MER Article Editor's Picks (Summer 2002) Abdul-Jabar, Faleh. Ayatollahs, Sufis and Ideologues: State, Religion and Social Movements in Iraq (London: Saqi Books, 2002). Arkoun, Mohammed. The Unthought in Contemporary Islamic Thought (London: Saqi Books, 2002). Barlow, Maude and Tony Clarke. Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft (Author not identified) • 1 min read
MER Article The US Media, Samuel Huntington and September 11 Paradigms do not have to be true to become accepted wisdom. Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” is a case in point. When in 1993 Huntington first presented his notion that future international politics would be based on cultural conflicts -- especially between Islam and the West -- most commentators Ervand Abrahamian • 7 min read
MER Article The Analogy to Apartheid It was not a novel comparison, but it caused quite a stir. In June 2001, Ronnie Kasrils and Max Ozinsky, two Jewish heroes of South Africa's struggle for liberation from state-driven racism, published a letter in the Pretoria newspaper comparing Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands to Ian Urbina • 14 min read
MER Article For Zion's Sake "The best friends that Israel has are the Bible-believing Christians,” claims Ed McAteer of the Christian “right” think tank the Religious Roundtable. [1] While the New York Times and much of the secular press have characterized the alliance of the Christian “right” with such pro-Israel lobby organizations as AIPAC Don Wagner • 19 min read
MER Article My Hairdresser Is a Sniper Two months ago, my hairdresser confessed to me that he was a sniper. During his last trip to downtown Jerusalem, Jake told me, he had seen sharpshooters on top of all the buildings. "I had never noticed them," I admitted. "How did you know they were there?" "Well, if you really want to know," he s Shira Robinson • 5 min read
MER Article Donning the Uniform In his book The Making of Israeli Militarism, Uri Ben Eliezer described Israel as a nation-in-arms—the Jewish collective identity in Palestine was constructed mainly through the militarization of the society. The Zionist leadership used the army as the principal agent of development and integration. Ilan Pappe • 12 min read
MER Article Pappe Faces Down Prosecution On May 19, 2002, Ilan Pappé received word that an order for him to stand trial at Haifa University, where he teaches political science, had been rescinded. The prosecution, represented by Haifa’s dean of humanities, had demanded Pappé’s expulsion from the university due to positions he has taken on Rebecca L. Stein • 2 min read
MER Article There Are Many Reasons Why Izz al-Din al-Masri, 23, was considered to be an ordinary fellow, until he went to Jerusalem on August 9, 2001, and blew himself up inside a pizzeria, killing 15 Israelis and injuring scores of others. The montage photo produced for his martyr poster shows him in his early twenties, a bit somber, we Lori Allen • 7 min read
MER Article Grave Breaches There are several things that strike you when first entering Jenin refugee camp: images of the Star of David spray-painted on the walls, the exposed fronts of houses which had been bulldozed, half-set tables, children’s toys scattered and then, as you approach Hawashin, a strong sweet odor. The Hawa Jamil Dakwar, Kathleen Cavanaugh • 12 min read
MER Article Postmortem of a Compassionate Checkpoint In late October 2000, the intifada was in its then bloodiest throes. In his offices in Stockholm harbor, architect Alexis Pontvik followed the news from the Middle East with growing disquiet but little surprise. What perhaps would have been his most prominent project to date had already been stowed Peter Lagerquist • 7 min read
MER Article The Shrinking Space of Citizenship On February 14, 2002, the Israeli government sent several light planes to spray 12,000 dunams of crops in the southern Negev region with poisonous chemicals. The destroyed fields had been cultivated for years by Bedouin Arabs, on ancestral lands they claim as their own. The minister responsible for Oren Yiftachel • 20 min read
MER Article Interregnum Operation Defensive Shield is formally over, but what Israel's climactic offensive in the West Bank will bring in its wake remains unclear. It is unlikely to be the denouement to 20 months of Palestinian resistance, Israeli aggression and US prevarication. Superficially, the current stage seems marked by long-awaited Rema Hammami • 23 min read
