UPDATED: In the Cross-Hairs: Palestinian Citizens of Israel

*UPDATE: It seems like the Israeli Knesset wasn't done with its targeting of the Palestinian Arab minority for the day by the time I had concluded this post. Late yesterday, the Knesset passed a "citizenship-loyalty law" which stipulates that Israeli courts can strip Israeli citizens "who spied for a terror organization, brought about an armed conflict, aided an enemy in wartime, served in the enemy's armed forces or carried out acts detrimental to the State's sovereignty". And of course, it's up to the Israeli government, dominated by anti-Arab rightists, to define what all of that means. If an Palestinian citizen of Israel, for example, calls for changes in Israeli policy that can be deemed as acting against the "State's sovereignty" then they can be stripped of their citizenship.

The law also seems to go beyond the targeting of citizens but includes permanent residents as well. This seems to indicate that Palestinian residents of Israeli occupied Jerusalem, who have no Palestinian or Israeli citizenship but mere residency, could possibly face deportation if charged with any of the above. In this respect, the law may be a pretext for expediting the Judaization of Jerusalem by removing its Palestinian residents. More on that effort here and here.

***

Palestinian citizens of Israel are increasingly in the cross-hairs of the right-wing government as of late. Recent weeks and months have seen some key events which will have a negative

impact on this segment of the Palestinian population. Everything from legislation to bulldozers have been used to intimidate, marginalize and discriminate against this community in a state which clings to the mantra of "only democracy in the Middle East." (Image right: Anti-Arab graffiti in Hebrew on Mosque in Yaffa)

A few examples in recent weeks are listed below. On April 4th, the Palestine Center will be hosting important advocates for the Palestinian community in Israel which is working to combat the ongoing and increased discrimination and targeting of their community. Here's but a sampling of the challenges they face:

The "Nakba Law" - The Nakba is the Arabic term for the most central event in the Palestinian plight: the rapid and systematic depopulation of historic Palestine of the majority of its native inhabitants. For Palestinians who managed to remain inside Israel -- a small number in 1948 when the Nakba occurred, but approximately 20% of Israel's population today -- the events of 1948 are central to their identity and their history. It marks a major shift in the trajectory of their modern existence. It was the moment in time when the community's life, as it knew it, was changed forever. For many Palestinian citizens of Israel, the Nakba in 1948 was the last time they'd ever see family members forced to take refuge and never to return.

But the commemoration of the Nakba is as important for the Palestinian community as it is challenging for the Zionist narrative. The annual reminder that the State of Israel was born upon the destruction and depopulation of the native people of the land is unsettling to Israeli Zionists, who either find the ethnic cleansing of Palestine justified or see it as a historical reality they'd rather ignore.

So legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset last week that would punish anyone financing events commemorating the Nakba. This is but another example of the genuine fear a people's expression of their own history creates for the state of Israel. Much more on the Nakba law can be read here.

The "Communities Law" - As if passing a law punishing the commemoration of the most significant event in modern Palestinian history wasn't enough for Israel's right-wing government, another law targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel was passed the same night last week. This law basically legalizes a discriminatory practice that was already firmly in place.

This law permits the screening of Israeli citizens by residency committees in small communities to ensure that only applicants “fitting with the life of the community” or “fitting with the social fabric” would be permitted to live within the community. The vagueness in the language allows committees to deny Palestinian Arab citizens, as well as others, on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. So much for democracy.

But as mentioned above, this is merely the legalization of an ongoing norm in many parts of Israeli society. In recent months, for example, 50 municipal Rabbis issued religious decrees banning Jews from renting homes to Palestinian Arabs. This is one bigoted Middle East fatwa you probably didn't hear about in the American mainstream media.

Last year I spoke with a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Ahmad Tibi, about the increase in racism against the Palestinian population in Israel. I'd urge you to watch the entire video but here is an important excerpt from what he had to say:

The most and very sensitive obstacle between Israel as a state and its Arab citizens is the land issue. Our land has been confiscated from the very beginning, [since] 1948. At that time we were owning more than 80 percent of the land. Now we are owning only 3 percent of the private lands in Israel. All our lands were confiscated. Not confiscated for our sake, but confiscated for the Jewish majority. This is discrimination. And when we are building inside our towns, they are demolition of houses. Tens of thousands of Arab houses in Arab towns and villages are threatened to destroyed and demolished by the home ministry. We are demanding to enlarge our areas; allow to build there. We are prevented. But we have needs, natural growth, as citizens. Israel is recognizing the need for natural growth of the settlers but does not recognize our need for natural growth as citizens. That’s why I am saying that Israel is a state of its own settlers and not its own citizens. It prefers settlers over its Arabs citizens. Not one Arab town was created from 1948. Hundreds of settlements were created from 1948 and from 1967, also in the West Bank and Gaza strip--in the occupied territories. It is built in discrimination against us. This is a policy and official policy.

The "Anti-BDS Law"- Working its way through the Knesset, and having already passed its first reading, is another bill that would undoubtedly target Palestinian citizens of Israel for their political beliefs and expressions, as well as other Israelis and foreign nationals. In perhaps the most significant sign of the Israeli state's fear and vulnerability to the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the Knesset is seeking to pass a bill that would punish Israeli citizens involved in advocating for BDS and would target and punish foreign nationals doing the same:

The draft law distinguishes among boycotts by Israeli residents or citizens; by foreign residents or nationals; and by foreign states, through legislation. It explicitly includes boycotts that affect the West Bank, such as boycotts of goods and services originating in the Jewish settlements there.

Under the provisions of the bill, the court could levy a fine of up to NIS 30,000 on Israeli citizens calling for or taking party in boycotts against Israel. Foreign citizens who violate the law could be prohibited from entering Israel for 10 years or more.

Foreign states that pass laws leading to a boycott of Israel or of Israeli products could be barred from carrying out transactions in Israeli bank accounts and from trading in Israeli stocks, land or real estate. In addition, the state could suspend the transfer of payments owed to the states. Israeli citizens who have suffered damage as a result of the boycott could sue for compensation, to be paid out of the frozen funds.

Targeting of Bedouin Villages - We wrote about how one particular Bedouin village, Al-Arakib, had been demolished for the 6th time last July as well as a post on unrecognized Bedouin villages. Needless to say, since then the situation for residents of Al-Arakib has not improved, as remnants of their unrecognized village were recently demolished for the 21st time.

Amal ElSana AlHjooj, who is the Co-Executive Director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED), began her career as a community organizer at 14 and at 17 established the first Arab Bedouin women's organization. She will be joining our panel on April 4th and will surely provide an important update on the challenges facing the Bedouin community.

The panel discussion, titled "Right Wing Israeli Polity: Implications for the Arab Minority" starts at 1pm EST and you can watch a live webcast of the event here from anywhere in the world.

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Stephen Walt on The New Media and the Palestine Question

The New Media and the Palestine Question: Blogging Out of Conflict

23 September 2010
The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

Stephen Walt spoke on the second panel, Panel 2 -- Changing the Policy Discussion. This video is just his opening remarks. The full videos include the moderated question session, as well as his co-panelist, MJ Rosenberg, and the other panel, which included Adam Horowitz and Jerome Slater.

BIO

Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he served as Academic Dean from 2002 to 2006. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he was Master of the Social Science Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences. He is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine, co-editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, and co-chair of the editorial board of the journal International Security. His daily weblog can be found at http://walt.foreignpolicy.com.

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To Unfreeze or Not to Unfreeze?

Today, President Barack Obama repeated his call on Israel to extend its partial, nine-month moratorium on its illegal settlement building in the West Bank.

Obama used his address at the UN General Assembly in New York to stress the importance of settlement freeze for the on-going talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders:

Israel’s settlements moratorium has made a difference on the ground, and improved the atmosphere for talks. Our position on this issue is well known: we believe that the moratorium should be extended.

Though this was echoed by the Quartet's diplomats, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas indicated to a meeting of American Jewish leaders that an end to settlement freeze wouldn’t necessarily bring to an end the talks, according to a Jerusalem Post report. If this report is accurate, it would be a departure from his prior position, which effectively conditioned progress in the talks on a continued moratorium.

A labourer walks through a construction site in the West Bank settlement of Elazar. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

It would move the Palestinians closer to the Israeli position. Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon suggested that his government disagreed with the view that ending the settlement construction freeze threatened the talks.

"Settlements have never been an issue, because once we agree on borders everything will be obvious. So let's concentrate on the real issues and not just put the obstacle in the settlements," he said to reporters at the UN.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the idea of extending the freeze, though he suggested construction would be limited to the major settlement blocs.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the next 10 days would be "decisive and determine the fate of the direct negotiations".

"There is a very large international effort made to overcome the obstacles in the way of direct negotiations. In particular, the obstacle of the settlements."

If the Jerusalem Post report is accurate and the PA has shifted course in this demand, it would be a tremendous break from Palestinian public opinion. In one recent poll, 82% of Palestinians "rejected" direct talks while Israel continues to build up the settlements. Only 15% supported it.

Though American and international observers laud the freeze as an important step, it should be noted that it was always partial, as Peace Now noted: "work continued on 600 housing units, of which 492 were in violation of the moratorium. Work has continued on some 2,000 homes, in many cases because builders rushed to start projects before the freeze took effect."

As cynical as Palestinians are about the freeze, a change in the Palestinian stance would be a politically untenable position, especially in light of the land grab and vast expansion of Israel's colonial project during the Oslo period.

Despite Ayalon's dismissal of the issue, settlement construction is seen by Palestinians as Israel's purposeful changing of the facts on the ground. This changes the negotiating positions of the parties and directly impacts the discussion of borders, as much as Israelis claim to be willing to abandon settlements.

As the settlement freeze deadline nears and the question of an extension continues at the fore, the Palestine Center is hosting and event on Tuesday on this precise subject. The event, "The Settlement Freeze and the Peace Process Freeze," will feature Michelle Dunne, Senior Associate, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin. Joining her will be Daniel Levy, the Senior Research Fellow, American Strategy Program.

If you can attend the event, make sure to RSVP. If you cannot, you can watch it webcast live.

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Building on a Foundation of Occupation

As there has been a good deal of discussion and many would say unwarranted optimism about "Fayyadism", whatever that really means, it's important to look at analytical and scholarly perspectives on the economic situation in the West Bank and the role of the government in developing institutions.

Fayyad (pictured right here at a previous Palestine Center event giving this presentation) was in New York yesterday "speaking at a meeting with donor nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly" The AP story reported:

Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad is appealing for more international aid, pledging continued reforms and vowing that his government will be ready for statehood "at any point" if additional assistance is forthcoming.

If you read that and thought there was an obvious contradiction between the drive for independence and drive for donor dollar dependence, well, your not alone.

In the spirit of Will's post earlier today I'll share with you some important insights on the issue of economy and governance relayed by experts here at the Palestine Center over the past year. They are lengthy but in-depth excerpts of presentations which are truly worth reading in their entirety to get a better grasp on the issue as a whole.

Oussama Kanaan is the IMF Chief of Mission and Resident Representative for the West Bank and Gaza. In a presentation on the Palestinian economy at the Palestine Center earlier this year he stated:

So we have a really gradual moment of normalcy in the West Bank, a situation that is still very difficult in Gaza but overall, an improvement in living standards. Still, it’s important to emphasize that in terms of levels, the level of real GDP per capita, is still well below that which prevailed in 2000. So the growth, if you just talk about the growth story without putting it in context of an economy in which output is well below potential output in which you have a severe under utilization of resources, then it’s very easy to actually confuse this growth with a good health of the economy. The economy is still well below potential in terms of output and the basic needs of a large part of the population are still not covered.

Now in terms of the prospects, there were several articles which actually make it appear as if this relaxation of restrictions on internal movement and access is sufficient for the growth that was witnessed last year; about 7 percent to continue over the long term.

And if you look at our own studies, the message is very clear that two things need to happen for that growth to be sustained. First, that is based on the experience of almost all developing countries that have a small domestic market, all economies that have a small domestic market depend on the expansion of the export sector, for a sustainable growth in real GDP per capita. So no economy, according to the data that we have, no economy was able to grow in a sustainable way without its own export sector expanding. So simply by relaxing the restrictions on internal movement you could have, in the short run, an increase in growth just because the existing resources are better utilized. People are able to make better use of labor and capital to produce more output without necessarily actually reducing unemployment or reducing the investment rate. But just because people are able to trade from one city to another, for example, are able to have a normal life, whereby inputs can actually enter the cities and be used in production processes that were highly repressed to start with.

One important condition is the removal of the barriers on exports. First, the barriers on exports of goods and services to Israel have to be removed, this is the first condition. For an economy that does not have a seaport and an airport there is no other alternative, for this year I think, if you want to see a rate of growth that really is in the order of 7 percent. There is no alternative from having those barriers removed. Second, and as much as possible, the access to markets outside of Israel have to be encouraged. That is, we have to find a way in which in addition to access to Israel, exporters could trade with the rest of the world. This is an important element of the current two year plan by Prime Minister Fayyad where he is actually aiming at having a seaport, a functioning seaport [and] a functioning airport. Perhaps, this could not realistically be done this year but at least as an objective to be presented and to emphasize the importance of having an export market other than Israel.

Second, this is something that I think is not well understood by most people, 60 percent of the land of the West Bank cannot be used economically without permission of the Israeli authorities. That is the area, Area C. So 60 percent of the land is out of bounds for the private sector. I think if we want to see sustainable growth then it is important for that constraint to be removed. In Gaza – the blockade itself, the persistence of the blockade, even in its current intensity where some basic goods can enter, but still for such a small economy, if you want to consider the economy of Gaza as a sort of sub economy of a bigger Palestinian economy – you cannot have growth even in the order of 3, 4 percent in the long run if it remains under such tight constraints."

Another sobering analysis was presented at the Palestine Center by the then outgoing Palestinian Authority Minister of National Economy Bassem Khoury:

It is really amazing that although we received in 2008 two billion dollars in aid, direct aid, to our budget plus another one billion in aid in different forms; different NGO’s, UNRWA what have you. So you’re speaking of 800 dollars per capita that is 75 percent of our per capita was given in one year in aid to Palestine. Yet, in reality, per capita income declined in 2008. Why? In the West Bank we had growth of 7 percent. In Gaza we had minus 10 percent. The average was plus 2 percent. But population growth was around 3 percent so per capita income actually dropped. And to add insult to injury, our inflation rate was almost 10 percent. So in reality, Palestinians saw a worsening of their lives of almost 11 percent at a time [when] we received three billion U.S. dollars worth of aid. It’s a very big problem because this aid is there and we’re not able to benefit from it for a simple fact [that] we are unable to jump-start the Palestinian productive base and jump-start the private sector.

If you look at the figures, our productive base in 2008 was minus 32 percent of what it was in the year 2000 at a time when the population grew by 26 percent. So basically, we had a drop in our per capita production of almost 50 percent. This is why we were not able to benefit from the three billion dollars worth of aid. Basically, we get that money, the government spends it on salaries, on other running expenses. And what [do] we do with that? We buy with it goods and services mainly from Israel and from China. So this money in reality is there supporting more, unfortunately, the Israeli and Chinese economies than supporting the Palestinian economy.

Yazid Sayigh, a scholar of Palestinian politics and institutions, also had this to say about the economy and stability at a presentation this spring:

In the economy, here too there has been important stabilization of the situation in the West Bank, where the overall economy has grown modestly in 2008, more in 2009. And where the Israelis have reduced the amount of checkpoints and barriers within the West Bank sufficiently that it actually is now possible to move quite easily from Ramallah to Nablus or around to Bethlehem and further south in ways that were almost impossible about a year before. This has made a difference. But at the end of the day, the barriers have not disappeared and a lot of the internal closures are still in place.

More fundamentally, what I think is important here, is that the growth figure as a simple statistic, I think it was anticipated to be 7 percent. It’s more like 5 percent in reality. This is owed almost entirely to donor funding through the Palestinian Authority and public expenditure, not through private sector regeneration and growth. I think that is a very telling issue.

Banks in Palestine sit on about 7 billion dollars in assets. In other words, there is money there is not getting lent out because the private sector doesn’t have the assurance or the confidence that the investment will be returned. That it won’t be lost. So they are reluctant to borrow and the banks sit on that money. In other words, there are still very important structural obstacles in the West Bank to genuine economic development and growth which is, of course, the linchpin of donor strategy: improve economic conditions and the rest will follow. That didn’t work in the 90’s. It didn’t work after 2000 and it’s still not working. So there is stabilization but not genuine change.

Nathan Brown, of George Washington University and the Carnegie Endowment, discussed how economic support of the West Bank government is part of a policy that prolongs division between Palestinian parties:

Since June 2007, since the West Bank and Gaza split, American policy has been West Bank first, as Yousef was reporting at the beginning, essentially, figuring that the divergence in policy performance between the West Bank and the Gaza governments would solve the problem. That allowing some kind of level of security improvements, economic development and/or diplomatic process and the mix of those varies a little bit on the West Bank, and squeezing Gaza hard would make Palestinians come to their senses. That had essentially been American policy. Some of the mechanics of how this was supposed to happen, that is to say that if a Palestinian in Gaza thinks, “Gosh, this government is really bad in Gaza. Let’s get rid of it.”

How are they supposed to do this? I think that question was postponed. “Well, tomorrow will be another day.” There’ll be something that’ll make it clear or they’ll be elections and Hamas would be forced to run on a record of poor policy performance forgetting that the split made elections impossible. A new round of elections would not be possible unless there were some West Bank and Gaza reconciliation.

I should also note that Nathan Brown wrote this related and important piece last week.

So I think that the take away, in short, is that Palestinians don't need constant subsidization of their economy by foreign donor dollars. What they need is the independence to realize their tremendous potential. It's a bit absurd that Palestinians are challenged by Israel and the West to "build the necessary institutions for statehood" as if the Palestinians need to prove they are deserving, worthy or prepared for a state, after they were indispensable partners in building Amman and your pick of Arab states in the Gulf.

Instead, what we are seeing in the Palestinian economy, particularly in the West Bank, is the cementing of a system of perpetual dependence on foreign actors and in turn, a foreign policy making elite whose independence has been severely compromised by this very economic system.

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Settler Attacks: Video & Data

I presented our data on Israeli Settler Violence earlier today at the Palestine Center. A video is already available below and a transcript should be available soon. The data, included in this power point presentation below, is the most important thing.

Here are a few of the important points to take away from the presentation:

1. This is happening throughout the West Bank. Yes, it is concentrated more in some areas than others, but no governorate of the West Bank is immune to settler attacks.

2. Incidents are on the rise as are casualties.

3. 90% of these attacks happen in areas where Israel is responsible for security under the Oslo Accords. Under international law, Israel is responsible for the well-being of civilians in the territory it occupies. Instead of protecting them however, IDF and Israeli police often act as protectors for settlers as they attack Palestinian civilians.

4. While 2/3s of all settlements in the West Bank have been involved in attacks in the period we analyzed (Jan. 1, 2009 - Aug. 30, 2010) 7 settlements are responsible for 50% of attacks where the settlement of origin is known (about 27% of cases)

5. Violence is shifting north towards Nablus, Qalqilya and Ramallah and arson is becoming an increasingly popular tactic in those areas.

6. Vulnerable targets and villages are often located next to main roads. The main roads between Nablus, Qalqilya and Salfit continue to be gauntlets of violence.

7. Violence seems to be motivated in part by responses to macro level issues and not local disputes. There is a significant increase (22%), for example, in the number of attacks per week in the period after the announcement of the "settlement freeze."

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Briefing: When Settlers Attack

The Palestine Center presents an analysis of settler violence in the West Bank. We ask what type of violence occurs, who is most vulnerable and most targeted, where the violence is concentrated and what motivates it. We will present the results of an analysis spanning over 1000 events of settler violence, as well as trends in the violence over time, to better understand how these attacks affect Palestinians.

When Settlers Attack: Understanding Settler Violence against Palestine's Civilians

with

Mr. Yousef Munayyer
Executive Director, The Palestine Center

Wednesday, 15 September 2010
12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center

Map

RSVP to attend.

Watch the live webcast starting at 1 PM EST.

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Symposium: The New Media and the Palestine Question

The Palestine Center is sponsoring a two-panel symposium on new media, namely blogs and social networking websites, and the changing discourse and policy pressures around America's role in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. This symposium brings together some of the most prominent new voices and influential figures who have made powerful use of communications technologies to impact the public debate about American foreign policy in the region.

Thursday 23 September 2010
11:00 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. EST
The Palestine Center

RSVP to attend.

Watch the Webcast Live

Panel 1 – Changing the Public Discussion. 11am – 12:15
Participants: Jerome Slater, Adam Horowitz
Moderator: Will Youmans

Addressing: How has blogging/new media affected the public debate on I/P? How has blogging/new media responded to the Main Stream Media and vice versa? What results has this interaction had on the public discussion of I/P?

Lunch 12:15-1pm

Panel 2 – Changing the Policy Discussion. 1pm - 2:15
Participants: MJ Rosenberg, Stephen Walt
Moderator: Yousef Munayyer

Addressing: Does blogging/new media matter to the policy making elite? What about Congress, lobby groups? How has the increase in participants in the discussion changed policy calculations if any? Does the openness created by blogging/new media, which was not present in the past, make elected officials think twice about their actions?

SPEAKERS

Jerome Slater is professor (emeritus) of political science at SUNY/Buffalo, currently holding the position of University Research Scholar. He writes on U.S. foreign policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for professional journals, general interest media, and on his own blog, jeromeslater.com.

Adam Horowitz is a writer and co-editor of the website Mondoweiss, a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective. Prior to Mondoweiss, Horowitz was Director of the Israel/Palestine Program for the American Friends Service Committee, where he gained extensive on-the-ground experience in Israel/Palestine.

M.J. Rosenberg is Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at Media Matters Action Network. Previously, he worked on Capitol Hill for various Democratic members of the House and Senate for 15 years. He was also a Clinton political appointee at USAID. In the early 1980s, he was editor of AIPAC's weekly newsletter Near East Report. From 1998-2009, he was director of policy at Israel Policy Forum.

Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he served as Academic Dean from 2002 to 2006. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he was Master of the Social Science Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences. He is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine, co-editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, and co-chair of the editorial board of the journal International Security. His daily weblog can be found at http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/

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Palestinian Journalists on Reporting Conflict

In the 23 June Palestine Center panel, "Covering Conflict in Palestine," Shireen Abu Aqleh (Al Jazeera) and Taghreed El-Khodary (formerly of the New York Times) discussed the challenges of reporting from conflict zones. The panel was moderated by Dr. Edmund Ghareeb of American University. He led this interesting and informative Q&A.



To read the edited transcript of this briefing, click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

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VIDEO: Dr. Marc Ellis on The Ongoing Nakba and the Jewish Conscience

In "The Ongoing Nakba and the Jewish Conscience," Dr. Marc Ellis, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Baylor University and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, Baylor University, discussed the challenges Israel presents the Jewish community. This event took place on 27 May 2010 at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC.



Transcript

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John Mearsheimer on the Future of Palestine

READ the TRANSCRIPTS of Mearsheimer's talk.

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Keffiyeh: From Resistance Symbol to Retail Item? w/ Ted Swedenburg

Ted Swedenburg
Professor of Anthropology, University of Arkansas

Thursday, 8 April 2010



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The keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, has long been a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and resistance. In recent years, however, it has also become a popular fashion trend available at major retail outlets. It is now ubiquitous yet few people know the meaning and symbolism behind this checkered cloth. Join us for a discussion on the history of the keffiyeh with Dr. Swedenburg.

Dr. Swedenburg teaches courses on the Middle East, race and ethnicity, gender and public culture at the University of Arkansas. He is on the editorial committee of Middle East Report and is actively involved with the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

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The Hisham Sharabi Memorial Lecture: Professor John Mearsheimer

The Palestine Center invites you to the annual Hisham B. Sharabi Memorial Lecture.

"The Future of Palestine: Righteous Jews vs. the New Afrikaners"

with

Professor John J. Mearsheimer
Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago

12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Thursday, 29 April, 2010

The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

RSVP

The talk will be webcast live here, on our blog.

Professor Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. Dr. Mearsheimer has written extensively about security issues and international politics more generally. He has published four books: Conventional Deterrence (1983), which won the Edgar S. Furniss, Jr., Book Award; Liddell Hart and the Weight of History (1988); The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001), which won the Joseph Lepgold Book Prize; and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (with Stephen M. Walt, 2007).

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The West Bank and Gaza: Similar or Different Governance?

Dr. Yezid Sayigh
Professor of Middle East Studies, King's College London

19 March 2010



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How have two distinct systems of government evolved in the West Bank and Gaza? What similarities and differences are there between the two? How have they made institutional improvements and has this effected the balance between security and liberty? How sustainable and vulnerable are these state-like systems given their significant dependence on external capital? Join us for a discussion on these questions and more.

Yezid Sayigh is Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. He is currently on leave as a Visiting Scholar at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University. He was an adviser and negotiator in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in 1991-1994, and has provided consultancy assistance on Palestinian Authority reform and on the Palestinian-Israeli ‘permanent status’ negotiations since 1998. He is the author of Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993, and most recently of Fixing Broken Windows: Security Sector Reform in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen, Carnegie Paper, October 2009.

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Fundraisers for the Palestinian Diabetes Institute in the Gulf this Week

Please help us fight this Diabetes epidemic in Palestine. Attend these fundraisers if you live in the Gulf, or donate online.

The Masquer-AID For Palestine 2 March 2010 (POSTPONED TO 12 MARCH DUE TO WEATHER), 8:00-11:00 p.m. Dubai, UAE
View the invitation

Hats Off to Palestine 3 March 2010, 7:00-10:00 p.m. Abu Dhabi, UAE
View the invitation

The Masquer-AID For Palestine 4 March 2010, 8:00-10:30 p.m. Qatar
View the invitation

These events are to raise funds for the new Palestine Diabetes Institute.

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Gaza One Year Later: Picking up the Pieces w/ Bill Corcoran, ANERA

Mr. Bill Corcoran
President, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)



A year after the bombs stopped falling on Gaza, full recovery remains elusive. Survival is a daily challenge. ANERA president Bill Corcoran has traveled to Gaza regularly during the past year to assess the damage and the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. He will talk about current conditions and challenges for helping Gazans rebuild their lives.

Mr. Bill Corcoran has been president of ANERA since 2007. Before joining ANERA, he was Vice President of the Christian Children’s Fund, a $300 million nonprofit serving children and their families in 32 countries. During the 1990’s, Mr. Corcoran directed the Pontifical Mission for Palestine based in Jordan with projects there and in Iraq. He also supervised various projects in Lebanon and Syria.

18 February 2010

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TRANSCRIPTS

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Talk on Palestinian Economy, January 22.

The Palestinian Economy: Recent Experience and Prospects in 2010

with

Dr. Oussama Kanaan
IMF Chief of Mission and Resident Representative
West Bank and Gaza

Friday, 22 January 2010
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

RSVP

This event will be webcast on this website, www.palestinecenterblog.org at 1 PM EST.

While economic conditions have improved in the West Bank, the conditions in Gaza continue to worsen after months of siege and devastating attacks and incursions. Largely, economic conditions in the Occupied Territories are greatly controlled by outside powers -- directly the Israeli occupation -- and the donor nations which contribute aid money. Economic growth, without independence, continues to be tied to a relaxation of restrictions and an influx of donor dollars. Join us for a discussion on the economic conditions in Palestine and their prospects for change in the coming year with Dr. Kanaan.

Dr. Oussama Kanaan is the IMF Chief of Mission and Resident Representative for the West Bank and Gaza. He has worked at the International Monetary Fund since 1993. He is the author of numerous publications which include articles in economics particularly applied to countries in the Middle East (including the West Bank and Gaza) and the peace process. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

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Today: US Foreign Policy and the Inter-Palestinian Divide

US Foreign Policy and the Inter-Palestinian Divide

with

Dr. Nathan Brown
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs,
George Washington University

Thursday, 14 January 2009
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

The talk will be webcast live on this website, starting at 1 PM EST.

Or, RSVP for the event.

Professor Nathan Brown received his B.A. in political science from the University of Chicago and his M.A. and Ph.D. in politics and Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. He teaches courses on Middle Eastern politics, as well as more general courses on comparative politics and international relations.

He is author of Peasant Politics in Modern Egypt (1990); The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf (1997); Constitutions in a Non-Constitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government (2001); and Palestinian Politics After the Oslo Accords: Resuming Arab Palestine (2003).

In 2009 he was selected as a Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Under this grant, Professor Brown will analyze the impacts of increased participation by Islamist groups in electoral politics on both the movements themselves and the political systems in which they operate.

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MASQUER-AID: Qatar Charity Event for the Palestine Diabetes Institute

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Upcoming Events at the Palestine Center

1) ART RECEPTION and OPENING: "Mental Mediations" (20 November 2009)

2) BRIEFING: "Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo?" with Dr. Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland, and, Dr. Asad Ghanem (3 December 2009)

3) CULTURAL EVENT & BAZAAR: Annual Souk and Olive Harvest Celebration (12 December 2009)

1) The Jerusalem Fund Gallery invites you to an opening reception

"Mental Mediations"

Paintings by Ammar Qusaibaty

Qusaibaty Mental Mediations

Friday, 20 November 2009
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
The Jerusalem Fund

An artist with unconventional training, Dr. Ammar Qusaibaty received his Doctoral degree in Cognitive Informatics from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. He holds two Masters degrees from Oxford University and the University of Michigan.

Formally trained in mathematics, theoretical computer science and philosophy, Dr. Qusaibaty has been painting and developing his art thesis for the past seven years. He strives to escape limitations of artistic content and form by improvising with mixed media, unusual materials and elusive subjects.

Dr. Qusaibaty has exhibited in Europe and North America. He lives and works in Washington D.C.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required to attend.

This exhibit will be on display at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery from 20 November 2009 - 8 January 2010

Gallery hours: M - F, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., or by appointment.

2) The Palestine Center invites you to a briefing

"Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Stakeholders in Limbo?"

with

Dr. Shibley Telhami
Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland

and

Dr. Asad Ghanem
Professor of Political Science, University of Haifa

Wednesday, 2 December 2009
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center

Treated as second-class citizens in Israel and left out of Palestinian national representative structures, this population continues to grow in number and political dynamism. What do the Palestinian citizens of Israel think about a negotiated solution to the conflict, the Right of Return, and their future status? How can/should this constituency participate in the decision making processes that will ultimately provide an answer to their national question? The speakers will explore these questions with a presentation of recently conducted public opinion data, commentary and analysis.

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, and non-resident senior fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. He has served as Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the UN (1990-91), as advisor to former Congressman Lee Hamilton, and as a member of the US delegation to the Trilateral US-Israeli-Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee, which was mandated by the Wye River Agreements. Dr. Telhami is the author of the best-selling book, The Stakes: America and the Middle East (Westview Press, 2003; updated version, 2004)

Asad Ghanem is a senior lecturer at the School of Political Sciences at the University of Haifa. His theoretical work has explored the legal, institutional and political conditions in ethnic states. He has been the initiator and designer of several policy schemes and empowerment programs for Palestinian-Arabs in Israel. Dr. Ghanem has authored and edited numerous articles and books, among them Palestinian Politics After Arafat: A Failed National Movement; Ethnic Politics in Israel-The Margins and the Ashkinasi Centre and Palestinians in Israel-Indigenous Group Politics in the Jewish State.

RSVP Now

This briefing is free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served to registered guests at 12:30 p.m. The briefing and question/answer period will be from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Registration is required. Unregistered guests will not be admitted. To register, click here or call (202) 338-1958 ext.11 by noon Tuesday, 1 December 2009.

3) The Jerusalem Fund Presents

Annual Souk and Olive Harvest Celebration

Saturday, 12 December 2009
11:00 am - 4:00 p.m.
The Jerusalem Fund

Experience the ambience of a Middle Eastern souk (market) right here in Washington, DC. Enjoy an afternoon of music, coffee, food and the sales of textiles, pottery, jewelry and gifts from North Africa and the Middle East. Celebrate the annual olive harvest in Palestine and support Palestinian farmers by purchasing bottles of fair trade extra virgin olive oil imported from Palestine. Bring your family and friends to this fun and vibrant event!

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required to attend.

Directions and Parking Information

CONNECT WITH THE PALESTINE CENTER

Check out the Palestine Center Blog. You can also follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

SUPPORT THE PALESTINE CENTER

Make a 100% tax deductible contribution.

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VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: Life in Hell: A Journalist's Account of Life in Gaza w/ Mohammed Omer

Mr. Omer describes his interviews with Gazans trying to survive the stifling blockade on the Gaza Strip. Mr. Mohammed Omer is the Gaza Correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

5 November 2009.

Download Video (mp4) [right click the link and select 'save link as']

Download Audio (mp3) [right click the link and select 'save link as']


TRANSCRIPTS

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