Written on the Darkest Pages of Human History, 1991–2000

From the standpoint of the 1990s, the twentieth century seems to have ended on especially depressing notes. Run through the catalogue of tragedy: the hopeful Oslo Accords go dead with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (1995); Serbian-Slovenian War (1991); Serbian-Croatian War (1991–1995); Bosnian War (1992–1996); first Congo War (1996–1997); Great War of Africa (1998–2003), where 6 million were killed; and the Kosovo War (1998–1999). Their driving force was nationalism, undoubtedly, some found themselves the key. For Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (Myanmar) her choice in the three-tiered political identity was the nation for which she gave up her family and all the global ideals in the beginning of her career: human rights, democracy, and individual freedom.

West Bank Areas A, B and C – How Did They Come into Being?

This article tells the story of how and why, when negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords in 1993–95, the author developed the concept of dividing the West Bank into three areas with differing formulas for allocating responsibilities between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in each. The origin of how these areas were named is also discussed. This negotiation demonstrates that parties are prepared to modify ideological positions when detailed and practical options are presented that constitute a hybrid to the parties’ former positions.

The Israel-PLO Mutual Recognition Agreement

From the perspective of a practitioner who was deeply engaged in the negotiations, this article describes how the Israeli-Palestinian Mutual Recognition Agreement was conceived and negotiated. It explains the process of convincing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to accept mutual recognition, overcoming their initial objections. While not nearly as publicized as the 1993 Declaration of Principles agreed at Oslo, this Agreement became the bedrock for all the Oslo Accords, and set the stage for subsequent negotiations.

The Islamic Movement in Israel: Ideology vs. Pragmatism

This study aims to present the Islamic Movement in Israel, its ideology and pragmatism. With progress and modernization, the Islamic movements in the Middle East realized that they could not deny progress, so they decided to join the mainstream and take advantage of technological progress in their favor. The movement maintains at least one website in which it publishes its way, and guides the audience. Although these movements seem to maintain a rigid ideology, they adapt themselves to reality with the help of many tools, because they have realized that reality is stronger than they are. The main points in the article are: The Status of Religion in Israel; The Legal Status of Muslim Sharia in Israel; Personal status according to Israeli law; The establishment of the Islamic Movement in Israel – Historical Background; The crystallization of movement; Theoretical Background – The Theory of Pragmatism; Ideology and goals of the Islamic Movement in Israel; The background to the split in the movement – the opposition to pragmatism; How the ideology of the movement is expressed in its activity? The movement’s attitudes toward the Israeli elections, the Oslo Accords and the armed struggle against Israel; How does pragmatism manifest itself in the movement’s activities?

Killing God to Find Palestine ‘after the End of the World’ in Adania Shibli, Mahmoud Amer, and Maya Abu al-Hayyat

While imagery and ideas from the past remain significant across much of Palestinian cultural production, there is an increasing push against a quagmire of language, where meaning is stuck in a past paradigm. Focusing on the work of Adania Shibli, Maya Abu al-Hayyat, and Mahmoud Amer, this chapter looks at contemporary writers who use their art to forge new words—a new language, a new framework for language—that better responds to life as they live it. In the process, existing structures of representation are forcefully discarded, though not entirely left behind. The chapter contends that the stories demand repudiation; a reckoning with the fact that somewhere between the Oslo Accords and the new millennium Palestine’s symbolic order and its lived world ceased to cohere.

Planning and Building in Area C

Under the Oslo Accords land planning and construction in Areas A and B of the West Bank are the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority. This chapter discusses judicial review of planning and building policies and legal arrangements in Area C, which remain Israel’s responsibility. The chapter’s focus is local planning power, the building-permit regime, and enforcement of planning law. As in other chapters the issue of Israeli settlements lies at the heart of government policies and practices in the issue under review. The chapter reviews and criticises the Court’s approach to the different policies adopted by the Israeli authorities towards planning and building for Israeli settlements and Palestinian communities.

Oslo Accords

This chapter examines the manner in which the Supreme Court has dealt with the invocation of the Oslo Accords, concluded between Israel and the PLO in the 1990s. It shows that the Court has never upheld petitions by either Israelis or Palestinians, requesting the Court to order the government to refrain from implementing the Accords; to refrain from action that allegedly violates them; or to act in a manner allegedly required by the Accords. At the same time, when the authorities invoked Israel’s obligations under the Accords in response to petitions by Palestinians or Israelis the Court has upheld the authorities’ position.

The Poetry a Reflection to Hamas’s Perceptions in Its Formative Years: 1987-1993

The article is a study of Hamas poetry during the period from the founding of the organization (1987) until the signing of the Oslo Accords (1993). Poetry is one of the media that Hamas employs to transmit political, social, and religious messages that fit with its worldview of Islam cum Palestinian nationalism. In its formative years, dozens of Hamas poets used this special channel to give voice to the organization’s fundamental ideas. The article looks at 11 poets who were affiliated with Hamas leadership circles and who were intensively engaged in writing poetry during those years. It describes the background to this activity, extracts the main messages and motifs raised by the verse, and examines the goals served by this lyrical composition.

Whither Bir Zeit University?

Since its founding under the Israeli occupation, Bir Zeit University has been the catalyst for educating the Palestinian ‘generations of occupation'. Its mission was to empower those who were bereft of their basic human rights and to reclaim and develop the Palestinian national identity by resisting the stultification of Palestinian youth. Following the Oslo Accords, Bir Zeit University has experienced several important developments, namely exponential growth in enrolment, unnecessary programmatic expansion, introduction of super-size classes, and irresponsible staffing decisions. Against this background and a growing financial crisis, this case study examined how managerialism has succeeded in subduing Bir Zeit University to its syllabus, specifically how cultural and structural changes have led to compromising the work conditions and relationships of faculty members. Hence, this case study bids the question—Whither Bir Zeit University?—to those who care to question the present state of affairs as well as anyone ready to search for answers.