MER Article Editor's Picks (Summer 1997) Ben-Ari, Eyal and Yoram Bilu, eds. Grasping Land: Space and Place in Contemporary Israeli Discourse (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997). Boyarin, Jonathan and Daniel, eds. Jews and Other Differences: New Jewish Cultural Studies (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 199 (Author not identified) • 1 min read
MER Article Letter Joel Beinin’s review of my book The Obstruction of Peace and Edward Said’s Peace and Its Discontents (MER 201) is not a review of either book, but rather an attempt to advance a thesis, namely that both authors fail to recognize that the marginalization of the Palestinians and an unequal peace with (Author not identified) • 5 min read
MER Article Men, Women and God(s) Fedwa Malti-Douglas, Men, Women and God(s): Nawal El Saadawi and Arab Feminist Poetics (California, 1995). Persis M. Karim • 4 min read
MER Article The Demise of Operation Provide Comfort The evacuation of several thousand Iraqi Kurds from northern Iraq by the US military in December 1996 constituted the last gasp of Operation Provide Comfort. This operation was launched in the spring of 1991, in the wake of the Gulf war and Kurdish uprising against Baghdad, as hundreds of thousands Joost Hiltermann • 4 min read
MER Article Diminishing Possibilities in Algeria Selima Ghezali was born in Bouira, Algeria in 1958. After obtaining a degree in literature, she began working as a teacher of French at the Khemis el-Khechna high school, where she was active in the General Union of Algerian Workers. In the 1980s, Ghezali joined the Algerian feminist movement then f Geoff Hartman • 9 min read
MER Article Theater and the Thirst for Dialogue Born in 1941 in a village overlooking the Mediterranean just above the port city of Tartous, Syria, Saadallah Wannous attended local schools until the age of 18 when he was awarded a scholarship to study journalism at Cairo University. He later attended the Theater of Nations in Paris. Saadallah Wannous • 5 min read
MER Article Secularism and Personal Status Codes in Lebanon Marie Rose Zalzal is secretary general for Tayyar al-‘Ilmani (Movement for Secularism) and a practicing lawyer in Abu Rumana, Matn, Lebanon. Part of a research project on the impact of Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990) on women, the interview was conducted by Suad Joseph on September 29, October 6 and Suad Joseph • 8 min read
MER Article Never-Never Land Just north of Metula, there is a hill in Israel that offers a breathtaking view of the northern Galilee, the upper Jordan valley and southern Lebanon. Also within view from this hill, about ten kilometers north of Metula -- in what Israel calls its “security zone” and the Lebanese call territory occ Aviv Lavie • 11 min read
MER Article Disappearances Some of the cases are old but certainly not forgotten. The most recent inquiry that I received about a “disappearance” in Lebanon came in April 1997 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The caller was a Palestinian whose brother, Rushdi Rashid Hamdan Shihab, “disappeared” in Sidon in October 1987. “At 10 am, Virginia N. Sherry • 8 min read
MER Article Skirting Democracy The practice of selecting political representatives by voting is not new to Lebanon. The parliamentary framework of modern electoral life in Lebanon was established in the 1926 constitution. Elections were held regularly during the French Mandate period, except for interruptions during World War II. Paul Salem • 8 min read
MER Article Reconstructing History in Central Beirut With the project to develop central Beirut now well underway, the Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut’s Central District -- better known by its French acronym Solidere -- has expropriated legally most of the land in the ancient city center. Previous holders of the property rights have Saree Makdisi • 8 min read
MER Article There Or here, in early morning, how early you ask and I say let’s get on with the day, a conversation is always a political thing because it involves two entities and the possibility of death interrupting it is always real, always there, and it could happen here, any time, by the stairs, the fountains, t Etel Adnan • 2 min read
