004 (Volume XXXIII, Number 4, Issue 132)
Article
Popular Culture, Relational History, and the Question of Power in Palestine and Israel by Rebecca L. Stein and Ted Swedenburg
The marginalization of popular culture in radical scholarship on Palestine and Israel is symptomatic of the conceptual limits that still define much Middle East studies scholarship: namely, the prevailing logic of the nation-state on the one hand and the analytic tools of classical Marxist historiography and political economy on the other. This essay offers a polemic about the form that alternative scholarly projects might take through recourse to questions of popular culture. The authors argue that close attention to the ways that popular culture "articulates" with broader political, social, and economic processes can expand scholarly understandings of the terrain of power in Palestine and Israel, and hence the possible arenas and modalities of struggle.
Perspectives
Hamas after Shaykh Yasin and Rantisi by Khaled Hroub
This article paints a broad canvas of Hamas after almost four years of intifada and a relentless multipronged Israeli-U.S. assault against it. The movement's views and strategies are discussed with regard to suicide attacks, the intra-Palestinian dialogue and cease-fire negotiations, and conditions for a peace settlement. While Israel's assassination of leadership cadres has unquestionably dealt the movement a serious blow, the author argues that Hamas has nonetheless made three significant strategic gains: its "resistance project"-contrasting with PLO negotiations policies-has gained ground as a "national agenda"; Arab and Muslim support, fueled by rising outrage at U.S. and Israeli policies, has grown; and, most importantly, Palestinian support at the grass-roots level has never been greater, resulting in increased political weight even as the movement's military strength has declined.
Elusive Ingredient: Hamas and the Peace Process by Beverley Milton-Edwards and Alastair Crooke
This essay argues that the significant shift in the political power balance in the occupied Palestinian territories toward the Islamists in recent years has major implications for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and must be taken into account if there is any chance for a successful resolution. The authors, who have first-hand involvement with conflict resolution and negotiations with Hamas, survey the movement's evolution on the ground, its participation in cease-fire and intra-Palestinian talks to date, and its positions on power accommodation with the other Palestinian factions and on eventual participation in peace talks or governance. Attention is also paid to the role of external actors in the process and the ingredients of successful peacemaking. The authors conclude that current peace frameworks, by ignoring Hamas's weight and its indications of readiness for political incorporation into peacemaking, are ignoring what could be the "elusive ingredient" for peace.
Letter from Damascus
Syria under Pressure by Anders Strindberg
Syria's sharp criticism of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 opened a particularly tense phase in Syrian-American relations, culminating in the May 2004 imposition of U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act. While accusing Damascus of being on the "wrong side" in the wars against terror and Iraq, Washington has raised a number of other issues, including Syria's military presence in Lebanon, its support for Hizballah and various Palestinian factions, its alleged "interference" in Iraq, and its possible possession of weapons of mass destruction. This report, based on numerous interviews with government officials, analysts, opposition figures, and ordinary citizens, examines Syria's reactions to these allegations, gradual changes in Syrian political culture, and various domestic developments.
Report
Art under the Siege by Kamal Boullata
While living under conditions of ghettoization and military assault, Palestinian artists continue to be driven to express themselves in paint, photography, and other visual media. This article examines the work of six of the ten finalists in the September 2002 biennial competition for the Ramallah-based A. M. Qattan Foundation's Young Artists of the Year Award. After briefly surveying the conditions that have marked post-1948 Palestinian art, the author finds the will to create under extreme conditions to be an illustration of Palestinian self-assertion and faith in life.
Special Documents
The Sharon Unilateral Disengagement Plan by Rebecca L. Stein and Ted Swedenburg
The marginalization of popular culture in radical scholarship on Palestine and Israel is symptomatic of the conceptual limits that still define much Middle East studies scholarship: namely, the prevailing logic of the nation-state on the one hand and the analytic tools of classical Marxist historiography and political economy on the other. This essay offers a polemic about the form that alternative scholarly projects might take through recourse to questions of popular culture. The authors argue that close attention to the ways that popular culture "articulates" with broader political, social, and economic processes can expand scholarly understandings of the terrain of power in Palestine and Israel, and hence the possible arenas and modalities of struggle.
Recent Books
Katz: Women and Gender in Early Jewish and Palestinian Nationalism reviewed by Islah Jad
Karmi: In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story reviewed by Jean Said Makdisi
Monk: An Aesthetic Occupation: The Immediacy of Architecture and the Palestine Conflict reviewed by Dan Rabinowitz
Ben-Yehuda and Sandler: The Arab-Israeli Conflict Transformed: Fifty Years of Interstate and Ethnic Crises reviewed by Nur Masalha
Bowker: Palestinian Refugees: Mythology, Identity, and the Search for Peace reviewed by Elia Zureik
Pearlman: Occupied Voices: Stories of Everyday Life from the Second Intifada reviewed by Penny Johnson
Amiry and Hadid: Earthquake in Aprilreviewed by Dick Doughty
Rubenberg: The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace reviewed by Stephen Zunes
Taha: The Palestinian Novel: A Communication Study reviewed by Yasir Suleiman
Long: Imagining the Holy Land: Maps, Models, and Fantasy Travels reviewed by Karen Pinto
Queen Noor: Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life reviewed by Kimberly Katz
Arab Views(cartoons from al-Hayat)
From the Hebrew Press
Photos from the Quarter
Quarterly Update On Conflict And Diplomacy
Settlement Monitor
Documents and Source Material
International
A1. International Crisis Group, "Identity Crisis: Israel and Its Arab Citizens," Amman and Brussels, 4 March 2004 (excerpts)
A2. British Former Senior Diplomats, Open Letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair on British Policy on the Arab-Israeli Problem and Iraq, London, April 2004
A3. Amnesty International, Report on House Demolition and Destruction of Land and Property in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Executive Summary, London, 18 May 2004 (excerpts)
United States
B1. Former U.S. Diplomats, Open Letter to President George W. Bush, 4 May 2004
B2. Victor Gilinsky, "Israel's Bomb," Letter to the Editor (New York Review of Books) concerning Avner Cohen's Israel and the Bomb, New York, 13 May 2004.
B3. President George W. Bush, Remarks to the Annual AIPAC Conference, Washington, D.C., 18 May 2004 (excerpts)
Chronology
Bibliography of Periodical Literature
Letters to the Editor