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.

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.

Decolonizing Palestine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somdeep Sen
Keyword(s):  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
The West ◽  
Governing Body ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
Liberation Movements ◽  
The Gaza Strip

This book rejects the notion that liberation from colonialization exists as a singular moment in history when the colonizer is ousted by the colonized. Instead, it considers the case of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from its settler colonial condition as a complex psychological and empirical mix of the colonial and the postcolonial. Specifically, the book examines the two seemingly contradictory, yet coexistent, anticolonial and postcolonial modes of politics adopted by Hamas following the organization's unexpected victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election. Despite the expectations of experts, Hamas has persisted as both an armed resistance to Israeli settler colonial rule and as a governing body. Based on ethnographic material collected in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel, and Egypt, the book argues that the puzzle Hamas presents is not rooted in predicting the timing or process of its abandonment of either role. The challenge instead lies in explaining how and why it maintains both, and what this implies for the study of liberation movements and postcolonial studies more generally.

Rising Cost of Occupation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assaf Razin
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Second Intifada ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Israeli Economy

Since 1967 when Israel when the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupation begun, there has been increasingly taxing social-economic effects on Israel. The second uprising broke out after the collapse of the OSLO agreements, in the early 2002. The Israeli economy was hit twice. It was first hit by the dotcom crash in the US; second, by the 2000-2005 Palestinian . The drastic effects on the Palestinian economy which shortly after split in to two political units (the West bank, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas). Especially the Gaza strip economy got down to the level of humanitarian crisis. that the early 2000s shock had relatively small effect on the long-term trajectory of Israel's real GDP. The effect on the Israeli economy of the second Intifada shock was mild, and short-lived. globalization proved to be a “shield” against the Palestinian-Israeli military conflicts and regional trade obstacles for the Israeli economy. This means, that the Israeli economy is exposed, however, to alarming long run risks. If, and when, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the long occupation of the of the West Bank territory would trigger political conflicts between Israel and its trade-and-finance partners, this “shield”, provided by Israel high level of integration with the global economy, may break down.

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.

The Politics of International Aid to the Gaza Strip

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamer Qarmout ◽  
Daniel Béland
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
International Aid ◽  
The Political ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The Gaza Strip

International aid to the Palestinian Authority is conditioned in part on democratization and good governance. However, since Hamas's victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections and its takeover of the Gaza Strip, aid agencies have supported the international boycott of the Hamas government. This article argues that aid agencies, by operating in Gaza while boycotting its government, subvert their mandates and serve the political interests of donors and the PA rather than the humanitarian and development needs of Gazans. As a consequence, assistance has, inadvertently and unintentionally, increased Gazans' dependence on humanitarian aid, impeded economic development, and enabled Israel to maintain its occupation and the blockade of Gaza.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority: Jurisdiction and Legal Assistance

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 318-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Wasserstein Fassberg
Keyword(s):  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Military Installation ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
The Military

The Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, signed on May 4, 1994, seeks to implement the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self Government Arrangements signed in Washington on September 13, 1993 and, in particular, to put into effect its Protocol on Withdrawal of Israeli Forces from Gaza and the Jericho Area. The primary purpose of the Agreement is then to transfer territory from Israel to the Palestinian Authority. Article V of the Agreement defines this territory as covering the Gaza Strip and Jericho, excluding the Settlements and the Israeli military installation area. The transfer of territory is naturally accompanied by a transfer of legal and political control from the Military Government to the Palestinian Authority. But the Agreement does not simply assign to the Palestinian Authority all legislative, executive and judicial functions within the territory transferred to its control.

scholarly journals Conflict and cooperation in the age of COVID-19: the Israeli–Palestinian case

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lior Lehrs
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Disaster Event ◽  
The Impact

Abstract How do disasters influence conflict and diplomacy in conflict areas? The scholarship shows that while they can provide opportunities for cooperation and ‘disaster diplomacy’ between parties to a conflict, they can also intensify tension and hostility. This article uses the Israeli–Palestinian conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, exploring the impact of the crisis on relations between the rival parties and examining the conditions under which an ongoing pandemic might lead to either conflict or cooperation in a conflict area. The research is based on within-case analysis, comparing three conflict arenas: Israel–Palestinian Authority relations in the West Bank; relations between Israel and the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem; and Israel–Hamas government relations in the Gaza strip. The article outlines the possibilities and limitations of ‘disaster diplomacy’ in intractable conflicts and contributes to the literature by identifying how different contexts, relations and actors in each conflict arena affect the development of patterns of conflict and cooperation with regard to the pandemic. The study analyses the factors that shape how the pandemic affects the conflict, and the COVID-19-related diplomacy, in each sub-case, with attention to three main variables: the structure of the conflict arena, domestic politics and the developments in the pandemic. The analysis addresses the unique conditions of an ongoing global pandemic, as opposed to an isolated disaster event, and traces the changing impact of the pandemic on the conflict and on disaster-related cooperation at various stages.

scholarly journals Detection of Poliovirus Circulation by Environmental Surveillance in the Absence of Clinical Cases in Israel and the Palestinian Authority

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1670-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Manor ◽  
R. Handsher ◽  
T. Halmut ◽  
M. Neuman ◽  
A. Bobrov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Wild Type Virus ◽  
Type Virus ◽  
Environmental Surveillance ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Afp Surveillance ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Vaccination Campaigns

The global eradication of poliomyelitis, believed to be achievable around the year 2000, relies on strategies which include high routine immunization coverage and mass vaccination campaigns, along with continuous monitoring of wild-type virus circulation by using the laboratory-based acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance. Israel and the Palestinian Authority are located in a geographical region in which poliovirus is still endemic but have been free of poliomyelitis since 1988 as a result of intensive immunization programs and mass vaccination campaigns. To monitor the wild-type virus circulation, environmental surveillance of sewage samples collected monthly from 25 to 30 sites across the country was implemented in 1989 and AFP surveillance began in 1994. The sewage samples were processed in the laboratory with a double-selective tissue culture system, which enabled economical processing of large number of samples. Between 1989 and 1997, 2,294 samples were processed, and wild-type poliovirus was isolated from 17 of them in four clusters, termed “silent outbreaks,” in September 1990 (type 3), between May and September 1991 (type 1), between October 1994 and June 1995 (type 1), and in December 1996 (type 1). Fifteen of the 17 positive samples were collected in the Gaza Strip, 1 was collected in the West Bank, and 1 was collected in the Israeli city of Ashdod, located close to the Gaza Strip. The AFP surveillance system failed to detect the circulating wild-type viruses. These findings further emphasize the important role that environmental surveillance can play in monitoring the eradication of polioviruses.

Decolonizing Palestine

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Somdeep Sen
Keyword(s):  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Dual Mode ◽  
Armed Struggle ◽  
Legislative Council ◽  
Postcolonial State ◽  
The Future ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Civilian Authority

This chapter provides an overview of the Palestinian struggle for liberation and describes the author's fieldwork in the Gaza Strip, Israel, and Egypt, conducted between 2013 and 2016. The Gaza Strip as a whole became a place of contradictions when Hamas adopted a dual mode of existence following its historic victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections. After the unequivocal triumph of the Islamist faction, Fatah refused to be part of the Hamas government. Over the course of the 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas then consolidated its rule over the Gaza Strip while maintaining its commitment to the armed resistance. In doing so, Hamas oscillated between the images of the postcolonial state and an anticolonial movement. As the government in the Gaza Strip, it represented a civilian authority posturing like the future Palestinian state. However, by remaining committed to the armed struggle, Hamas also recognized the fact that Palestine is far from being liberated.

Responsibility for the Protection of Human Rights under the Interim Israeli-Palestinian Agreements

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 297-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Benvenisti
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
The West ◽  
Military Installations ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Peace Settlement ◽  
The Gaza Strip

The Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles of September 13, 1993 (the “DOP”), which establishes the framework for the settlement of the conflict between the parties, sets the stage for a gradual transition towards a peace settlement, or the “permanent status” as referred to in the DOP. The interim arrangements outlined in the DOP provide for a step-by-step assumption of responsibilities by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, signed in Cairo on May 4, 1994, prescribes at length the arrangements for the first steps to be taken towards that goal. During the period of the interim arrangements, the Gaza Strip (excluding Israeli settlements and military installations) and the “Jericho Area” are to be administered by a “Palestinian Authority” (PA), a body established under the Cairo Agreement, which is distinct from the PLO.

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