The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction
Abstract
The Palestinian–Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction explains the history of this conflict, reducing it to its very essence — a modern territorial contest between two nations and one geographical territory. It is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles in history. Over the last 120 years the conflict has had many facets, most tangibly the sharing of land. It is historically very complex involving changes in relationships among people and events. What significance have the 1897 Basle Congress, the 1917 Balfour Declaration and British occupation of Palestine, and the 1947 UN Partition Plan and the war for Palestine had on the conflict as a whole? How and why has partition been so difficult? How do efforts to restore peace continue today?
... After the Six-Day War, the eastern part of Jerusalem along with the entire West Bank came under Israeli rule, which meant all of Jerusalem and several neighbouring West Bank villages were taken over by the Israeli governments ("Six-Day War", 2020). Under these circumstances, enormous amounts of refugees driving from East Jerusalem, along with the injured soldiers from the preceding fights, could only seek asylum in other Arab countries; some came under the control of Israeli troops, working and building infrastructure for the Israeli government, and living in Israeli settlements (Bunton, 2013). ...
... Occupation, referred to as a situation in which the military of a foreign government goes into an area or country and takes control of it (Learner's Dictionary), frequently happening in West Bank after 1967 from Israeli in expanding their territory and economy. Although the West Bank was thought that it could not be democratic due to its large Arab population, since driving those citizens out of the region would require countless money and energy, the Israel government still decided to incorporate the West Bank and Gaza Strip as their topping stone for their expansion and economy (Bunton, 2013). After and during 1967, thousands of Israelis established mobile home settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to promote the creation of the expansion. ...
... To fully control and supervise Palestine, not only does the military constantly stand guard, but the settlements are spread through the whole West Bank, surrounding the major Palestinian cities and roads. In these cases, large amounts of Palestinian inhabitants and their lives were significantly affected: farmers were separated from their lands so that they could not irrigate their plants, were "protected" heavily from the military occupation, and were also restricted from installing army equipment (Bunton 2013). That led to the increasing effects on the Palestinian economy, and they gradually became subordinate to rapidly growing Israeli business. ...
... Following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, around 89,000 Arabs and 23,000 Israelis have died (Hanafi, 2012, p. 191). Until 1967 war, the international community did not view the Palestinians as autonomous political actors but considered them narrowly as a humanitarian issue (Bunton, 2013). When the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964, Palestinians gained the status of an autonomous people independent of the collective Arab identity that Palestinians shared with other Arab states . ...
... The Lebanese state has not shown an interest in integrating the Palestinians into the Lebanese society due to the complex sectarian balance (Bunton, 2013). This clarifies why the Palestinians refugees based in camps in Lebanon consider themselves as 'the forgotten people' and after decades of living there, they are denied working in 20 professions including medicine, law, engineering and journalism. ...
This chapter engages with the narratives of Kurdish and Palestinian migrants regarding what statelessness entail to them and affect their identity formation, voice, status, visibility and presence in the world in the context of sovereign and non-sovereign identities. It also discusses commonality and differences between these two group in relation to statelessness and how they relate to each other as members of two nations without states. While the Kurds generally regard statelessness as a political device to gain international recognition and support, the Palestinians view statelessness as a dangerous appellation since it is interpreted as turning the Palestinians into a ‘landless’ people and legitimizing Israeli mastery. The question of resistance to statelessness is also highlighted. An important focus of this chapter is to discuss hierarchy of statelessness and suffering that certain Palestinian and Kurdish individuals either endorse or challenge.
... Following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, around 89,000 Arabs and 23,000 Israelis have died (Hanafi, 2012, p. 191). Until 1967 war, the international community did not view the Palestinians as autonomous political actors but considered them narrowly as a humanitarian issue (Bunton, 2013). When the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964, Palestinians gained the status of an autonomous people independent of the collective Arab identity that Palestinians shared with other Arab states . ...
... The Lebanese state has not shown an interest in integrating the Palestinians into the Lebanese society due to the complex sectarian balance (Bunton, 2013). This clarifies why the Palestinians refugees based in camps in Lebanon consider themselves as 'the forgotten people' and after decades of living there, they are denied working in 20 professions including medicine, law, engineering and journalism. ...
This introductory chapter orients the book toward scholarship on the importance of studying statelessness from sociological, political theory and legal perspectives. It does so by primarily discussing and assessing the work of Hannah Arendt with regard to her seminal conceptualization of statelessness. The chapter also surveys the theoretical and empirical field in relation to statelessness with a particular focus on Kurdish and Palestinian experiences. In the same context, the chapter reviews the evolution of the Kurdish and Palestinian diasporas with regard to their statelessness and the political situation of their contested and occupied homelands. Moreover, I provide a brief methodological discussion in relation to Kurdish and Palestinian diasporas and the individuals that have been recruited to participate in the study and the analysis that guides the narrative accounts of the research participants.
... British authorities soon found that they were faced with the daunting reality of having two communities differing in terms of religion and race now living on the same territory, and sharing opposing geo-political visions (Bunton, 2013). ...
... Hence, Bunton (2013) asserts that the British promise of hope and harmony to both Arabs and Jews were conflicting their desired strategic plans in the mandate system. In this context, it can be stated that the British mission became more challenging as the regional geo-strategic and religious conflicts increased and led to further complications between the Palestinians and the European Jewish settlers. ...
Throughout history, socio-political experts in the Arab-Islamic and Western worlds have embraced the prospect of fruitful Arab-West inter-governmental and inter-ambassadorial relations. In the fields of international relations and education, there is substantial research conducted for reconciling the socio-political and religious dilemmas in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Nonetheless, pondering the intransigent deterioration of affairs and the rise of extremism and terrorism, the region has become a focal point of mainstream Western media without evidence of political resolutions or sensible Western foreign policies. Moreover, much of recent critical Western works on the interpretations of political Islam from ontological perspectives require further attention. Nevertheless, misapprehensions about both historical and contemporary Islamic thought are evident, particularly among prominent Western diplomats and politicians. Therefore, it has become vital to devise a contemporary diplomatic training program for future Western representatives to the MENA region, largely since the methods of Western international relations theory (IRT) have been labelled as Eurocentric, unaccommodating and insufficient. The main objectives of this dissertation are as follows: to provide elucidations on how political Islam is observed, especially when Jürgen Habermas’s descriptive, interpretive and critically self-reflective methods of analysis are applied to it; to provide a holistic analysis of the historical factors that influence political Islam among Arab Muslims; to explore how these factors diverge from existing assumptions about political Islam in the Western setting; and, to pinpoint and elaborate upon extant hindrances in Western inter-governmental and inter-ambassadorial discussions. The findings revealed numerous shortcomings in current approaches to political Islam and also highlighted the factors behind its popularity among Arab Muslims. The findings also identified apprehensions towards Islamic thought in the Western setting and pinpointed effective political and educational notions through the application of Habermas’s critical theory and theory of communicative action. Finally, the dissertation outlined the rationale for a diplomatic training program for future Western diplomats and politicians.
... Following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, around 89,000 Arabs and 23,000 Israelis have died (Hanafi, 2012, p. 191). Until 1967 war, the international community did not view the Palestinians as autonomous political actors but considered them narrowly as a humanitarian issue (Bunton, 2013). When the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964, Palestinians gained the status of an autonomous people independent of the collective Arab identity that Palestinians shared with other Arab states . ...
... The Lebanese state has not shown an interest in integrating the Palestinians into the Lebanese society due to the complex sectarian balance (Bunton, 2013). This clarifies why the Palestinians refugees based in camps in Lebanon consider themselves as 'the forgotten people' and after decades of living there, they are denied working in 20 professions including medicine, law, engineering and journalism. ...
This chapter provides an overview of Kurdish migration within the boundary of the Middle East and discusses the Kurdish diaspora formation in the Western contexts. The chapter focus on the strategies of Kurdish diaspora and the limits and possibilities of its effect on Kurdish politics due to structural constraints that it is subjected to in the West. Finally, the chapter argues that the lived experiences of collective suffering and misrecognition haunt Kurdish subjectivities but questions whether the Kurdish diaspora can remain equally active in homeland politics due to normalisation of political crisis in Kurdish lives.
... The growth of nationalist sentiment among Palestinians can be traced back to the late Ottoman period, when Ottoman policies favored Jewish immigration into Palestine. This influx of Jewish settlers, coupled with the establishment of Zionist settlements and institutions, threatened the predominantly Arab and Muslim character of the region (Bunton, 2003). Palestinians thus began to mobilize and assert their own national identity in an effort to safeguard their land and culture. ...
The Israel-Palestine conflict is a complex and deeply rooted issue that continues to shape the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. To understand the current state of affairs, it is critical to explore the historical foundations that laid the groundwork for this prolonged conflict. This chapter provides an overview of the early history and background of the region, highlighting key events and civilizations that influenced the area. It delves into the emergence of nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries and its impact on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The chapter examines the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent mandate period, during which British administration played a pivotal role in Palestine. It explores the aspirations of Zionism and the Jewish immigration to Palestine, which triggered tensions with the local Arab communities and fueled the growth of Arab nationalism. The United Nations' involvement in finding a solution is also explored, with a focus on the UN Partition Plan and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The chapter delves into the consequences of this development, including the displacement of Palestinians and the subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, which further entrenched the conflict. By understanding the historical context and events that led to the Israel-Palestine conflict, readers gain insight into the deep-rooted issues and complexities involved. This chapter aims to provide a foundation for comprehending the ongoing conflict and encourages a nuanced perspective to foster dialogue and potential resolutions.
... Hamas is excluded from negotiations by the United States and Israel and is considered a terrorist organization, thus legitimacy and representativeness remain under doubt. On the other hand, the settler population has exceeded the number of 500,000, growing at a faster rate than the rest of the Israeli population (Bunton, 2013). Those settlers perceive Jewish sovereignty over all of the territory as a Biblical right. ...
The article examines the impact of the activity of the parties involved, as well as of third parties, on the effectiveness of strategic negotiations with non-state organizations. It affirms that third-party implication in the form of mediation has been a
... 5 I am grateful to Daniel Kent for being the first person to point this out to me. 6 In reconstructing the history of Israel/Palestine, in addition to the sources mentioned in the text, I have used Bunton (2013), Chapman (2002), Caplan (2009) and have also drawn on two visits to Israel/Palestine, in 2001 and 2014, within which I spoke with leaders in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities. Also useful is (Gelvin 2014 The Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, embodies this message. ...
This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach within the study of religion and conflict. Using a religious studies framework, it demonstrates that tools from human geography, peace studies, and the theology of religions can be used to shed light on the intractability of conflicts where religion is not “innocent”. Within human geography, the spatial dimension of individual and communal identity, most particularly the concept of “mythical space”, can illuminate the non-empirical, affective factors that condition attitudes to religious and ethnic others. Similarly, within the theology of religions, the typology of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism can aid understanding of tendencies within all human communities, religious and non-religious, when faced with perceived threats from significant others. Two case studies, Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine, are examined through this interdisciplinary approach, using illustrative “moments” within each conflict. Both highlight the affective power of primal imaginaries that are informed by narratives about religion, land, and identity. Without dismissing the importance of political and economic factors in the arising of conflict, this paper argues that it is not enough to analyse these factors alone. Other disciplines are necessary and this paper argues for two important examples: human geography and the theology of religions.
... 6 In real life, the establishment of Israel was a much more complicated and paradoxical affair than that for which the Zionist narrative accounted. 7 As a variant of nineteenth century nationalism, Zionism presupposed a homogenous Jewish people as a given. The assumption was that it was somehow unambiguously clear who belonged and who did not. ...
This research examines the application of International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts and the involvement of countries in blockades to promote peace. It reveals that Humanitarian Law is enforced through the 1977 Additional Protocol, which governs international and non-international armed conflicts. The study also highlights Israel’s use of retaliatory Cast Lead operations in response to Hamas rocket attacks, which pose a threat to Israeli citizens’ safety. A narrative review is a research method that defines a topic, searches for relevant literature, organizes it, analyzes findings, and presents results in narrative form. It is suitable for broad overviews and provides flexible analysis. The ancient state of Israel, established by Shaul around 1025 BC, faced conflicts with the Palestinian nation, leading to the rise of groups like Fatah, Hamas, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Israeli Navy declared a blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2009, but the status of occupation remains questionable. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is needed to protect victims affected by the conflict, and law enforcement mechanisms include diplomatic settlements, criminal investigations, and warnings. International Humanitarian Law is consistently respected and enforced, despite ongoing breaches, particularly in armed conflicts. Blockades, such as Israel’s infringement on Gaza, have resulted in widespread pain and loss of lives, highlighting the need for a more balanced approach to conflict resolution.
Israel's military aggression in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's surprise attack on October 7th, 2023, continued to escalate until the end of the year, which became one of the deadliest military operations in the last three decades, with a total death toll of more than 10 thousand people. The coverage of the escalated tensions in Israel-Palestine has also become a hot issue to cover by various international media outlets. This article delved into the news narrative of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Al Jazeera, examining their agenda-setting, language selection, and framing of events. The choice of BBC and Al Jazeera as the subjects of this research is to compare the representation of Western and non-Western media. Through the utilization of comparative methods and text analysis facilitated by Voyant tools, this study revealed that background differences between the observed media impact the news content disparities for international audiences in accordance with each interest.
This research examines the potential consequences of Egypt engaging in a military conflict against Israel in support of Palestine. The Israel-Palestine conflict has been a focal point of Middle Eastern politics for decades, with Egypt historically playing a dual role as both a mediator and supporter of the Palestinian cause. However, should Egypt shift from diplomacy to military engagement, it would have far-reaching implications for the region and beyond. The study explores the geopolitical, economic, and social consequences of such a conflict, focusing on Egypt's strategic alliances, economic stability, and domestic security. Additionally, it examines the potential responses from global powers like the United States, Russia, and the European Union, as well as the broader Middle Eastern community, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. Humanitarian concerns, including the impact on civilian populations, refugee flows, and Egypt's internal political dynamics, are also considered. Through this analysis, the research provides insight into the potential regional destabilization and global ripple effects that could arise from an Egyptian-Israeli war, ultimately assessing the risks and challenges Egypt would face in abandoning its long-standing diplomatic approach.
This paper will explore the complex and permeant Israeli-Palestinian conflict which has its roots in historical, territorial, and nationalist reasons, by examining the key international actors, especially the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the United States. This study evaluates how this organization and state influenced the conflict resolution and ongoing war effort. Moreover, it will find the primary challenges and benefits of peace-building efforts. Through a qualitative approach, this paper argues that international interventions (UN, USA), are often biased in favour of Israel, which creates complicity in the path of a sustainable peace process. (UNSC; USA, Palestine-Israel, Root cause, Actors' role, Conflict resolution)
The article focuses on Colum McCann’s 2020 novel Apeirogon, which tells the stories of an unlikely friendship of two bereaved fathers, a Palestinian Bassam Aramin and a Jew Rami Elhanan. I argue that in its experimental form, the novel comes to imagine a way beyond the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is here shown to be predicated on what Achille Mbembe terms necropolitics. Having discussed Mbembe’s idea, I proceed to demonstrate that in its continuous juggling of hope and despair and its use of mathematics to formally structure the novel, McCann rejects the politics of hatred, replacing it with a mind-set of shared suffering and mutual understanding.
The paper analyzes the relations between Hamas and Israel through a series of conflicts that occurred from 2008 until nowadays. Thus, the study aims at the chronological presentation of the Israeli military offensives from 2008 to 2014 (known as code: Cast Lead, 2008–09; Pillar of Defense, 2012; Protective Edge, 2014), supplemented by the assessment of the conflict situation after 2014 and taking into account of the escalation of current tensions (Operation Guardians of the Walls, May 2021). The two Palestinian territories–the Gaza Strip (ruled by Hamas since June 2007) and the West Bank (divided into three zones – A, B, and C, following the 1995 interim peace agreement–over which the Palestinian Authority exercises partial control) – are areas of significant security interest (Fig. 1). Here, local tensions can erupt at any time and create a state of conflict that is difficult to manage. This situation was visible again in the Gaza Strip in May 2021, when Hamas launched missiles at major Israeli cities, and– in response, the Israeli army carried out a new military operation known as code name Guardian of the Walls. As such, this area continues to be of significant interest in local, regional, and international security and requires increased attention from specialists and analysts who assess the course of events in this area.
This paper presents the essential stages in the life of the archivist‑historian Lajos Kelemen. As a mentor, he contributed significantly to innovating Hungarian scholarship from Transylvania after 1920, initiated by a new historical paradigm. In all his duties – teacher at the Unitarian College in Cluj, archivist at the Archive of Transylvanian National Museum, General Director of the Transylvanian National Museum and its Archive in Cluj, or Unitarian chief‑caretaker – he put his interests in the service of his community. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Archive of the Transylvanian Museum Society consisted of only forty thousand items, but thanks to his activity, they turned into a vast collection comprising one million documents. By personal example, Lajos Kelemen contributed to the education of many scholars, including Zsigmond Jakó and Attila T. Szabó. In recognition of his work, Lajos Kelemen was bestowed the Hungarian Corvin Chain in 1940 and the Hungarian Heritage Prize in 2011.
"‘It is not the coat that makes the man’, the proverb says nowadays. However, for a long time, it was the garment that gave the person individuality. Once the costume was lost, the identity was lost. Clothing is, therefore, one of the essential markers of social convention, with each part of the population being assigned a specific role and place, easily recognizable by shape and color. For several generations, the merchant has been recognized by his attire, the priest and the monk by the color of their tunic, the nobleman by his cut and color. Hence, clothing was the most prominent instrument of external representation. The symbolism of clothing articles, with a very different cut and color range, could immediately be interpreted by the contemporaries. For modern research, the knowledge of the specific characteristics of garments and their wear can be possible – to a considerable extent – only with the help of written sources and images. Therefore, the study aims to examine the role of status indicator, or the social role of clothing from the end of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century, based on the documents of last will of the Transylvanian nobility. The first part is dedicated to the feminine costume."
The history of everyday life during the communist period continues to fascinate us. However, such research always poses methodological challenges. This is especially true when one tries to explore the issue of informal exchanges. In this paper, I aim at identifying several challenges with some proposed approaches which can aid research. Firstly, we presented the reactions of witnesses when interviewed and how we can analyze them. Secondly, I tried explaining the three aspects of memory that we consider essential: remembering, nostalgia, and taboo‑ization. The goal is to introduce a psychological explanation into historical research to improve on existing methodology.
This study attempts to provide a demographic perspective on the population of Dămăcușeni village between 1765 and 1918. It concerns an insular community, entirely Hungarian, of Reformed (Calvinist) confession, located near Târgu Lăpuș, which has preserved its ethnic and confessional profile in time. The main studied demographic phenomena are natality, nuptiality, divortiality, and mortality. Research relies on two main sources, namely the archive documents and the censuses carried out by the Habsburg Empire (that had become the Austro‑Hungarian Empire) between 1850 and 1910. Based on them, we analyzed the evolution of that population during the specified period, thus revealing the demographic analogies and particularities of that community. The data were displayed in a series of charts and tables meant to draw the readers’ attention and facilitate their understanding.
Dr. Augustin Rațiu (1884–1970) was a distinguished member of the intellectual elite in the town of Turda. He participated in the National Assembly held in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918 as the official delegate of the local electoral circle. After the Great Union, he had a series of administrative positions within the Turda–Arieș County Prefecture, and between 1932 and 1933, he was mayor of Turda. Through his entire activity, he zealously promoted the memory of his uncle, the great leader of the Memorandum movement Dr. Ioan Rațiu (1828–1902), both on the occasion of the centenary of his birth (1928) but, especially, two years later, when a statue was unveiled in Turda on 9 June 1930. To that end, Augustin Rațiu also composed an impressive Album containing over a hundred vintage photographs, many of them unique, which he grouped in chronological order. The visual documents included in the Album complete the conventional sources and enrich the knowledge of some historical events that marked the family’s destiny of the illustrious representative of the Memorandum movement, Dr. Ioan Rațiu. They directly capture moments and sequences of public or private life, carried out in succession, over almost eight decades, from the second half of the nineteenth century to the interwar period.
This paper addresses an aspect of the institutional history of the Muslim community in Romania. It aims to present how the Association of Graduates of the Muslim Seminary in Dobrudja was established and analyze its purpose and activities. The role of the Association is considered from two perspectives. The establishment of the Association was linked to Emel magazine and the group that published it. This group supported the creation of a Crimean Tatar state in Crimea. However, some of its members tried to solve the problems the Turks and the Tatars in Romania faced. In my paper, I explained the role of the Association in the organization system of Islam in Romania. The organization of the Muslim community was established in the first years after the Russo‑Ottoman War of 1877–1878, after which Dobrudja became part of the Romanian state. Thus, an organizational system similar to the Ottoman one continued after this year. Its central institution was the Muftiate, under whose subordination were the Muslim Communities and the Kadiates. The Muslim Seminary held a special place in this system. It was the only educational institution whose role was to train imams and Turkish language teachers of the Turkish and Tatar community in Romania, recognized and supported by local and central authorities. In this sense, the establishment of the Association of Graduates of the Muslim Seminary in Dobrudja was also a response of the Muslim community members to the new political, demographic, and cultural realities.
Japan’s military campaigns in Asia during the Second World War were taboo, especially during the 1950s and the 1960s in Japanese society. After the Second World War, Japan experienced a political and social transformation, which unfortunately could not ‘eradicate all the elements of militarism’ still present in the society of the time. Instead of repenting for their misdeeds, many conservative leaders and people who experienced the war chose to identify themselves as the actual victims of the war. Consequently, they ignored the suffering of the inhabitants of the Japanese‑occupied territories during the Second World War. I will not dwell, however, into the reminiscences of the past present in the Japanese society of the time nor discuss the issue of war responsibility, but instead look into the case of a noteworthy attempt of coming to terms with the past, the case of Kobayashi Masaki’s trilogy, Ningen no Joken. The trilogy was not the first attempt at reconciling with the past. However, it is one of the most ambitious and well‑acclaimed attempts to acknowledge Imperial Japan’s misdeeds. By using Kobayashi’s movies, I will endeavor to sketch a portrait of the Japanese war experience and those who lived in the Japanese‑occupied territories of the time.
The aim of the article is to present the Levant Trilogy project of the Canadian war photographer Rita Leistner. In the summer of 2006, she left for Lebanon to report on the war between Israel and Hezbollah. She wanted to show the part of the reality of war, which had not been presented to a wider audience by photographers working there. As it turned out, it was only the beginning of an almost ten-year journey to three countries of the Levant: Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. She wanted to meet the “others” and try to understand how conflict is felt on various sides of the border. Leistner was surprised to discover that in each of the countries she visited, she met friendly, open people, who reluctantly told her about their everyday longing for security, autonomy, and peaceful life. While building her visual stories, Leistner was guided by three themes: bombing sites, anti-bomb shelters, and security systems. Analyzing the visual story of Rita, we undertake both an attempt to reconstruct the narrative methods that she used in her works and the interpretation of emotions that are dominant in the published images.
This paper aims to study Samih al-Qasim as a Palestinian resistance poet and to analyze his act of resistance against the Zionist agenda, his poetic imagination about Palestine, and the impact of colonization over the land. The paper also discusses Al-Qasim’s optimistic thoughts about the future of Palestine and the possible solutions for the Palestinian historical issue. A critical analysis of Samih al-Qasim’s resistance poetry is presented, focusing on his response to the Israeli narrative regarding Palestine. Through his poems, al-Qasim asserts and justifies the Palestinian cause. His poetry is counter-narrative, embodying considerable resilience and emitting rays of hope.
What good is military strategy? According to the scholarship on military effectiveness, the answer is “not much”—strategy does not significantly affect the performance of armies in combat. Strategic theory scholarship disagrees and describes four specific mechanisms linking strategy to military effectiveness: Exploiting weaknesses in the adversary’s strategy; causing psychological dislocation in the enemy commanders; creating a favorable center of gravity and pattern of war; and focusing resources and controlling violence in service of political goals. This essay uses a case study from the southern front of the First Arab-Israeli War to explore how strategy affects military performance. We find that Israeli General Yigal Allon’s military strategy significantly increased the combat efficiency and battlefield performance of the Israeli Defense Force, consistent with the mechanisms suggested by strategic theory. These findings suggest that military strategy is indeed an important determinant of military effectiveness.
O presente artigo faz um balanço parcial das atividades do Tribunal Especial para o Líbano – TEL, tribunal penal internacional ad hoc, abrangendo os anos de 2009 a 2019, e analisa sua proposta de punição de atos de terrorismo e sua viabilidade como modelo para a repressão deste grave crime pela sociedade internacional.
In November 2017 US president Donald Trump announced that his country‘s embassy would move to Jerusalem to give effect to the US‘s conviction that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel. This created a furore. Almost all the states belonging to the United Nations (UN) condemned the announcement. Although Israel laid claim to West Jerusalem during the 1967 war, the prevailing position in the international community has been that East Jerusalem would eventually become the capital of a Palestinian state upon its establishment.
Trump‘s announcement, in the year of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, and amid uncritical arguments by Jews and Christians that Israel is the Promised Land of the Tenakh /Old Testament, with Palestinian Arabs therefore having no legitimate claim to the territory, prompted the writing of this article. The aim of the article, which is based partly on the observations of one of the authors during a fact-finding mission to the West Bank, is to critically assess Israeli claims to Palestine, and to contextualise these claims in light of colonial and imperial histories.
Israel came into existence in 1948 after the UN had accepted a resolution during the previous year that the British mandate over Palestine be divided into two sections – one for Jewish people and one for Arabs. Although Jews owned less than 7% of the country, and Arabs outnumbered Jews by two to one in 1947, the UN assigned the greater part of the mandate to Jews. However, it recommended that Jerusalem should be assigned to neither of the groups, but remain a ―neutral city‖. Apart from all Arab states, most other UN member states approved the partition plan. Arab states emphasised that the UN was trying to solve one problem (the threat to Jewish survival in the wake of the Holocaust) by creating another one (endangering Arab survival in Palestine in the face of a Jewish state).
Soon after Britain withdrew its personnel and forces from the mandate area in May 1948, and before the UN partition plan could be implemented, the Zionist movement in Palestine unilaterally established the State of Israel. Zionists also laid claim to more sections of the mandate than had been assigned to Israel in the original UN partition plan. War broke out between the newly declared State of Israel and its neighbours Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The Zionist forces were well prepared and succeeded in fending off the attacks. However, at the time Zionists also attacked and demolished a large number of the Palestinian villages. Some 700 000 indigenous Palestinians fled to neighbouring countries. Today Israelis refer to the 1948 war as the War of Liberation, while the Palestinian Arabs refer to it as the Catastrophe (al-nakba). Peace was eventually established, but none of the neighbouring states officially recognised Israel as a legitimate state. Subsequently, the original UN partition plan was shelved for many years, and Israel has been in constant conflict with its neighbouring states.
The US soon assumed the role of peace broker not only between Israel and its neighbours but also between the Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs. However, a long-lasting peaceful settlement has been elusive. Israelis are adamant that the land has belonged to them since the days of Abraham. Palestinian Arabs argue that their forebears have lived in that region for centuries, that they are also descendants of Abraham and that the ―land promise‖ therefore applies to them too.
The authors did a historical-critical reading of the so-called land promises in the Pentateuch and critically studied the history of the occupation of this region since 1200 BCE. The following became evident: (1) The biblical text does not give a clear indication of where the borders of the so-called Promised Land would run. Moreover, the land was promised to Abraham‘s descendants, who evidently cannot be only Jews. Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. All their descendants can claim to be heirs to the promise. Furthermore, the stories in the Pentateuch are human creations, written with specific interests and ideological perspectives. (2) The history of the occupation of this part of the globe evidences that the Israelites, Jews and Israelis occupied this region for almost 500 years: 930–587/6 BCE, 142–63 BCE, and 1948–2018. Notably, in comparison, Muslim groups occupied the region for more than 1 400 years. This leads to the conclusion that Israel‘s purported right to the territory cannot be legitimised through claims of occupancy.
The promise of a national territory for ―the Jews‖ never involved the same geographical boundaries. Similarly, settlements in the area consisted of different competing groups over time, rather than a seamless presence of ―the Jews‖. Arab people have been in control of the region for a notably longer period than Jewish people. Indeed, despite the efforts to substantiate the Israeli claim with reference to biblical, religious and historical justifications, the analysis reveals that the Israeli occupation is a new and modern phenomenon that cannot be read through the same lens as previous settlements and movements of people in that region.
Misrepresentations about borders and the occupants of land are not accidental. The purpose is the legitimation of identities that are contingent products of contemporary conditions. Zionist representation of Jewish occupation of the Palestinian territory as stretching back to biblical times creates a national identity that originates in the mists of an ancient history. In reality, this ancient history is fabricated and the identity – ―the Israeli‖ – is completely new, having been produced through the recent occupation of Palestine. However, the occupation is not purely of a nationalist variety. Rather than looking for ancient origins, it should be read in its historical context of two millennia of anti-Semitism and five centuries of colonialism that culminated in the 20th-century abomination of the Holocaust. The European phenomena of anti-Semitism and colonialism have contributed to the formation of a national identity as a basis for the State of Israel.
Arab Palestinian Christians face many challenges living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; restrictions of movement, a poor employment situation and rising emigration. According to previous research, religion and prayer provide strength and hope in the midst of the ongoing conflict. This research has used qualitative methods and the data was collected in the occupied Palestinian Territory in February–April and November 2017. Thirty-five participants were interviewed about their practice of prayer. The interviews were semi-structured. The aim of this paper is to examine how prayer is utilised among the Palestinian Christians to cope in stressful life situations and how prayer types are utilised across generations. Content analysis revealed four prayer types: petitionary, ritualistic, meditative and thanksgiving. The results suggest that prayer is major coping device and the utilisation of prayer varies across the generations.
This article presents process theology which is seen as an alternative modus offered by particular group of Christianity in dealing with radical evil. Process theology is a philosophical theology. It passes through the principles of concrescence and prehension offering the idea to identify that God’s works are more likely imanent persuasion, namely, the action of love and suavity. Concrescence is acknowledgement that the actual entities
not denying if its existence was formed by past objective data (experience), but deliberately work onto prehension that grasp goodness for transforming and rehabilitating the sensitivity
of human history. This article will expose the space for acting faith in the mode of human responsibility, keeping an open dialogue as well restraining the false arogancy of identity fanatism of quasi-religious, persisting, and defending humanity. Such concept is based on the hope of the God who is perceptive and saving as a contribution to solve the problem of the complexity of Al-Nakba. In the mechanism of thinking process, the shadow of the failure
does not disappear so that humans are asked to be seriously responsible for this. The idea of process has described God as the God who involves in relationships with humans, refuting the monarch description of the God who demands and punishes. God in theology process is a figure who does not exercise power excessively. The God who guides, accompanies, and
participates patiently in the world’s events still appreciates the independency of humans. That does not mean a justification of irresponsible freedom. The true freedom is aligned with the God’s design, namely, the righteousness, sublimity, and kindness.
Im vorausgehenden Kapitel wurden die gewaltsamen Ursprünge des zunächst europäischen Staatensystems angesprochen. Der von der historischen Soziologie herausgearbeitete Zusammenhang zwischen Staatsentwicklung und zwischenstaatlichem Krieg wurde angeführt und die Formulierung des Soziologen Norbert Elias von den frühneuzeitlichen europäischen „Ausscheidungswettkämpfen“ zitiert. Aus dieser gewaltsamen Herausbildung des europäischen Staatensystems wurden zwei gedankliche Entwicklungen hergeleitet: die Dominanz realistischen Denkens, das das internationale Verhältnis im Sinne von Thomas Hobbes als permanenten Kriegs- und Bedrohungszustand interpretiert, im Fachjargon: als anarchisches Staatensystem; und die Herausbildung und schließlich, nach zwei Weltkriegen, auch Durchsetzung eines diesen Zustand überwindenden Denkens und dann auch diesem entsprechender Institutionen zwischenstaatlicher Kooperation und, in Gestalt der heutigen EU, auch Integration.
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