ToC: Israel Affairs 22.2 (2016)

Israel Affairs, Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2016 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Articles Writing Jewish history David Vital Pages: 257-269 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140346 How do states die: lessons for Israel Steven R. David Pages: 270-290 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140358Towards a biblical psychology for modern Israel: 10 guides for healthy living Kalman J. Kaplan Pages: 291-317 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140349 The past as a yardstick: Europeans, Muslim migrants and the onus of European-Jewish histories Amikam Nachmani Pages: 318-354 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140355 The mental cleavage of Israeli politics Eyal Lewin Pages: 355-378 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140352 Framing policy paradigms: population dispersal and the Gaza withdrawal Matt Evans Pages: 379-400 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140353 National party strategies in local elections: a theory and some evidence from the Israeli case David Nachmias, Maoz Rosenthal & Hani Zubida Pages: 401-422 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140356 ‘I have two homelands’: constructing and managing Iranian Jewish and Persian Israeli identities Rusi Jaspal Pages: 423-443 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140348 Avoiding longing: the case of ‘hidden children’ in the Holocaust Galiya Rabinovitch & Efrat Kass Pages: 444-458 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140350 ‘Are you being served?’ The Jewish Agency and the absorption of Ethiopian immigration | Adi Binhas Pages: 459-478 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140345 The danger of Israel according to Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi Shaul Bartal Pages: 479-491 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140343 Leisure in the twenty-first century: the case of Israel Nitza Davidovitch & Dan Soen Pages: 492-511 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140347 Limits to cooperation: why Israel does not want to become a member of the International Energy Agency Elai Rettig Pages: 512-527 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140357 The attitude of the local press to marginal groups: between solidarity and alienation Smadar Ben-Asher & Ella Ben-Atar Pages: 528-548 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140344 The construction of Israeli ‘masculinity’ in the sports arena Moshe Levy, Einat Hollander & Smadar Noy-Canyon Pages: 549-567 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140351 Book Reviews From empathy to denial: Arab responses to the Holocaust Alice A. Butler-Smith Pages: 568-570 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140354 Holocaust images and picturing catastrophe: the cultural politics of seeing Alice A. Butler-Smith Pages: 570-572 | DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2016.1140342s

Dissertation: Harel, “The eternal nation does not fear a long road”: An Ethnography of Jewish Settlers in Israel/Palestine

Harel, Assaf. “The eternal nation does not fear a long road”: An Ethnography of Jewish Settlers in Israel/Palestine, PhD thesis, Rutgers University, 2015.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3VD71FW

 

Abstract

This is an ethnography of Jewish settlers in Israel/Palestine. Studies of religiously motivated settlers in the occupied territories indicate the intricate ties between settlement practices and a Jewish theology about the advent of redemption. This messianic theology binds future redemption with the maintenance of a physical union between Jews and the “Land of Israel.” However, among settlers themselves, the dominance of this messianic theology has been undermined by postmodernity and most notably by a series of Israeli territorial withdrawals that have contradicted the promise of redemption. These days, the religiously motivated settler population is divided among theological and ideological lines that pertain, among others issues, to the meaning of redemption and its relation to the state of Israel. This dissertation begins with an investigation of the impact of the 2005 Israeli unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip upon settlers and proceeds to compare three groups of religiously motivated settlers in the West Bank: an elite Religious Zionist settlement, settlers who engage in peacemaking activities with Palestinians, and settlers who act violently against Palestinians. Through a comparison of these different groups, this dissertation demonstrates that while messianism remains a central force in the realities of Jewish settlements and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it exists these days in more diversified forms than before. In addition, this ethnography illustrates how religion both underlies and undermines differences between Israelis and Palestinians and argues that local communities and religious leaders should be included in peace processes. Finally, by examining how messianic conceptions of time among different groups of Jewish settlers connect to their settlement practices, this study reveals the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be as much about time as it is about space. Accordingly, this dissertation has broader implications for understanding the contemporary role of religion and time within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the political struggles of the Middle East.

 

 

New Article, Amrami, Therapy Versus Messianism in Preparing for the Evacuation of Israeli Settlements

Amrami, Galia Plotkin. “‘Denial or Faith?’ Therapy Versus Messianism in Preparing for the Evacuation of Israeli Settlements.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 46.4 (2015): 414-30.

 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12119
 
Abstract

This article offers an ethnographic account of the professional activities of mental health practitioners, employed by the state’s religious education system. I analyze various models implemented by practitioners for the purposes of preparing pupils for the state-mandated evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza and the West Bank. By focusing on the interaction between psychological and religious-national cultural frameworks I show how practitioners imbue familiar professional concepts with new meanings and create hybrid models of intervention.

 

 

 

New Article: Alimi, Jewish Settler Contention before and after the Gaza Pullout

Alimi, Eitan Y. “The Relational Context of Radicalization: The Case of Jewish Settler Contention before and after the Gaza Pullout.” Political Studies (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2015.1086130

 

Abstract

Why is it that social movements engaged in contention sometimes experience radicalization of member factions? This article argues that relational practices of contacts, ties, exchange of information and bargaining among the contending parties mediate the influence of violence-prone ideologies as well as impulses, incentives and motives for aggression on actual engagement in political violence. A mechanism-based comparison of two similar yet different-in-outcome episodes of Jewish settler contention demonstrates the mediating role of relational mechanisms, the combined influence of which is conceptualized and operationalized as an Infrastructure of Coordination (IOC). Despite ample environmental stimuli and widespread violence-prone ideologies present in both episodes, in the Gaza Pullout radicalization was impeded through high levels of coordination established between and within the contending parties. Conversely, in the dismantling of the Amona outpost the disintegration of the IOC propelled radicalization. Supportive evidence is provided from a multi-method research design, including in-depth interviews, content analysis and contention—repression data over a series of critical events.

 

 

 

ToC: Theory and Event 18.1 (2015); special issue: The Israeli War on Gaza 2014

Theory and Event, 18.1, supplement, January 2015

Introduction: The Israeli War on Gaza 2014
Jon Simons

The Underground Ghetto City of Gaza
Amir Nizar Zuabi

Deconstructing the Israeli Socio-political Apartheid System
Adel Manna

Gaza 2014: The Collapse of a Control Model
Lev Grinberg

Five Lessons Learned from the Israeli Attack on Gaza
Muhammad Ali Khalidi

“Meeting with a Dietician”: Israel’s Institutionalised Impoverishment of Gaza
Trude Strand

Inhabiting the Split: Dissident Aspirations in Times of War
Louise Bethlehem

Divine Violence, Divine Peace: Gaza 2014
Jon Simons

The War with Gaza Did Not Take Place
Ofer Cassif

Biographies

 

New Article: Lewsen, Settlements and the Evacuation of an Israeli Fishing Village from Gaza

Lewsen, Emily. “Reeled In: The Settlement Project and the Evacuation of an Israeli Fishing Village from Gaza.” Settler Colonial Studies 5.1 (2015): 66-83.
 
 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2014.911671

 
Abstract
Footage of emotional Israeli settlers leaving their homes as part of Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan evoked a mixed reaction from critics, underlying a lack of consensus on the relationship between individual settlers, the settlement project and the government. In this essay, I explore the political dynamics between the Israeli state, settlers in the occupied territories and the Palestinians on a micro-level by analyzing Dugit – a small and overlooked former settlement from the Gaza Strip. The study of this marginal settlement shifts focus away from settlements that have more political clout and a larger public profile and troubles the idea of the settlement project as a monolithic enterprise. Furthermore, by virtue of its marginal status and its location at the very northern tip of the Gaza Strip just near the Green Line, Dugit existed at the intersection of many interfacing groups, ideas, institutions and geo-political entities within Israeli society. These include Israelis and Palestinians; Israeli settler society and Israeli liberal society; religious and non-ideological settlements; settlers and the Israeli government; Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians; as well as the concept of Israel proper and the occupied Palestinian territories. Based on interviews conducted with former members of Dugit, this study analyzes informants’ understanding of the politics of living in the occupied territories, their relations with their former Palestinian neighbors as well as their interpretation of their position in Israeli society post-eviction. Israeli–Palestinian encounters in Dugit were represented as amicable but these relations were nevertheless over-determined by the larger political structures, which the Dugit settlers did not challenge. This essay argues that a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of the Dugit settlement needs to take into account the settlers’ position as partial agents of their own political actions but also as victims of government policies.

 
 
 

New Article: Freilich; National Security Decision-Making in a Leaky Political Fishbowl

Freilich, Charles (Chuck) D. “Israel: National Security Decision-Making in a Leaky Political Fishbowl.” Comparative Strategy 34.2 (2015): 117-32.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2015.1017341

 

Abstract

The article is a first attempt to systematically assess the impact of leaks on Israeli decision-making. Five major cases were studied on three levels: whether leaks affected the process, policies adopted, and outcomes. Leaks had a strong impact in two cases, but not on the policies adopted, or outcomes, in any of the cases analyzed. As a tentative conclusion, most leaks are about Israel’s broad strategic thinking and the politics thereof, rather than hard information. The primary impact is on process, important in itself, not substance.

 

ToC: Israel Affairs 21.2 (2015) – special issue: Israel at the Polls 2013

 

Israel Affairs, Volume 21, Issue 2, April 2015 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online.

Special Issue: Israel at the Polls 2013: Continuity and Change in Israeli Political Culture

This new issue contains the following articles:

Articles
The Run-Up to Israel’s 2013 Elections: A Political History
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Pages: 177-194
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008240

The Peculiar Victory of The National Camp in the 2013 Israeli Election
Arie Perliger & Eran Zaidise
Pages: 195-208
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008243

‘Something new begins’ – religious Zionism in the 2013 elections: from decline to political recovery
Anat Roth
Pages: 209-229
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008238

An uneasy stability: the Haredi parties’ emergency campaign for the 2013 elections
Nissim Leon
Pages: 230-244
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008241

The political transformation of the Israeli ‘Russian’ street in the 2013 elections
Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin
Pages: 245-261
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008244

The Transmigration of Media Personalities and Celebrities to Politics: The Case of Yair Lapid
Rafi Mann
Pages: 262-276
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008239

‘New politics’, new media – new political language? A rhetorical perspective on candidates’ self-presentation in electronic campaigns in the 2013 Israeli elections
Eithan Orkibi
Pages: 277-292
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008242

The 2013 Israeli elections and historic recurrences
Eyal Lewin
Pages: 293-308
DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2015.1008245

New Book: Peterson, Palestine-Israel in the Print News Media

Peterson, Luke. Palestine-Israel in the Print News Media. Contending Discourses. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014.

URL: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138781641/

Abstract

Israel-Palestine in the Print News Media: Contending Discourses is concerned with conceptions of language, knowledge, and thought about political conflict in the Middle East in two national news media communities: the United States and the United Kingdom.

Arguing for the existence of national perspectives which are constructed, distributed, and reinforced in the print news media, this study provides a detailed linguistic analysis of print news media coverage of four recent events in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in order to examine ideological patterns present in print news media coverage. The two news communities are compared for lexical choices in news stories about the conflict, attribution of agency in the discussion of conflict events, the inclusion or exclusion of historical context in explanations of the conflict, and reliance upon essentialist elements during and within print representations of Palestine-Israel. The book also devotes space to first-hand testimony from journalists with extensive experience covering the conflict from within both news media institutions.

Unifying various avenues of academic enquiry reflecting upon the acquisition of information and the development of knowledge, this book will be of interest to those seeking a new approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Language and the Printed News

2 Discourse and Theory

3 Nations, Publics, and the Print News Media

4 Covering Palestine-Israel

5 Evacuating Gaza from Two Sides of the Atlantic

6 The Palestinian Legislative Council Elections, 2006

7 Covering the Gaza War

8 The Flotilla Attack

9 The Journalistic Perspective: Covering Palestine-Israel in their own Words

10 Conclusion: Contending Discourses

 

 

Lecture: Fleischmann, The Tranformation of Israeli Peace Activism

SOAS Centre for Jewish Studies

EVENING LECTURE PROGRAMME  

Beyond Paralysis: 

The Tranformation of Israeli Peace Activism

Leonie Fleischmann, 

City University London

Wednesday 22 October 2014 – 5.30pm

B104, Brunei Gallery, SOAS

Studies and accounts of the Israeli peace movement have been produced throughout Israel’s history. The conventional perspective argues that the movement was paralysed following the second Intifada, unable and unwilling to respond to the unfolding events, and became politically irrelevant given their acceptance of the unilateral 2005 Disengagement Plan, leading to the disappearance of any significant peace activities; exhaustion and disillusionment, alongside an inability for the peace movement to form an agenda in response to the outbreaks of violence in this period, marked the decline of the Israeli peace movement. Whilst it is correct to argue that Israeli peace activism has been in decline since the second Intifada and unable to revitalise activities to a level comparable to the 1980s and 1990s, my research shows that it has only been the mainstream faction of Israeli peace activism that experienced this decline. By approaching Israeli peace activism through its internal dynamics, using a framework based in social movement theory, it is clear that many of the existing more radical groups have continued to mobilise and, alongside emerging groups, present  alternative peace promoting voices and ways of challenging the current situation, showing that Israeli peace activism is not paralysed.

All Welcome

 

This event is free and there is no need to book

 

 

New Book: Peters and Newman, eds. The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Peters, Joel and David Newman, eds. The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.

 

URL: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415778626/

Abstract

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most prominent issues in world politics today. Few other issues have dominated the world’s headlines and have attracted such attention from policy makers, the academic community, political analysts, and the world’s media.

The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict offers a comprehensive and accessible overview of the most contentious and protracted political issue in the Middle East. Bringing together a range of top experts from Israel, Palestine, Europe and North America the Handbook tackles a range of topics including:

• The historical background to the conflict
• peace efforts
• domestic politics
• critical issues such as displacement, Jerusalem and settler movements
• the role of outside players such as the Arab states, the US and the EU

This Handbook provides the reader with an understanding of the complexity of the issues that need to be addressed in order to resolve the conflict, and a detailed examination of the varied interests of the actors involved. In-depth analysis of the conflict is supplemented by a chronology of the conflict, key documents and a range of maps.

The contributors are all leading authorities in their field and have published extensively on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict/peace process. Many have played a leading role in various Track II initiatives accompanying the peace process.

 

Table of Contents

Part 1: Competing Nationalisms

1. The Origins of Zionism Colin Schindler

2. The Palestinian National Movement: from self-rule to statehood Ahmad Samih Khalidi

Part 2:Narratives and Key Moments

3. Competing Israeli and Palestinan Narratives Paul Scham

4. The 1948 War: The Battle over History Kirsten E. Schulze

5. The First and Second Palestinian Intifadas Rami Nasrallah

6. The Camp David Summit: a Tale of Two Narratives Joel Peters

 

Part 3: Seeking Peace

7.The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: 1967-1993 Laura Zittrain Eisenberg

8. Peace Plans: 1993-2012 Galia Golan

Part 4: Issues

9.Palestinian Refugees Rex Brynen

10. Jerusalem Michael Dumper

11. Territory and Borders David Newman

12. Water Julie Trottier

13. Terrorism Magnus Norell

14. Religion Yehezkel Landau

15. Economics Arie Arnon

16. Unilaterlaism and Separation Gerald M. Steinberg

17. Gaza Joel Peters

Part 5: Domestic Actors

18.The Palestine Liberation Organization Nigel Parsons

19. The Palestinian Authority Nigel Parsons

20. Hamas Khaled Hroub

21. Palestinian Civil Society Michael Schulz

22. Gush Emunim and the Israeli Settler Movement David Newman

23. The Israeli Peace Movements Naomi Chazan

Part 6: International Engagement

24. Palestinian Citizens of Israel Amal Jamal

25. The United States: 1948- 1993 Steven L. Spiegel

26. The United States: 1993-2010 Steven L. Spiegel

27. Russia Robert O. Freedman

28. Europe Rosemary Hollis

29. The Arab World P. R. Kumaraswamy

30. The Jewish Diaspora and the Pro-Israel Lobby Dov Waxman

Chronology Steve Lutes

New Article: Müller, Informal Security Governance and the Middle East Quartet

Müller, Patrick. “Informal Security Governance and the Middle East Quartet: Survival of the Unfittest?” International Peacekeeping 21.4 (2014): 464-80.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13533312.2014.951544

 

Excerpt

Indeed, the first political initiatives of the Quartet were promising. The design of the Quartet’s Roadmap plan – which drew on US ideas but also involved strong input from the other Quartet members (especially the EU) – sought to implement lessons learned from the failed Oslo process. Trying to correct past mistakes, it introduced third party monitoring by the Quartet, the parallel implementation of obligations and a clear commitment to a two state settlement by 2005.

Moreover, coordinated action by the Quartet facilitated a number of long overdue reforms of the PA, curtailing the extensive powers of President Yasser Arafat in the run-up to the Roadmap. Simultaneously, the Quartet got a reluctant Israeli government to sign up to the Roadmap initiative, despite several reservations expressed by then prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Yet almost from the outset, the Roadmap process lacked guidance by the Quartet. Despite its formal commitment to the Roadmap initiative, the USA conducted a series of steps that severely undermined its implementation.

 The USA – which had assumed sole responsibility for monitoring Israel’s compliance with Roadmap obligations (rather than the Quartet as a whole) – carried out its monitoring tasks in a sporadic fashion, often without informing the public or even its Quartet partners.

 A major blow for the Roadmap initiative came in February 2004, when the US government announced its backing of the unilateral disengagement initiative devised by then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon’s disengagement plan was clearly at odds with key elements of the Roadmap, substituting parallel steps towards a bilaterally negotiated solution with unilateral Israeli measures that centred on Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and limited areas of the West Bank. Despite obvious contradictions, the other Quartet members reluctantly followed suit, supporting the disengagement initiative as a step in the implementation of the Roadmap (rather than its substitution).

The freeze of the Roadmap process so soon after its launch almost instantly undermined the Quartet’s diplomatic standing. The disengagement initiative was subsequently coordinated between Israel and the USA. The Quartet, in turn, was relegated to a supportive actor assisting in the transfer of power from Israel to the PA in the Gaza Strip that was completed in September 2005. Moving back into the Roadmap process after Israel’s disengagement from Gaza proved unfeasible and was not supported by Israel’s prime minister. Israel favoured a unilateral approach over resuming negotiations with the Palestinians, coordinating its policies with the USA. As a result, the unrelenting backing of the Roadmap in the Quartet’s declarations and statements increasingly appeared out of sync with political reality.

 

New Article: Mnookin, Eiran, and Gilad, Negotiation Lessons from Israel’s ‘Unilateral’ Gaza Withdrawal

Mnookin, Robert H., Ehud Eiran, and Shula Gilad. “Is Unilateralism Always Bad? Negotiation Lessons from Israel’s ‘Unilateral’ Gaza Withdrawal.” Negotiation Journal 30.2 (2014): 131-156.‏

URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nejo.12051/abstract

 

Abstract

Using the 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a case study, this article exposes an apparent paradox: circumstances may exist in which an outcome that serves the interests of parties to a conflict cannot be achieved through bilateral negotiation but can be achieved by unilateral action. Although the withdrawal was seen at the time as serving the interests of both the Israeli government and the Palestinians, we argue that the same result could not have been achieved through bilateral negotiations. “Behind-the-table” internal conflicts on each side would have made it impossible for the leaders to agree on the scope of these negotiations.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s success in implementing his Gaza withdrawal was attributable in significant measure to his ability to maintain ambiguity about his long-run plans for the West Bank. Only by focusing attention on Gaza was he able to build the necessary coalition to implement the controversial move. The Palestinian leaders, on the other hand, could never have agreed to come to the table to negotiate about Gaza alone — they would have insisted that the scope of any negotiations address a broad range of final status issues.

In this article, we identify some of the lessons that the Gaza example teaches regarding the utility and limits of unilateralism as well as the benefits and potential costs of employing ambiguity as a strategy to help accomplish a controversial move. Finally, we also explore the aftermath of the withdrawal and its many missed opportunities for improving the outcome. We suggest that, even when acting unilaterally, leaders should carefully consider the probable impact of their actions on the internal conflicts of their adversaries.

See also responses by Gilead Sher (pp. 157-163); and James K. Sebenius (pp. 165-168)

ToC: Israel Affairs 20,1 (2014)

Israel Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 1, 02 Jan 2014 is now available on Taylor & Francis Online. This new issue contains the following articles: Articles Alternative energy in Israel: opportunities and risks Gawdat Bahgat Pages: 1-18 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863078 The success of the Zionist strategy vis-à-vis UNSCOP Elad Ben-Dror Pages: 19-39 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863079 Israel: ‘occupier’ or ‘occupied’? The psycho-political projection of Christian and post-Christian supersessionism Kalman J. Kaplan & Paul Cantz Pages: 40-61 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863082 Misuse of power in Israeli intelligence Ephraim Kahana & Daphna Sharfman Pages: 62-74 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863081 The birth of the core issues: the West Bank and East Jerusalem under Israeli administration, 1967–76 (Part 2) Moshe Elad Pages: 75-86 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863080 One step forward or two steps back? Unilateralism and Israel’s Gaza disengagement in the eyes of the world Geoffrey Levin Pages: 87-103 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863084 Between private property rights and national preferences: the Bank of Israel’s early years Arie Krampf Pages: 104-124 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863083 Bandwagoning for profit and Turkey: alliance formations and volatility in the Middle East Spyridon N. Litsas Pages: 125-139 DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2013.863085

Reviews: Pedahzur and Perliger, Jewish Terrorism in Israel

Pedahzur, Ami and Arie Perliger. Jewish Terrorism in Israel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.

Reviews

• Brown, L. Carl. “Review.” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2010.
• Rubner, Michael. “Book Review.” Middle East Policy 17.2 (2010).
• Rubenberg, Cheryl A. “Review.” Middle East Book Reads, September 15, 2010.
• Torstrick, Rebecca L. “Violence in the Name of God.” H-Net Reviews, March 2011.
• Cohen-Almagor, Raphael. “Review.” Terrorism and Political Violence 25.3 (2013): 501-503.

Cite: Kohn and Rosenberg, Graffiti in the Israeli Withdrawal, August 2005

Kohn, Ayelet & Hananel Rosenberg. "Collapsing Walls and the Question of Commemoration: Graffiti in the Israeli Withdrawal, August 2005."  Policy Studies  (ahead of print)

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DOI:

10.1080/01442872.2013.767651

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URL:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01442872.2013.767651

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Abstract

– 

– 

The paper focuses on graffiti which was created by The Gaza Strip settlers during the Israeli withdrawal (August 2005), while being fully aware of the houses’ predetermined demolition by the Israeli army. The graffiti served two functions: One, concrete and short termed, was meant to the eyes of the soldiers and the media, and was constructed as an image event. The second function was the construction of historical commemoration through iconic and inscribed narratives, and was directed exclusively to digital archives on the Internet and private collections. This choice illustrates the deliberate twist of the original essence of graffiti as an anonymous genre which usually performs in the public sphere into a protest against the desecration of the intimate sphere. Biblical citations, popular songs, political slogans and playful inscriptions are discussed. The content analysis of 150 graffiti is supported by interviews which were conducted with graffiti writers and their addressees.