To Rule Jerusalem.@@@Memories of Revolt: The 1936-1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past.

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1977, Vol 22(9), 721–722 Reviews the book, Investigative social research: Individual and team field research by Jack D Douglas (1976) This is an absorbing, intrepid, alternately winning and exasperating book It is a rambling a

Investigative social research: Individual and team field research

The starting-point in this themed issue of JEMS on theories of migration and social change is to view migration as a process which is an integral part of broader social transformations, but which also has its own internal dynamics and which shapes social transformation in its own right. Migration is linked in complex ways to class, gender, generation, ethnicity and other social cleavages, which are embodied in hierarchies of power and social status, in positions in home and host communities, and in work and domestic relationships—all of which may be transformed in the course of the migratory process. Taking account of migrants' agency, perceptions and aspirations, the articles in this special issue seek to link micro-level understanding of migration to macro-level trends in development and globalisation, through analysis of the social dynamics of migratory processes. The goal is to develop the means for a systematic explanatory account of migration and its engagement with broader processes of social change.

Theories of migration and social change

Although the contributions of the Arabs to the science and knowledge of the western world is known, this recognition is usually given in the wrong light as “caretaker” of classical learning, less a...

House of Wisdom—How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization

Foreign Policy Analysis

Since 2011, geo-strategic interactions have exerted pressure on various political communities. In particular, uncertainty over the foreign policy intentions of new leadership elites and the nature of the unfolding regional security system in the Middle East have impacted the strategic questions Israel must answer: how can Israel rationally assess the new environment? What foreign policy approach would best serve Israel’s distinct national interests? Using insights from the levels-of-analysis framework and from the realist theory of International Relations, this article aims to explore Israel’s reading of recent regional developments and its attitudes and behaviours towards the attendant and emerging strategic challenges. The analysis reveals that the Arab Spring uprisings exacerbated the already anarchic Middle East environment, aggravating mistrust and antagonism in Israel. The urgency of the attraction of protectionism and militarism in Israel was an expression of the realist approach to Israel’...

Israel, the Arab Spring, and the unfolding regional order in the Middle East: a strategic assessment

Can a nation mobilizing for an extended armed conflict also construct and implement a national educational curriculum? This article explores the complex and crucial case of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as it sought to develop a national curriculum while in exile in Lebanon during the 1970s, prior to the inception of the Palestinian National Authority. Based on previously unexamined primary sources from PLO archives, I show how the PLO accomplished a high level of curriculum maturity despite considerable contextual and institutional challenges. The PLO mainstream embraced this curriculum as a political instrument of anticolonial and postdiasporic education suitable for regenerating a sense of community, fostering nation building, and increasing the PLO's political legitimacy. However, as can be expected in a colonial or diasporic setting, the process of educational transition remained uneven, fragile, and dependent on the PLO leadership's ability to navigate conflicts and negotiate arrangements with colonial power, host states, and international organizations.

The evolution and implementation of a national curriculum under conditions of resistance: the case of the palestinians (1970–82)

Bu makale iki ana soruya deginmektedir. Birincisi, 2010 yilindan itibaren bolgesel dinamikler ve ic tercihler, Filistin uzlasisini ve yakinlasmasini nasil etkiledi (sinirlandirdi ya da zorladi)? Ikincisi,  realist teori, Hamas ve El-Fetih’in uzlasi ve yakinlasma konusundaki tercihlerinde ortaya cikan benzerlikleri ve farkliliklari anlamada bize yardimci olur mu? 2011 yilindan beri, Ortadogudaki baskin devletler, hesaplari ve kontrolleri otesinde rekabet icerisindeki gucler ve buyuk guc elde etmeye calisan devletler ile devlet-disi aktorlere yonelik tepkisel ve proaktif bir tutum sergilemektedir. Devlet disi aktorler olan Hamas ve El-Fetih’in tepki gosterdigi anlasmazlik, kendilerinin politik tercihlerine ve stratejilerine de isaret eden bolgesel dinamiklerin sinirlamalari ve firsatlarina iliskin bakis acilarindaki farkliliklara isaret eden onemli tedbirler/onlemler uzerinedir. Bu makale, ozellikle sistemik ve ic faktorlerin karsilikli etkilesiminin, iki rakip hareketi ulusal birligin saglanmasi noktasinda oldukca farkli yorungelere yerlestirdigi sonucuna varmaktadir. Bu baglamda, her iki realist akim (neo-realizm ve neo-klasik realizm), farkli aciklama kapasitesi/firsatlari ile birlikte teorik cerceve olarak uygun gorunmektedir.

/pdf/2010-sonrasinda-orta-dogu-da-degisen-bolgesel-duzende-hamas-4a8fsv9ngf.pdf

2010 Sonrasında Orta Doğu'da Değişen Bölgesel Düzende Hamas-FKÖ/Fetih Uzlaşısı ve Yakınlaşması: Neo-Realist ve Neo-Klasik Realist Bir Değerlendirme

The Middle East has long been a conflict zone; the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a persistent factor for decades, and there have been wars over natural resources, ideological causes, and national or religious cleavages as well. How does a historian begin to compile a documentary record of such a struggle? At the beginning of my research stay in the Middle East in 2007, I decided to keep a diary about my experiences and assessments in the field. In this article, I recount and reflect about those experiences in order to propose potential solutions to the problem of on-site research in unstable areas. While field research generally requires a particular kind of preparation, and always faces obstacles and challenges, the success of fieldwork under difficult and hostile research settings is dependent on the skills of the researcher, and his or her ability and preparedness for the problems the nature of the research inevitably will bring forward.

Practical, Theoretical, and Methodological Challenges of Field Research in the Middle East

The terrorist attacks in the United States and certain European countries on and after 9/11 have had profound implications for the ordinary Muslims living in these countries. Islamophobia emerged and was often adopted as mere custom. In this article, I bring Middle Eastern studies’ approaches to Islamophobia into dialogue with the marketing and branding literature through a critical assessment of the brand name Osama (bin Laden). In the process, I survey the major effects of Islamophobia on Muslims living in the West, observing restrictions in public and formal life. By engaging empirical research and theoretical frameworks, I argue that Osama bin Laden as a strategy conceptualiser and a practitioner (i.e., a militant jihadist) served as a brand that was functional for al-Qaida. The brand image of ordinary Muslims became related to a continuing identification with Osama bin Laden, whose negative public image established an umbrella image for Muslims in general and for the given name Osama in particular, regardless of the personhood of ordinary citizens, with subsequent harmful repercussions.

/pdf/islamophobia-and-the-brand-of-osama-what-s-in-a-name-what-s-f1a8gv2hv7.pdf

Philipp O. Amour

Papers

Israel, the Arab Spring, and the unfolding regional order in the Middle East: a strategic assessment

The evolution and implementation of a national curriculum under conditions of resistance: the case of the palestinians (1970–82)

2010 Sonrasında Orta Doğu'da Değişen Bölgesel Düzende Hamas-FKÖ/Fetih Uzlaşısı ve Yakınlaşması: Neo-Realist ve Neo-Klasik Realist Bir Değerlendirme

Practical, Theoretical, and Methodological Challenges of Field Research in the Middle East

Islamophobia and the brand of Osama: What’s in a name? What’s in an image?