From Zionism to Capitalism The Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” seems to be in trouble. The due date for the redeployment of Israeli forces in the West Bank to allow for election of the Palestinian governing authority has long come and gone. Expanded construction in “Greater Jerusalem,” land grabbing by settlers throughout the West Bank, Yoav Peled • 12 min read
Fading Flags The basic challenge facing the Palestinian Authority (PA) today can be reduced to the twin tasks of legitimacy and control. Any observer of the events that led to the bloody confrontations between the Palestinian police force and Hamas and Islamic Jihad followers in mid-November 1994 realizes that the legitimacy Salim Tamari • 8 min read
Palestine on the Edge Since Yasser Arafat returned to the Gaza Strip in July 1994 under the terms of the Israeli-PLO accords, many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank find themselves worse off than before. Tens of thousands are out of work as a result of Israeli closures of its borders. Social Dan Connell • 12 min read
Justice in Transition? Without quite the same resonance as “new world order” or “end of history,” another set of terms has rapidly become part of the international political discourse: “transition,” “democratization,” “reconstruction” and “building civil society.” Aside from their purely rhetorical uses, these terms descr (Author not identified) • 8 min read
From the Editors (July/August 1995) We have always been uncomfortable using the phrase “peace process” to refer to the actual dynamic of Palestinian-Israeli relations. The phrase in fact appropriates “peace” to refer exclusively to terms of American-Israeli imposition, and to exclude as “enemies of peace” those who insist that these t The Editors • 2 min read
MER Article Editor's Picks (March/April 1995) Afrasiabi, K. L. After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran’s Foreign Policy (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994). African Rights. Humanitarianism Unbound? Current Dilemmas Facing Multi-Mandate Relief Operations in Political Emergencies (London, 1994). Boutwell, Jeffrey et al, eds. Lethal Commerce: The The Editors • 1 min read
MER Article Book Review Lila Abu-Lughod, Writing Women’s Worlds (California, 1992). Edmund Burke III, ed., Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East (California, 1993). Zjaleh Hajibashi • 5 min read
MER Article Column: Globalization and Its Discontents “Globalization” is currently fashionable among privileged quarters of American society. It stands as the umbrella term for contemporary trends in culture, production, finance, marketing, technology, consumption, ideas, values and institutions that are variously celebrated, denounced, dissected and d Al Miskin • 3 min read
MER Article The NGO Phenomenon in the Arab World Ghanem Bibi is co-founder and coordinator of the Arab Resource Collective based in Nicosia. ARC generates Arabic-language resources for use in community health and childhood development projects, and serves as a networking resource for Arab NGOs. Julie Peteet spoke with him in August 1994, shortly a Julie Peteet, Joe Stork • 5 min read
MER Article The Saudis, the French and the Embargo The successful maintenance of a near total embargo on Iraq owes to a number of factors, ranging from geography to post-Cold War global economies. Iraq’s limited access to the sea can be easily monitored, while its record of regional aggression has deprived Baghdad of local friends. Despite some brea Roger Diwan, Fareed Mohamedi • 6 min read
MER Article The Iraqi Question from the Inside To affirm the existence of an “Iraqi question” has certain implications. People usually speak, referring to the Shi‘a and the Kurds, of minorities and of the necessity of protecting them as such. But this misses the point concerning what is unique about Iraq. Pierre-Jean Luizard • 15 min read
MER Article The Iraqi Opposition and the Sanctions Debate The sanctions regime imposed on Iraq in August 1990, though always morally troubling, has only recently emerged as the subject of debate among Iraqi oppositionists. Most opposition groups supported sanctions either openly or tacitly until 1994, when this unity began to break down. Because the subject is politically sensitive, the Rend Rahim Francke • 9 min read
