Current Analysis Israel's Palestinians and the Politics of Law and Order Last week, a shocking case of Israeli police brutality in the occupied West Bank was reported in the Washington Post. Officers accosted three young Palestinians out delivering groceries, beat them and took photographs of themselves holding up the Palestinians' bloodied heads "like hunting trophies" Graham Usher • 5 min read
MER Article Land, Identity and the Limits of Resistance in the Galilee There has never been anything abstract about the longings of the Palestinians. The object of their longing has always been well defined: the places that had been left behind in 1948. For these places were, and still are, the dominant components of the Palestinian identity. -- Danny Rubinstein Laurie King-Irani • 10 min read
MER Article Seeking Sanctuary Israel's Islamist movement's successful campaign to establish a mosque beside the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth has been interpreted in many ways. For much of the western media, it was another Huntingtonian clash between a beleaguered Christendom and a rabidly intolerant Islam. For the Vatican Graham Usher • 8 min read
MER Article Twenty-First Century Palestine Salim al-Shawamreh, his wife, Arabia and their six children live in the village of Anata, half of which is classified as Area B (under Palestinian municipal control) and half -- where Salim’s house sits -- as Area C (under full Israeli control). About a third of Anata’s 12,000 residents hold Jerusal Roni Krouzman • 8 min read
MER Article Faith, Money and the Millennium The solar eclipse on August 11, 1999 led some people to expect the end of the world. According to one report, three people committed suicide, sure the end was near. Others shut themselves in their homes expecting extraordinary events to usher in the eschaton (“end times”). Since a simple eclipse cou Naim Ateek • 7 min read
Current Analysis Equal Rights for Arabs in Jewish State: A Goal Unrealizable Azmi Bishara, a Nazareth-based Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, is recognized as one of the freshest voices speaking on behalf of the Palestinian people and their rights. A Ph.D. in philosophy, Bishara has effectively used his parliamentary position to articulate Palestinian national aspirations, as well as to promote Laurie King-Irani • 6 min read
MER Article Dis/Solving the "Refugee Problem" “A displaced person owns nothing but the spot where he is standing, which is always threatened.” -- Murid Barghouti Israeli power, US backing, Palestinian weakness, Arab complicity -- these are the basic ingredients for a coercive settlement of the “refugee problem” based not on refugees’ rights bu Rosemary Sayigh • 12 min read
MER Article A New Strategy for the Palestinian "Minority" in Israel In December 1997, the first “Equality Conference” was held in Nazareth to address the continuing marginalization of the Palestinian Arab community in Israel. This event represents part of the ongoing struggle of Palestinian citizens to overcome discriminatory laws and state practices in Israel. The Hatim Kanaaneh, Rhoda Kanaaneh • 3 min read
MER Article On Palestinians in the Israeli Knesset Azmi Bishara was a young rising star in the Communist Party of Israel (Rakah) for several years. Since leaving the party after the upheavals of 1989, he and other Arab intellectuals periodically considered establishing a new Arab political party with a progressive-nationalist orientation. After much Steve Rothman, Sara Scalenghe • 7 min read
MER Article Palestinian Rights in Post-Oslo Israel Below are the proceedings of a roundtable discussion held in Nazareth, Israel, on June 24, 1996. The participants were: Aida Toma-Suliman, general director of Women Against Violence, Hala Espanioli Hazzan, chairperson of the Follow-up Committee on Arab Education in Israel, Hassan Jabareen, director (Author not identified) • 10 min read
Homecoming I was afraid. Why should I be? But once I stood in front of the young women in the white and blue-striped shirt I was reduced to shivering with a tongue as dry as the Negev. She asked me insistently, “Why are you here?” I had earlier thought of two or three convincing answers, but suddenly I could n Numan Kanafani • 7 min read
MER Article The Other Palestinians Responding both to the Palestinian intifada and long-term developments within their community, Arab citizens of Israel have increasingly asserted their national identity as Palestinians. Israeli nationality is not an option for them, as this is not a recognized legal category. The Israeli bureaucracy officially acknowledges the Arab nationality of the (Author not identified) • 3 min read
