In recent years there has been a powerful resurgence of settler colonialism as an interpretive framework through which to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Attached to the burgeoning field of settler colonial studies, this so-called ‘turn’ to settler colonialism has seen Israel-Palestine increasingly compared alongside New World white settler societies like Australia, Canada and the United States. In seeking to undercut the lens of exceptionalism through which the conflict has conventionally been viewed, the settler colonial paradigm has some important counter-hegemonic (...) implications for reframing Israel-Palestine, not least of which is its prescription for decolonization. However, it is paradoxically in the context of decolonization that the limits of the settler colonial paradigm become most apparent. I argue that these limitations are connected to the dominance of Patrick Wolfe’s structural account of settler colonialism, which leaves very little room for transformation, and to the particular connotations settler colonial studies has acquired from the New World contexts in which it is most often articulated. This is particularly the case in Israel-Palestine, where these connotations preclude engagement with the national aspects of the conflict and leave under-examined the unique resonances of the settler/native distinction, which need reckoning with in any serious account of decolonization. (shrink)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s French philosopher Gilles Deleuze authored a series of articles in which he reflected on the formation of the state of Israel and its subsequent dispossession and colonisation of Palestine and the Palestinian people. Naming the state of Israel as a colonial state, Deleuze’s under-discussed texts connect Israel’s programme of colonisation to that of the United States and the persisting dispossession of indigenous peoples. In so doing, this article argues, Deleuze offers an analysis (...) of the development of capitalism that takes seriously its relation to colonial violence. Having called attention to Deleuze’s writings on Palestine, the conclusion of this article asks why these texts have been marginalised by Deleuze scholars. It asks how we might think of this marginalisation as contributing to the subjugation of Palestinian life, and as indicative of how relations of colonialism structure western social theory. (shrink)

« La solidarité est un verbe. » Ainsi la philosophe Sara Ahmed désigne-t-elle le travail de créer des ponts entre les luttes. La guerre en cours en Palestine, depuis les attentats terroristes du Hamas en octobre 2023 jusqu’aux représailles meurtrières et incessantes des Forces de Défense Israéliennes, a soulevé de nombreux gestes de solidarité transnationale : de la part des mouvements juifs pour la paix (Women Wage Peace, Standing Together, Tsedek!, Union juive pour la paix…), mais aussi de la (...) part de mouvements pour la justice sociale qui se sont efforcés de construire des solidarités précises, avec les Palestinien·nes comme avec les Israélien·nes qui résistent au colonialisme (des mouvements autochtones aux États-Unis à Black Lives Matter et aux mouvements queers en Europe et ailleurs). Quelles leçons tirer de ces solidarités décoloniales? (shrink)

The issue of Palestine is a religious, political and cultural issue that transcends continents; historically, it has hosted the oldest civilizations and the holiest cities, all heavenly religions have been affiliated with it and many prophets have lived in these lands. God Almighty has granted it a number of advantages not granted to others and, starting from this, has created a starting point for Palestine to become one of the most effective and influential issues in its surroundings and (...) even in the entire world. This impact did not only occur in a political dimension, but also went beyond this and transcended thought, culture, economy and other areas. When we look at the literary aspect of the Palestine issue, what it affects, what it is affected by and what is poetically associated with Palestine, we see that Ottoman Turkish literature and modern literature are closely connected to this issue. This connection, which has been politically, historically, intellectually and religiously connected to Palestine since the foundation of the Ottoman Empire, continued until the Turkish Republic. The relationship between Palestine and Turkey continues with problems, different standards and dialectics. How could Palestine, an inseparable part of the Ottoman Empire, not be so important? What confirms the importance that the Ottoman State gave to Palestine is the interest of Suleiman the Magnificent in Palestine and the special attention he showed to it, which is narrated in history books. Similarly, Sultan Abdulhamid II, while rejecting the offers and provocations of the Jews, gave great importance to Palestine and openly stated that the price of Palestine was the price of 800 million Muslims and that he would not surrender Palestine to the Jews as long as he lived. This attitude he displayed even led to his dethronement. However, what interests us in this study is how and what Ottoman literature and especially poetry about Palestine are. In other words, it is the poetic treatment of the Palestinian issue and at a special historical stage. We have limited our research to the scene of the Divan, that is, classical Ottoman poetry, and its relationship with Palestine in terms of its political, artistic, historical, intellectual and doctrinal foundations, so that this will be a threshold that we can rely on in the future. As a matter of fact, it has become an urgent need to complete a comprehensive study in the Arabic language on the relationship between Turkish and Arabic literature, specifically in Palestine. (shrink)

It seems that Palestine has found a convenient spot in the cloud, as a complex, yet seemingly cohesive, digital nation comes into being. The growing possibilities of online connectivity through social media, search engines, and streaming services, along with the newly designed features of online articulation (posting, sharing, commenting, reacting, and so forth), are intensifying the idea of a single people, a single heritage, and a single national destiny. This article presents the concept of digital Palestinian nationalism as a (...) critical prism for examining how online political activism in support of Palestine reveals the multiple, somewhat conflicting, layers of present Palestinian temporality. My contention is that digital Palestinian nationalism operates in an algorithmic present that significantly intensifies the historical temporality of national imagination but is simultaneously in conflict with various ongoing temporalities of Palestinian displacement. Deeply entangled in the sociometer of user engagement, algorithmic processes amplify deep national sentiments among Palestinians everywhere in reaction to footage of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip (since 7 October 2023) within a constant frame of “real-time” and “right-time.” However, in buttressing national sentiments, this algorithmic presentness hinders attempts to imagine differently so that the Palestinian story might branch out to comprehend the multiple ongoing political and cultural developments of Palestinian experience in the various contexts of displacement in Israel-Palestine and the world at large. (shrink)

In “International Recognition of Palestine and the Risk of a West Bank ‘Frontier’” (published in the Europe-based online journal, "E-International Relations" in October 2025), sociologist and political scientist James Ron warns that recent diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state—by more than 150 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom—could, under specific scenarios, unintentionally heighten the danger of large-scale violence in the West Bank. -/- Drawing on his comparative research on state violence in Serbia and Israel (...) (Frontiers and Ghettos, University of California Press, 2003), Ron argues that when states lose uncontested control over adjacent territories without the protection of robust international peacekeeping forces, they may transform those newly independent regions into lawless frontiers characterized by ethnic cleansing and unrestrained force. -/- The essay cautions that if the West Bank were legally detached from Israel without durable international security guarantees, it could mirror Gaza’s tragic trajectory—an area externalized from Israel’s legal and moral responsibility and subjected to frontier-style warfare. -/- Using cases from Bosnia, the Sandžak, Lebanon, and Gaza, Ron demonstrates how sovereignty, geography, and legal jurisdiction shape the intensity of violence. -/- This analysis speaks to scholars and policymakers concerned with international law, state sovereignty, human-rights protection, and conflict prevention. It underscores a central lesson from comparative political violence: recognition without protection can turn liberation into catastrophe. (shrink)

The Assyrian presence in Palestine from the ninth through the seventh century B.C.E. represents a case of intercultural contact against the background of an expansionist imperial process. The “Assyrianization” of Israel and Judah, as well as that of the whole Levant, has often been posited. This term, which evokes “Romanization,” would indicate enforced cultural adaptation to Assyrian values and customs within the framework of a process of assimilation. An alleged “Assyrianization” of Ancient Israel would be congruent with that interpretation (...) of Assyrian imperialism postulating programmatic measures to impose the Assyrian way of life upon the whole empire. However, a study of the cuneiform and archaeological sources leads to an alternative interpretation of Assyrian imperial policy in the West. (shrink)

In his influential history of the post-1967 history of the Palestinian Occupation, radical Israeli architect Eyal Weizman show how even well-meaning decolonial efforts from privileged allies can be coopted by the colonizers, in what I call “de-decolonizing.” Here I focus on one of his examples, namely IDF (Israeli Defense Force) military professors repurposing the anarcho-communist philosophy of French postmodernist Gilles Deleuze into a weapon against Palestinian guerrilla resistance. My conclusion is that attempted decolonizing via (inevitably complicit) privileged allies must include (...) what Weizman calls “co-resistance,” and I call “reconstruction.” In other words, when a Deleuzian “line of flight” to “escape” is impossible, as arguably for Palestinians today, then one should follow the heroic example of the Bedouins, who (as Weizman acknowledges) are the only Arabs who have never stopped rebuilding their Palestine. (shrink)

By accounting for the role of reflexive agency in the persistence and transformation of capitalist systems, this paper examines how market-driven reforms created momentum for neoliberalization in Palestine after the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in the early 1990s, leading to the intensification of neoliberalization after the political intradivision in 2007. To understand how neoliberalization unfolded, the paper draws on the variegated neoliberalization thesis. It supplements this with the ‘morphogenetic régulation' (MR) approach, and its notion of reflexive conatus, (...) which considers ideas in terms of ‘self-explication' and ‘adequacy' originating in the material. Through this lens, the paper investigates Palestinian agents’ actions as they diachronically interacted with the structural constraints of the Oslo neoliberal peace paradigm as they mediated neoliberalization. Their actions were not merely shaped by internal and external pressures. Still, they were also strategically recalibrated to preserve their vested interests in the Palestinian Authority as a structure. (shrink)

This essay explores why and how comparisons of the Palestinian struggle to other historical examples frequently fail. These comparisons attempt to recuperate Palestinian humanity, but the process of recuperation itself reifies Palestine as something outside of or beyond humanity or human comprehension. Instead, we ought to address the history and politics of Palestine with the specificity and directness it warrants.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This article explores the contemporary politics of global violence through an examination of the particular challenges and possibilities facing Palestinians who seek to defend their communities against an ongoing settler-colonial project (Zionism) that is approaching a crisis point. As the colonial dynamic in Israel/Palestine returns to its most elemental level – land, trees, homes – it also continues to be a laboratory for new forms of accelerated violence whose global impact (...) is hard to overestimate. In such a context, Palestinians and international solidarity activists find themselves confronting a quintessential 21 st century activist dilemma: how to craft a strategy of what Paul Virilio calls “popular defense” at a time when everyone seems to be implicated in the machinery of global violence? I argue that while this dilemma represents a formidable challenge for Palestinians, it also helps explain why the Palestinian struggle is increasingly able to build bridges with wider struggles for global justice, ecological sustainability, and indigenous rights. (shrink)

The long war between Israel and the Palestinians is not the root cause of all conflicts between Islam and the West, but it exacerbates every such conflict. From Northern Europe through North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and down to Australia, there are violent opponents of “the West” motivated, in part, by indignation at the..

This study aimed to identify the reality of marketing services in Palestine Cellular Communications Company (Jawwal) from the viewpoint of the workers, where the researchers used the descriptive analytical method, through a questionnaire randomly distributed to the sample of workers in Palestine Cellular Communications Company (Jawwal) in Gaza Strip reached (60) employees. The study reached a number of results, the most important of which are: The results showed that there is a high level of efficiency of marketing services (...) in Palestine Cellular Communications Company (Jawwal) with a relative weight (91.63%). The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the efficiency of marketing services according to the gender variable in favor of males. The study made a number of recommendations, the most important of which are: Attention to the use of electronic publishing means to motivate beneficiaries to receive the company's services. Increase the confidence of the beneficiaries in the company's services by offering competitive campaigns that meet the needs of the beneficiaries. (shrink)

The "surrogate colonization" of Palestine had a foreign power giving to a nonnative group rights over land occupied by an indigenous people. It thus brought into play the complementary and conflicting agendas of three culturally distinguishable parties: British, Jews and Arabs. Each party had both "externalist" [those with no sustained practical experience of day to day life in Palestine] and "internalist" representatives. The surrogate idea was based on a "strategic consensus" involving each party's externalist camp: the British ruling (...) elite, the leadership of the World Zionist Organization and the Hashemite Dynasty of Arabia. The collapse of this triangular consensus, which put an end to the policy but not the process of surrogate colonization, resulted from irreconcilable antagonisms within and between the major currents of each internalist camp. A focus on the land problem in Palestine highlights contradictions in each party's internalist agenda, which forestalled a rift between the Jewish and British sides of the consensus long enough for the Zionist settlement in Palestine to acquire territory and to develop a largely self-sufficient economic, cultural, political and military infrastructure. (shrink)

ExcerptI remember it well. It was in the spring of 1987 when I commenced my lecture in Osnabrück on the German left with these remarks: “So that we understand each other: Regardless of my heavy criticisms and profound objections to many facets of its current affairs, I fully accept the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and do not want its destruction!” People looked at me as if I had lost my mind!

Joseph Agassi One Palestine, Two Nations Many are the problems that beset the tragically war-torn and forlorn Palestine. The extant proposed solutions to them all are few. They all relate to the framework of the establishment or the re-establishment of one, two, or three states. Let me list them first regardless of their value.

Résumé Le sort des femmes dans les guerres a toujours souffert du non-dit, il se trouvait en quelque sorte enfoui, banalisé dans le sort général des civils puisqu’elles n’étaient pas combattantes. Mais on peut dire que dans les derniers conflits, les femmes ne font plus partie d’un « arrière », par opposition aux combattants du front, car en fait il n’y a plus d’arrière, elles se retrouvent désormais de plein pied dans la guerre (en Algérie et en Bosnie, notamment).

This study presented the policy of functional integration of the product planning team as a strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Palestine. The study population consists of all the workers in companies operating in the field of medicine in Palestine, which are (5) companies producing in the West Bank only for pharmaceuticals used by these companies, which are (296) employees, and was used a simple random sample to choose the sample and size (87) employees of (...) the study population, and to achieve the objectives of the study (87) questionnaires were distributed. The descriptive analytical method was used, and SPSS was used to answer and discuss the study's questions. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the effectiveness of the policy of product development and the competitiveness of pharmaceutical companies in Palestine (West Bank), where the policy of product development efficiency accounts for 56.6% of the total change in the competitiveness of companies. The product quality component was most influential at all levels of product development effectiveness policy, followed by product identification, product cost reduction, packaging and product deletion. The weakest areas of strategic direction in pharmaceutical companies in Palestine (West Bank) are 67%. The weakest aspects of job integration are: non-regular meetings of representatives of different positions to participate in any project related to product development, to achieve spatial convergence of members of the product planning policy team in offices, laboratories and workplaces. (shrink)

This Article examines the two dominant theories of territorial justice — one associated with justice, the other with self–determination. It applies these theories to the case of Israel/palestine, and to ongoing claims by political actors with respect to territorial rights there. It argues that justice theory seems to straightforwardly suppose the territorial rights of the State of Israel, at least if historical and retrospective considerations are not at the forefront, though once they are brought in, this argument can be (...) deployed in support of a number of different political positions. The self–determination argument, it is argued, is somewhat less indeterminate and seems to most straightforwardly support a “two–state” compromise. However, as with justice theory, its assumptions can be challenged on a number of fronts, and could also be deployed to buttress other arguments. The merits and challenges of both theories are analyzed through this case study. (shrink)

An academic history book has to be unusually successful to get through to a fourth edition. This one has done so not only because the continuing Israel–Palestine conflict is a subject of heated con...

The history of Palestine is characterized by a multifaceted and intricate representation of the diverse cultural tapestry woven by its various inhabitants, particularly within its medieval context, a period distinguished by complex and dynamic interactions that have exerted a profound influence on this pivotal region. From the Late Bronze Age, spanning through the Classical Era, and into the medieval period, Palestine constituted the locus of a captivating interplay of faiths and religions, marked by alternating periods of both concord (...) and discord. This intricate pattern persisted throughout the successive epochs of Roman rule and the subsequent influence of the Islamic and Byzantine Empires, each of which left an indelible mark on the region's socio-cultural and political landscape. This article aims to elucidate the confluence of social, political, and religious factors that collectively shaped the medieval landscape of Palestine, shedding light on the enduring legacy of both cooperation and strife that has characterized its historical trajectory. Following an interdisciplinary historical methodology, the narrative extended beyond a mere chronicle of conflicts to also encompass qualitative historical analysis, textual criticism, and contextual interpretation. Conversely, the methodology delved into moments of intense conflict, examining the underlying causes and ramifications of these episodes on the region's development. Drawing upon a comprehensive array of primary and secondary sources, the study meticulously investigated the intricate web of socio-political and economic dynamics that governed the medieval history of Palestine. The analysis extended to a detailed examination of the influence of governance structures, encompassing both local and imperial administration, and how these structures either fostered cooperation or exacerbated tensions among the region's diverse communities. Furthermore, the role of religious institutions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in shaping social relations, legal frameworks, and cultural norms was scrutinized. To that end, this research has demonstrated that the medieval history of Palestine cannot be confined to a binary framework of peace and conflict. Rather, it must be understood as a continuum of coexistence and confrontation shaped by faith, power, and necessity. Through an interdisciplinary examination of primary chronicles, religious covenants, and archaeological evidence, the study revealed that periods of cooperation among Muslims, Christians, and Jews were not exceptional but integral to the region’s historical fabric. The mechanisms that sustained coexistence, such as pilgrimage economies and shared sacred geographies, illustrate how pragmatic governance and economic interdependence often mitigated religious divisions. The research concluded that medieval Palestine functioned as a dynamic cultural crossroads rather than a perpetual battlefield. Its historical experience offers enduring lessons on the capacity of diverse societies to sustain pluralism under shifting political and religious pressures. By repositioning Palestine within the broader context of Mediterranean and Islamic world history, this study contributes an original perspective to the understanding of intercommunal relations and the shared heritage of sacred geography in the medieval era. The study argues that medieval Palestine must be understood as a living laboratory of coexistence, a land where theological exclusivity confronted the realities of shared survival. The coexistence of rival faiths generated an enduring cultural resilience that would shape the region’s identity for centuries. The findings emphasize that the Holy Land’s legacy lies in its religious sanctity and in its ability to sustain pluralism under immense political and ideological pressure. By situating Palestine within the broader networks of Mediterranean history, this research presents a reinterpretation of the region as a connective hub rather than a divided frontier and an enduring testament to the intricate balance between devotion and diplomacy that shaped the medieval world. It contributes to the understanding of how faith communities interacted, competed, and coexisted within the same sacred landscape, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inform modern conceptions of religious coexistence. (shrink)

This article engages the analogy of Palestine/Israel to apartheid South Africa, and probes the political imaginary that contours this discussion while explicating the circumstances of its emergence. Accordingly, it contends that apartheid is not merely a system of institutionalized separation; rather, it organizes the facts and reality of separation(s) within a frame and against a background unity that effectively allows it to be perceived as such. To that end, the article explores four key factors that created background unity in (...) apartheid South Africa: labor relations; political theology; role of language; and geo-political unit(y), and scrutinizes their political and experiential ramifications in Palestine/Israel. (shrink)

This article is an effort to register the archival surge among Palestinians in Palestine and beyond. It is focused not on the collection of archives but on the mulitmedia practice of archiving as political practice. It is not the work in and on archives that redefines the terms of engagement but the practice of archiving itself. The challenge is directed at what constitutes custodial control, access, rubrics of order, and a pedagogy of use. Academics, artists, and activists are challenging (...) the aesthetics of dissent and the work of aesthetics in redefining what constitutes the political in oppressive colonial regimes today. Countermovements of documentation are efforts to displace rather than only disprove colonial truth. The conceits of what counts as archival labor—and who can do it—are poised to implode. (shrink)

This article discusses George Orwell’s attitude to Zionism and the Palestine question, a controversial and emotional subject in left-wing circles in his time and since. There have been a number of studies on Orwell’s attitude to Jews and anti-Semitism and some of these have touched upon Orwell’s approach to Zionism. However, his stance on the Palestine question specifically deserves further exposition. This is so, not least because on this subject too Orwell’s views—largely anti-Zionist—differed from the prevailing, passionate beliefs (...) of most left-wing intellectuals of his time, including some of his closest friends and political allies. Furthermore, Orwell’s views were expressed at a time when the Palestine conflict peaked during the last decade of the British Mandate with results which resound to this day. (shrink)

The Middle East Summit is the unofficial name for a series of meetings between several key figures from the Middle Eastern art world and it was proposed here that a Picasso from the collection of the Van Abbemuseum be brought to Palestine. The meaning of Picasso’s Buste de femme crossing this non-place, is here brought to light.

The "delegitimation," which is progressing rapidly, was carried forward in December by a Human Rights Watch call on the U.S."to suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel's spending in support of settlements," and to monitor contributions to Israel from tax-exempt U.S. organizations that violate international law, "including prohibitions against discrimination" -- which would cast a wide net. Amnesty International had already called for an arms embargo on Israel. The legitimation process also took a long (...) step forward in December, when Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil recognized the State of Palestine, bringing the number of supporting nations to more than 100. (shrink)

ArgumentWe examine the creation and functioning of the “Pasteur Institute in Palestine” focusing on the relationship between biological science, health policy, and the creation of a “new society” within the framework of Zionism. Similar to other bacteriological institutes founded by colonial powers, this laboratory was developed in response to public health needs. But it also had a political role. Dr. Leo Böhm, a Zionist physician, strived to establish his institution along the lines of the Zionist aspiration to develop a (...) national entity based on strong scientific foundations. Even though the institute enjoyed several fruitful years of operation, mainly during World War I, it achieved no lasting national or scientific importance in the country. Böhm failed to adapt to new ways of knowledge production, scientifically and socially. The case study of the “Pasteur Institute in Palestine” serves as a prism to view the role of the public health laboratory in the history of Palestine with its ongoing changes of scientific, organizational, and political context. (shrink)

This is a new discussion in the philosophy of terrorism of the morality of Humanity, Palestine and Israel, right and wrong, liberalism, free riders, narratives, definitions of terrorism, objections to definitions not mentioning innocents, the question of who the innocents are, intentional action, objections having to do with definitions, inquiry, prejudice, pure inquiry, and advocacy, and other innocents. The discussion was prompted by a forthcoming paper by Tamar Meisels of Tel Aviv University 'Can Terrorism Ever Be Justified?', which paper (...) and the final reply to it by Ted Honderich will appear in a book edited by Stuart Gottlieb, Debating Terrorism and Counter Terrorism. Tamar Meisels' book, The Trouble With Terror, has lately been published by Cambridge University Press. She also has a paper in the collection Israel, Palestine and Terror edited by Stephen Law and containing various replies to Honderich. Another Meisels paper to which you can turn, The Trouble With Terror: The Apologetics of Terrorism -- A Refutatio n. There is also a Honderich reply to other objections, in this case by the German philosopher Georg Meggle. (shrink)

This new book, published in the United Kingdom under the first title above and in the United States and Canada under the second, consists in argument about what makes for right or wrong in general, and then argument about right or wrong with respect to Palestine, 9/11, the Iraq War, 7/7, and what is to come. Hence, with respect to the latter connected things, it also makes judgements as to shares of moral responsibility. Six of its 29 sections appear (...) below. The first two are 'Our Questions' and 'A Division of Labour, Philosophy's Part'. The next one is one of three in the book on judging right and wrong by democracy. The fourth is one of several in the book about understanding, judging, and inciting terrorism. The last two sections are about the Iraq War. To locate this thinking in the context of the book as a whole, which justifies Zionism but not neo-Zionism, have a look at the table of contents at the end. There is also a German translation of the first half of the book. Have a look too if you want at a review of the book by Tam Dalyell, lately M.P. for Linlithgow and Father of the House of Commons, and a review by Steve Poole, author of Unthink, and at Italian and Belgian interviews on the subject. There is also a video of a 40-minute television programme made from the book. (shrink)