Judaism and Violence

This Element explores the potential in Judaism to incite Jews to engage in violence against non-Jews. The analysis proceeds in historical fashion, with sections devoted to the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval and early modern Judaism, and modern Zionism. The last topic is given special attention because of its relevance to the current Middle East conflict. This Element also draws on insights from social psychology to explain Jewish violence - particularly Social Identity Theory.

Miscalculations of the military strategy of the United States and its NATO allies to "democratize" Afghanistan

The Afghan conflict, which has lasted for more than three decades, at the turn of 2011-2012 went through a new cycle of its evolution. In June 2011, it was announced that the withdrawal from countries of American troops and at the same time - about the start of direct US talks with the Taliban. Observers agreed that the complete conclusion US troops in 2014 will not end conflict, but can contribute to its new round. Few assumed that in the mid-1970s began one of the longest-running and most internationalized modern regional conflicts. By its complexity it is comparable to the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East conflict. It is noteworthy that none of external participants in the Afghan situation could not completely turn off, even with the withdrawal of troops, Afghanistan gave rise to and showed the limits for many international endeavors.

THE MIDDLE EAST IN YUGOSLAVIA’S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY IN THE 1970s

The main purpose of this article is to present the most important conditions and variables characterizing the role of the Middle East in Yugoslavia’s foreign policy strategy in the 1970s, based on available literature and documentation. I also intend to analyze the conditions that contributed to intensifying Yugoslavia’s position in the region and led to a decrease in Yugoslavia’s importance in the Middle East in the second half of the decade. Firstly, I will describe Yugoslavia’s relations with the countries of the Middle East in 1970–1973, especially with Egypt, where Gamal Abdel Nasser, after his death, was succeeded by the country’s Vice President, Anwar Al-Sadat. It will also be important to shed light on the Yugoslav Government’s stance regarding the Middle East conflict from the point of view of the situation in Europe. Next, I will present the significance of the Yom Kippur War for Yugoslavia’s foreign policy and its implications for Belgrade’s relations with Cairo and Tel-Aviv. Moreover, it will be extremely important to explain why Yugoslavia’s importance in the Middle East gradually diminished as of the middle of the decade. In addition, I will address the issue of Yugoslav President Josip Broz-Tito’s position toward the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the fading of Yugoslavia’s interest in the region following Tito’s death and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the summary, I want to note that the period under analysis in Yugoslav-Middle Eastern relations was decisive for the country’s foreign policy and its internal situation, as Yugoslavia never again played a significant role in the Arab world.

Do The New Peace Agreements Between Israel and the Gulf States Set A 'Honey Trap' For Israel?

This article examines whether the recent peace agreements, signed between Israel and the Gulf states: The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September 2020, form a 'honey trap', meant to use the economic benefits they offer as leverage to affect Israel's political position towards the Middle East conflict. Recalling that the EU exercises such an approach for many years, the article tries to assess its current and potential effectiveness to the parties involved.

CHRISTIAN ARMED GROUPS

The text will focus on several Middle East conflict areas where Christian activities and violence have been present in the modern history of the region. In the light of Phil Wil-liams’s violent non-state actor (VNSA) typology, it will explain the concept of Middle East-ern Christian violence – from the aggressive-dominant violence seeking to maintain polit-ical status quo, through nationalist-liberation movements, to purely defensive violence.

REVIEW: Lively account of the Middle East conflict

Dances With Death – Perilous Encounters Reporting on Hostilities in the Turbulent Middle East, by Tuma Hazou. Auckland, NZ: Tuma Hazou. 2020, 148 pages. 978-0-473-50605-6 DANCES with Death is an extraordinary personal account of Palestinian journalist Tuma Hazou’s experiences from a 40-year journalism career mostly spent reporting from the war-ravaged Middle East. As a young Palestinian, Tuma was accepted for a job at the BBC in London – their youngest announcer at just 22 years of age. After 10 years there he transferred to Jordan and in subsequent decades was at the heart of reporting on events in the Middle East.

The Challenge of Minority Nationalism

This article investigates how the French antiracist movement and its main organizations dealt with Zionism and the Middle East conflict from the liberation of France until the early 1970s. Their generally positive view of Israel and their concern for Arab interests at the end of the 1940s demonstrate these republican organizations' desire to recognize ethnic identities. During the 1950s an ideological split between left-wing antiracism and Zionism began to develop, and by the end of the 1960s a number of new antiracist associations questioned the very foundation of the Jewish state. Overall, the study argues that antiracist organizations' stances on and statements about Zionism and the Middle East conflict influenced Jewish-Arab relations during the postwar period and played an important role for both Jews and Arabs. Cet article examine comment le mouvement antiraciste français et ses principales organisations ont abordé le sionisme et le conflit au Moyen-Orient depuis la Libération jusqu'au début des années 1970. Leur opinion surtout positive d'Israël ainsi qu'un souci pour les intérêts arabes à la fin des années 1940 montrent un certain désir par ces organisations républicaines de reconnaître les identités ethniques. Pendant les années 1950, une fracture idéologique entre l'antiracisme de gauche et le sionisme commence à se développer, et dès la fin des années 1960 un activisme plus poussé a amené de nouvelles associations antiracistes à remettre en question les fondements mêmes de l'Etat juif. Dans l'ensemble, l'étude montre que les organisations antiracistes ont été impliquées dans l'élaboration des relations judéo-arabes après la guerre à travers leurs positions et déclarations sur le sionisme et le Moyen-Orient, des questions qui jouent un rôle important pour les Juifs et les Arabes.