New Article: Waage and Stenberg, The 1949 Armistice Negotiations between Israel and Syria

Waage, Hilde Henriksen, and Petter Stenberg . “Cementing a State of Belligerency: The 1949 Armistice Negotiations between Israel and Syria.” Middle East Journal 70.1 (2016): 69-89.

 

URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_middle_east_journal/v070/70.1.waage.html

 

Abstract

After the Arab states’ devastating defeat in the 1948 war with Israel, Syria refused to give in without a fight. Syria held on to several bridgeheads inside the former Palestine. Proving as skillful as their Israeli opponents at the game of contradictory arguments, the Syrians steadfastly refused to concede to Israel’s demands. The negotiations in 1949 eventually resulted in a demilitarized zone on the Syrian-Israeli border, and with it a state of belligerency was cemented.

 

 

 

New Book: Waldman, Anglo-American Diplomacy and the Palestinian Refugee Problem

Waldman, Simon A. Anglo-American Diplomacy and the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1948-51. Basingstoke, UK and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

This volume examines British and US attitudes towards the means and mechanisms for the facilitation of an Arab-Israeli reconciliation, focusing specifically on the refugee factor in diplomatic initiatives. It explains why Britain and the US were unable to reconcile the local parties to an agreement on the future of the Palestinian refugees.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Introduction: The Palestinian Refugee Problem as an Impediment to Peace
• 1. The Palestine Factor in Anglo-American Post-War Middle Eastern Policy, 1945–48
• 2. Friends Reunited? Britain and the US Respond to the Palestinian Refugee Problem
• 3. Diplomatic Deadlock: The Palestine Conciliation Commission and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (Part 1)
• 4. Economics over Politics: The Palestine Conciliation Commission and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (Part 2)
• 5. Compensation: The Key to Break the Logjam?
• 6. The Refugee Factor in Direct Arab-Israeli Negotiations
• 7. The Birth of UNRWA: The Institutionalization of Failed Diplomacy
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

 

SIMON A. WALDMAN is Lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College London, UK. He teaches the Arab-Israeli Conflict, statebuilding in the Middle East and Turkish history and politics.

 
See also: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137431523
 

 

 

Reviews: Tovy, Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Issue

Tovy, Jacob. Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Issue. The Formulation of a Policy, 1948-1956. London and New York: Routledge, 2014.

 

 
Reviews

• Romirowsky, Asaf.”Problem across the Border: The Origins of Israel’s Policy on Palestinian Refugees.” Ynet August 5, 2015.
• Rosen, Steven J. “Review.” Middle East Quarterly, 22.4 (Fall 2015).