MER Article Report from Afghanistan The last Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan have gone home, clearing the stage around Kabul and other cities for a major showdown between Soviet-supported government forces and their American-supported guerrilla rivals, the mujahideen. Conventional wisdom has it that the mujahideen are now in position t Jochen Hippler, Steven Galster • 13 min read
MER Article Behind the Chemical Weapons Campaign Once again, world attention is caught by the specter of villainous Arabs, brandishing weapons. In the mid-1970s it was the oil weapon. Today it is chemical weapons. In both cases the weapon is wielded discreetly by the United States itself. In both cases, the main threat is to the people of the Thir Diana Johnstone • 8 min read
MER Article Palestine and Israel in the US Arena Ordinary children, women and men, a million and a half of them, have confounded the state of Israel, Washington’s major military ally in the Middle East, with their incredible courage and resourcefulness. Their resounding demand for political independence then prompted the Palestine Liberation Organ The Editors • 5 min read
MER Article From the Editors (May/June 1989) For all of us in MERIP -- the staff, the editorial committee, the board of directors -- the past few months have been a poignant and exciting time, a mix of fond regrets and great anticipation. With this page, in this issue, we make it official: Jim Paul, who has worked with us on staff for more tha The Editors • 2 min read
MER Article You Can't Go Wrong Pushing Peace The Palestinian intifada is proving a headache to Israel’s image managers on American campuses. “Recent events in the territories in Israel have spilled over on to the US university campuses [and] our work has been made harder,” complains a recent book -- let from the University Service Department o (Author not identified) • 2 min read
MER Article Berkeley's Sister-City Initiative Sister cities has become one of Berkeley’s most popular means of expressing support for particular communities and opposition to US foreign policy. Berkeley has six sister cities, including Leon in Nicaragua, San Antonio de los Ranchos in El Salvador and the South African Black township of Oukassie. Marianne Torres • 3 min read
MER Article Proposition W The Bay Area’s “progressive” reputation was somewhat tarnished November 8 when voters in San Francisco and Berkeley overwhelmingly rejected pro-Palestinian initiatives on their respective ballots. San Francisco’s Proposition W, which called for the US to recognize a Palestinian state “side by side” Jeffrey Blankfort • 7 min read
MER Article A Bullet, A Lie ahmad had those wildly intense eyes that would stare through you as he spoke and would light up every now and then as he listened and would drive me crazy what does he want from me? i remember ahmad when he returned from prison to ya‘bad and his grandmother ululated in jubilation danced in happi Joost Hiltermann • 1 min read
MER Article Editor's Bookshelf (March/April 1989) The Palestinian human rights monitoring organization, Al-Haq/Law in the Service of Man, the West Bank affiliate of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, marked the first anniversary of the intifada with a comprehensive report on Israel’s violations of human rights in its effort to qu Joel Beinin • 4 min read
MER Article Cossali and Robson, Stateless in Gaza Paul Cossali and Clive Robson, Stateless in Gaza (London: Zed Press, 1986). Stateless in Gaza comprises interviews with 60 Gazans -- from women activists to housewives, from resistance writers to laborers in Israel -- who talk about life in the occupied strip. Cossali, a teacher and solidarity acti Rania Atalla • 1 min read
MER Article Capitalism and the Ottoman Empire Huri Islamoglu-Inan, ed., The Ottoman Empire and the World Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, and Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1987). Şevket Pamuk, The Ottoman Empire and European Capitalism, 1820-1913: Trade, Investment and Production (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni James A. Reilly • 4 min read
