Showing papers on "Jewish state published in 1996"

Terrorism in the Name of Religion

Abstract: Introduction On 25 February 1994, the day of the second Muslim sabbath during Islam's holy month of Ramadan, a Zionist settler from the orthodox settlement of Qiryat Arba entered the crowded Ibrahim (Abraham's) Mosque, located in the biblical town of Hebron on the West Bank. He emptied three 30-shot magazines with his automatic Glilon assault-rifle into the congregation of 800 Palestinian Muslim worshippers, killing 29 and wounding 150, before being beaten to death. A longstanding follower of the radical Jewish fundamentalist group, the Kach movement,(1) Baruch Goldstein was motivated by a complex mixture of seemingly inseparable political and religious desiderata, fueled by zealotry and a grave sense of betrayal as his prime minister was "leading the Jewish state out of its God-given patrimony and into mortal danger."(2) Both the location and the timing of the Hebron massacre were heavily infused with religious symbolism. Hebron was the site of the massacre of 69 Jews in 1929. Also, the fact that is occured during the Jewish festival of Purim symbolically cast Goldstein in the role of Mordechai in the Purim story, meting out awesome revenge against the enemies of the Jews.(3) Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, speaking for the great mass of Israelis, expressed revulsion and profound sadness over the act committed by a "deranged fanatic." However, a large segment of militant and orthodox Jewish settlers in West Bank and Gaza settlements portrayed Goldstein as a righteous man and hailed him as a martyr.(4) During his funeral, these orthodox settlers also voiced religious fervor in uncompromising and militant terms, directed not only against the Arabs, but also against the Israeli government, which they believed had betrayed the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Israeli leaders and the mainstream Jewish community tried to deny or ignore the danger of Jewish extremism by dismissing Goldstein as, at most, belonging to "the fringe of a fringe" within Israeli society.(5) Sadly, any doubts of the mortal dangers of religious zealotry from within were abruptly silenced with the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by a young Jewish student, Yigal Amir, who claimed he had acted on orders of God. He had been influenced by militant rabbis and their halalic rulings, which he interpreted to mean that the "pursuer's decree" was to be applied against Israel's leader.(6) Most Israelis may be astonished by the notion of a Jew killing another Jew, but Rabin was ultimately the victim of a broader force which has become one of the most vibrant, dangerous and pervasive trends in the post-Cold War world: religiously motivated terrorism. Far afield from the traditionally violent Middle East, where religion and terrorism share a long history,(7) a surge of religious fanaticism has manifested itself in spectacular acts of terrorism across the globe. This wave of violence is unprecedented, not only in its scope and the selection of targets, but also in its lethality and indiscriminate character. Examples of these incidents abound: in an effort to hasten in the new millenium, the Japanese religious cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground in June last year;(8) the followers of Sheikh `Abd al-Rahman's al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, caused mayhem and destruction with the bombing of Manhattan's World Trade Center and had further plans to blow up major landmarks in the New York City area;(9) and two American white supremacists carried out the bombing of a U.S. Federal Building in Oklahoma City.(10) All are united in the belief on the part of the perpetrators that their actions were divinely sanctioned, even mandated, by God. Despite having vastly different origins, doctrines, institutions and practices, these religious extremists are unified in their justification for employing sacred violence, whether in efforts to defend, extend or avenge their own communities, or for millenarian or messianic reasons. …

Moshe Sharett: Biography of a Political Moderate

Abstract: Moshe Sharett, Israel's second Prime Minister from 1953-55, its Foreign Minister from 1948-56, and one of the founders of the State of Israel, was at the centre of events in Israel and the Yishuv for over three decades. Under his leadership, the 'moderate' camp exerted a seminal influence on the politics and orientation of the young Jewish state. This definitive biography of Sharett provides a needed challenge to the accepted view that stresses the dominant role and achievements of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, and his activist supporters. Ben-Gurion, representative of the school of retaliation in relation to the Arabs, opposed Sharett's negotiative politics and forced his resignation. In this biography, Sheffer restores the reputation of Sharett and his followers. Following Sharett's political life, the book provides an original detailed account of major episodes in the history of the Holy Land from the beginning of the twentieth century to the mid-1960s, using previously untapped sources. It tells of the hitherto untold struggles between the founding fathers of the Jewish state, particularly concerning peace with the Palestinian Arabs and the neighbouring Arab countries. It concludes that Sharett and his moderate friends constituted a realistic and humane alternative to the activists led by Ben-Gurion, and it will provide a new source for future studies of the Yishuv and Israel.

The politics of protest : the Israeli peace movement and the Palestinian Intifada

Abstract: Introduction: The roots of protest in Israel? the hegemony of the party system 'death of the ideology' in Israel crisis at the heart of the party system less votes than half a transit camp accidental empire, inadvertent occupier a not-so-jewish , Jewish State colonialism materialised - radicalism in the student left internationalist perspective. Part 1 From miracle to debacle: accountability - where does the buck stop? the fall of israel's ancient regime Sadat finds Begin in Jerusalem prodding Begin to Camp David PLO - diplomacy of a movement for national liberation Israel support for Palestinian self-determination changes in Palestinian politics two basically different conceptions in the peace movement. Part 2 The establishment of the committee for solidarity with Bir Zeit University: war and protest - from the Bir Zeit closure to the war in Lebanon Yesh Gvul, parents against silence. Part 3 Intifada - December 1987: first response - the organised left parties of the Zionist left - the Zionist peace movement protest profusion. Part 4 'End the occupation' - the militants make a comeback: project of the united radical left action agenda coalition building auspicious anniversary - 21 years of occupation the politics of Dai La'kibush from protest to resistance? covenant against occupation - 'the 21st years' a cancer on Israel's body interpreting the covenant a promising flurry of activity radical is as radical does day-to-day work camping near the gate to hell. Part 5 Yesh Gvul - selective refusal extended from Lebanon to the occupied territories: patriotic anti-militarism double challenge response to the Intifada and repression at home Yesh Gvul's guide for the perplexed throwing away the key how Yesh Gvul works - individual choice - collective support part-time soldiers - full time consciences what happens when you say 'I will not go'? charging the ramparts of respectability - is refusal politically wise? family feud limits of protest and limits of the law new dimension to Israel political culture. Part 6 The formation of an independent women's peace movement: women in black - politics as ritual in the street target of provocation democracy of demonstrators the jerusalem focus to the crossroads of a nation, to the capitals of the world sisters over the sea SHANI, women for women political prisoners, the network regular meetings, constant activity, Palestinian contacts and coalition work empowering Jewish women women for Palestinian women - solidarity distinctive features of the Women's Peace Movement. (Part contents).

Israel, Likud and the zionist dream : power, politics and ideology from Begin to Netanyahu

Abstract: Prologue - half forgotten memories. The long and winding road the advocates of revolt a Jewish state in the land of Israel looking for partners - revisionism in transition the end of the socialist zionist dream the first Begin government the cost of Camp David Lebanon - the escape of the Golem defeat from the jaws of victory Begin's Holocaust trauma the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla and its consequences Shamir - the man from Lehi above and below ground outlawing the Palestinians between information and propaganda the year of reckoning the Shamir plan forward to the edge. Postscript - down but not out.

Israeli Decolonization and Critical Sociology

Abstract: For many years, narratives about Israeli state building, especially in Israeli academic works, followed one of two plots. The first, written mainly by social scientists, presented the story of the Zionist immigrants who built their institutions according to their ideals and ideologies-mostly socialist ideas imported from the Pale of Settlement-and who were occasionally in disagreement with other immigrants having different blueprints for the state-to-be. The second, written mostly by scholars of Israel's foreign relations, related the story of the interaction between the Palestinian Arabs, who were unalterably opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, and the Jewish immigrants, who were intent on protecting their emerging commonwealth. These two plots were kept separate in Israeli scholarship, where different disciplines study Jewish and Arab topics in a replication of the bifurcation of Israeli society into Jewish and Arab sectors.' Consequently, the formative impact of the conflict for Israeli and Palestinian societies was rendered invisible, and so were the reasons for the intransigence associated with the conflict.

The Partition of Palestine: Decision Crossroads in the Zionist Movement

Abstract: This addition to the SUNY Series in Israeli Studies is an ambitious fusion of history and political science. About 90 percent of the book concentrates on the years 1937-38, when the Zionist movement struggled over the question of how to respond to the British (Peel) Royal Commission's recommendation to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, and to maintain British authority in a corridor from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Although the British retreated from the proposed partition in late 1938, a similar recommendation became practical politics, a decade later, at the United Nations. Galnoor reconstructs his historical case-study from a wide array of primary and secondary sources, summarizing and dissecting in sometimes overly-great detail the arguments and positions espoused by the various parties that made up the Zionist movement. His efforts add little (dustjacket promo notwithstanding) to what Israel studies specialists already know from reading the relevant classics in the field.' The partition issue cut across most party lines and threatened to tear the Zionist movement apart, but for the skillful leadership of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann. The movement's decision, as Galnoor presents it, was to opt for immediate sovereignty in a small area, at the cost of renouncing (for some, not permanently) the full territorial claim to greater Eretz-Israel. Although the author presents his findings in more sophisticated phraseology, another of his conclusions merely rehashes the oft-repeated contrast between "pragmatic" Zionist leadership and the "all-or-nothing" approach of Palestinian-Arab leaders. The originality of this work lies in the author's content analysis and categorization of the various positions and arguments for and against partition. Galnoor sheds new light on how the leadership managed to assemble a two-thirds majority at the 20th Zionist Congress to approve a resolution giving the Zionist Executive the go-ahead to consider the British proposal, which had-from the first rumors in early 1937-aroused only hostility, suspicion, fear, and confusion among the vast majority of active Zionists. Galnoor later draws some interesting and important links between the internal Zionist debates of the 1930s and the combination of Zionist success and Palestinian-Arab failure in the fateful years of 1947-48, adding his own modest contribution to the analyses of "missed opportunities" in the Arab-Israeli conflict. As a work in political science, Galnoor's study is a model of clarity. It is relatively jargon-free and the presentation is highly systematic, setting out definitions clearly and elaborating and testing hypotheses. …

Zionism and the British Labour Party: 1917-1939

Abstract: Discussions of the British Labour party's attitude to the Arab-Zionist conflict have tended to focus on the controversy surrounding the Palestine policies of two Labour governments. In I929-30, Lord Passfield, and in the immediate post-war period, Ernest Bevin, led the British government's efforts to restrict Jewish settlement in Palestine. While the political turmoil caused by these initiatives makes concentration on them readily understandable, Passfield and Bevin were contre-courant in relation to the development of Labour party policy towards the establishment of a Jewish state. The party's pro-Zionism became firmly entrenched in the interwar years. The factors which brought that about have to be sought beyond the inner circle of policy-makers, in the ideological and political forces which influenced the party's understanding of the Palestine conflict. A study on the Labour party's attitude to Zionism, by Gorny, alludes to this broader setting but in a manner that immediately removes it from historical analysis.' He suggests that it was Labour's 'socialist humanistic tradition' that predetermined its sympathy to the Zionist cause, an argument that assumes that in the Arab-Zionist conflict, the latter have a stronger case by the yardstick of that tradition. Although a broadly humanist influence of Liberal and Nonconformist inspiration can be readily identified in Labour's ideology, this could have been called upon to sanction a variety of political positions. Indeed, Beloff has criticized the opinion that the Labour party has been supportive of Zionism, by arguing that its 'natural affiliations were with nationalists opposing British colonial rule and the Palestinian Arab was a much more obvious object of favourable attention than the Jewish immigrant'.2 Beloff is wrong on empirical grounds, as will be indicated below, but his argument is plausible and indicates that purely in terms of some basic philosophy, the Labour party could have pursued an anti-Zionist direction. It was the pressure of events and of political struggles mediated by ideological assumptions and doctrinal constraints that determined the party's attitude to the Palestine conflict. The Labour party made its first official pronouncement on the Zionist plan for Palestine two-and-a-half months before the Balfour Declaration. At a party conference in August 1917, it committed itself to a Jewish 'return' to Palestine, by approving the War Aims Memorandum.3 The Memorandum, as A. J. P. Taylor points out, 'was to achieve a remarkable success'.4 It was adopted, with minor modifications, by Allied socialist parties;

The Controversy Of Zion: Jewish Nationalism, The Jewish State, And The Unresolved Jewish Dilemma

Abstract: state to the assassination of prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. This readable history will give readers a deep appreciation of the current struggles in the Middle East as well as the age-old Jewish dilemma.

The PLO and the Arabs in Israel 1967–93: Politicization or radicalization?

Abstract: One of the most important questions raised by the establishment of the Palestinian Authority under PLO leader Yasser Arafat concerns the likelihood of secessionist tendencies among Israeli Arabs, the probability of irredentist behaviour by the Palestinian Authority, and the likely impact of both on the territorial and political integrity of the State of Israel. The following article addresses the question by analyzing the historical relationship between the PLO and Israeli Arabs through the theoretical prism of the politicization‐radicalization debate engaged by scholars studying the relationship between the Arabs of Israel and the Jewish State.

The influence of Austrian humanism in Theodor Herzl's vision of a Jewish state

Abstract: Theodor Herzl's thought was a product of an austrian political and humanist culture. His political values were formed within a multinational, cameralist tradition that at its best bred a tolerance for differing persons and cultures but isolated the private individual from a responsible role in his or her own governance. The problem of governmental power in relation to the members of its society became for Herzl a conundrum whose solution was a redistribution of that power downward. Herzl's depiction of the future Jewish state in his 1896 The Jewish State and in his 1902 novel Old-New Land offers the vision of a privatized society in which each citizen may eventually become a cooperative owner. An examination of Herzl's vision reveals a thread of Austrian humanistic concepts and values that have characterized social-economic thought in Austria since the Enlightenment.

Towards the End Game: Palestine

Abstract: When news about the horrendous events of the Holocaust began reaching Palestine, the shock deeply traumatized the Jewish community there. As more and more details transpired about the scope and the systematic nature of Nazi atrocities, Jewish demands to have the gates of Palestine thrown wide open to absorb as many survivors as possible gained in strength and vehemence. In the wake of the war the general agreement in the Zionist movement for the prompt establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine — as formulated in the Biltmore Programme of 19421 — was stronger than ever.

Immigration to Assimilation

Abstract: The development of Jewish communities in the Western diaspora is a paradigm of radical assimilation. In Britain, France and the United States, successive waves of immigrants settled, became absorbed and, all too frequently, disappeared as Jews within a relatively tolerant society which afforded them opportunities undreamed of in their countries of origin. The Second World War wiped out the traditional reservoirs of immigration from Central and Eastern Europe and the rise of a Jewish state drew immigrants from remaining pockets of persecution as well as from the West itself. Of the large-scale Jewish communities in Western countries, only French Jewry has grown from an influx of immigrants, drawing the cream of north African Jewry in the wake of France’s colonial demise. The Jewish communities in Britain and the United States have suffered an inexorable decline.

Herzl's legal and economic views in The Jewish State: A scorecard

Abstract: This paper compares Theodor Herzl's conception of the legal and economic institutions he envisioned in The Jewish State with those functioning Israel in 1995. His main goal, the establishment of a Jewish state, was achieved, but what has developed is not quite what Herzl expected, due mainly to the enormous burdens of defense. Nevertheless, many of the legal and institutional features of the economy he envisioned are in place, although in altered form.

Herzl on discrimination in Der Judenstaat

Abstract: Theodor Herzl published his programmatic book The Jewish State in February 1896. Central to it was the discrimination (and hatred) commonly known as anti-Semitism. Herzl viewed anti-Semitism as the heart of “the Jewish Question” but also as the potential motivator for Jews to achieve a Jewish state. Herzl's analysis of anti-Semitic discrimination is in many aspects similar to present sociological theories of middle-class minorities. His discussion of the economic aspects is compared with Gary Becker's theory of discrimination, and similarities as well as differences are pointed out.