Struggle in a Post-Charisma Transition: Rethinking Palestinian Politics after Arafat

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Jarbawi ◽  
Wendy Pearlman
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Charismatic Leader ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Legal Forms ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Drawing on Max Weber's three kinds of legitimate domination, this article proposes the concept of ““post-charisma transition”” to describe the transformation of a political system in which authority is legitimated by a leader's personal stature. As illustrated by recent Palestinian politics, such a transition may result in attempts at institution-building when a successor to a charismatic leader bolsters legal forms in order to derive authority that his personality alone cannot command. Whereas charisma was an important facet of Yasir Arafat's rule, Mahmud Abbas's lack of charisma has rendered him unable to govern the system that Arafat bequeathed him. Analysis of Abbas's dilemma sheds new light on the legislative elections of 2006 and subsequent events, including the latest developments in the Gaza Strip.

A Hamas Perspective on the Movement's Evolving Role: An Interview with Khalid Mishal: Part II

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mouin Rabbani
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Straightforward Manner ◽  
Suicide Bombings ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
The Gaza Strip

In this second installment of his interview for JPS, Khalid Mishal, Hamas politburo chief since 1996 and head of the movement since the assassination of Shaykh Ahmad Yasin in 2004, continues his discussion of Hamas's evolution and strategy. Whereas the focus of part I was Mishal's personal background, political formation, and the founding of the movement, here Hamas's more recent history is foregrounded. From the unfolding conflict and troubled relations with Fatah since the mid-1990s, Mishal recounts the thinking behind the decision formally to integrate into the Palestinian political system born of Oslo by participating the 2006 legislative elections and joining the Palestinian Authority government. He also delves into the ongoing repercussions of these decisions, including the splits within the Palestinian movement culminating in Hamas's seizure of power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. In the course of the more than three-hour interview, Mishal's straightforward manner is on display, as well as his willingness to be challenged on matters as sensitive as Hamas's suicide bombings and the targeting of Israeli civilians, the utility of armed resistance, and the morality of the struggle.

The Polarization of the Palestinian Political Field

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Hilal
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Social Fragmentation ◽  
Current State ◽  
Public Pressure ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
National Reconciliation ◽  
The Way

Arguing that the polarization of the Palestinian political field did not start with Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, the author analyzes the factors that have eroded the cohesiveness and vitality of the Palestinian polity, namely, the paralysis of Palestinian political institutions, territorial and social fragmentation, and egregious outside interference. In this context, and in the absence of an internal Palestinian debate about the objectives of holding elections under occupation, the author shows that the timing and circumstances of the 2006 legislative elections were bound to precipitate the current state of disarray. Finally, he considers the way forward, highlighting the potential of public pressure in promoting national reconciliation.

Urban Development Strategies of City Centers: The Case of Rafah City, Palestinian Territories

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Omar S. Asfour ◽  
Samar Abu Ghali
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
City Center ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
The City ◽  
Commercial Center

City centers worldwide are perceived as essential parts of the city, where city memories are preserved and its identity is expressed. They are planned to satisfy the functional requirements and pleasurable qualities of the city. Under the accelerating urbanization of the modern city, several challenges face these centers including demographic, economic, and environmental challenges. This requires a continuous and incremental urban development process based on clear strategy and action plans. Thus, this study focuses on urban development strategies of city centers, with a focus on Rafah city located in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories. The geographic location of this city near the Palestinian-Egyptian borders makes it a promising commercial city at local and regional levels. Thus, the current situation of Rafah city center has been analyzed, and several development strategies have been proposed. This has been done through a field survey based on observation and a questionnaire directed to city center users. It has been found that there is a great potential of Rafah city center to be developed as a commercial center. In this regard, several strategies and required actions have been proposed in the fields of transportation, environmental quality, shopping activities, investment opportunities, and visual perception.

The Internal Stakes of the 2005 Elections: The Struggle for Influence in Egypt's National Democratic Party

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Virginie Collombier
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
The Future ◽  
External Actors ◽  
First Time

Beyond the relative opening of the political system that characterized 2005 in Egypt — with the President being elected directly for the first time and the increased competition allowed during legislative elections — the 2005 elections also constituted an opportunity to consider and evaluate the internal struggles for influence under way within the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). In a context largely influenced by the perspective of President Husni Mubarak's succession and by calls for reform coming from both internal and external actors, changes currently occurring at the party level may have a decisive impact on the future of the Egyptian regime.

scholarly journals On Online Practices of Hospitality in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Grazia Imperiale ◽  
Alison Phipps ◽  
Giovanna Fassetta
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Stanford University ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Technological Medium ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Collective Development ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article contributes to conversations on hospitality in educational settings, with a focus on higher education and the online context. We integrate Derrida’s ethics of hospitality framework with a focus on practices of hospitality, including its affective and material, embodied dimension (Zembylas: Stud Philos Educ 39:37–50, 2019). This article offers empirical examples of practices of what we termed ‘virtual academic hospitality’: during a series of online collaborative and cross borders workshops with teachers of English based in the Gaza Strip (Palestine), we performed academic hospitality through virtual convivial rituals and the sharing of virtual gifts, which are illustrated here. We propose a revision of the concept of academic hospitality arguing that: firstly, academic hospitality is not limited to intellectual conversations; secondly, that the relationship between hospitality and mobility needs to be revised, since hospitality mediated by the technological medium can be performed, and technology may even stretch hospitality towards the unreachable ‘unconditional hospitality’ theorised by Derrida (Of hospitality: Anne Dufourmantelle invited Jacques Derrida to respond. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2000); and thirdly, that indigenous epistemics, with their focus on the affective, may offer alternative understandings of conviviality within the academy. These points may contribute to the collective development of a new paradigmatic understanding of hospitality, one which integrates Western and indigenous traditions of hospitality, and which includes the online environment.

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