New Article: Moscovitz, Israeli Parliamentary Discussions over Asylum

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Aryeh

Moscovitz, Hannah. “The Mainstreaming of Radical Right Exclusionary Ideology: Israeli Parliamentary Discussions over Asylum.” Journal of Political Ideologies (early view, online first).

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2016.1150138

Abstract

This study analyses the mainstreaming of radical right ideology in Israel. Focusing on the political discourse used to describe the current asylum issue in the country, the article claims that features of radical right ideology are not limited to the discourse of radical right parties, but increasingly pervade the mainstream. Through discourse analysis of parliamentary discussions over asylum, the study highlights the discursive strategies and linguistic properties used in the expression of radical right ideology. The findings reveal the distinct manner in which both party families express radical right ideology; while the radical right discourse is explicit, overall, the mainstream discourse is implicit, with traces of explicitness observed. The Israeli case reveals significant insights into the scope of radical right ideology and the manner in which, through language and discourse, its features make their way through the political spectrum.

New Article: Adwan et al, Portrayal of the Other in Schoolbooks

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Aryeh

Adwan, Sami, Daniel Bar-Tal, and Bruce E. Wexler. “Portrayal of the Other in Palestinian and Israeli Schoolbooks: A Comparative Study.” Political Psychology 37.2 (2016): 201-17.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pops.12227

Abstract

The present study examined how Israelis and Palestinians present their narratives related to their conflict in school textbooks used by the state educational system and the ultraorthodox community in Israel and by all Palestinian schools in Palestinian National Territories. The focus was on how each side portrays the Other and their own group. The content analysis was based on a developed conceptual framework and standardized and manualized rating criteria with quantitative and qualitative aspects. The results showed in general that (1) dehumanizing and demonizing characterizations of the Other are rare in both Israeli and Palestinian books; (2) both Israeli and Palestinian books present unilateral national narratives that portray the Other as enemy, chronicle negative actions by the Other directed at the self-community, and portray the self-community in positive terms with actions aimed at self-protection and goals of peace; (3), there is lack of information about the religions, culture, economic and daily activities of the Other, or even of the existence of the Other on maps; (4) the negative bias in portrayal of the Other, the positive bias in portrayal of the self, and the absence of images and information about the Other are all statistically significantly more pronounced in Israeli Ultra-Orthodox and Palestinian books than in Israeli state books.

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

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Aryeh

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.

Reviews: Pedahzur, The Triumph of Israel’s Radical Right

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Aryeh

Pedahzur, Ami. The Triumph of Israel’s Radical Right. Oxford and New York : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Reviews

Mitchell, Thomas G. “Review.” Partners for Progressive Israel, January 8, 2013.
Shindler, Colin. “Violence Takes Israel in the Right Direction.” Jewish Chronicle, March 22, 2013.
Goldberg, Jeffrey. “Lesser Israel: How Jewish Extremism Threatens Zionism.” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2013.
Rahat, Gideon. “Review.” Middle East Journal 67.3 (2013): 481-2.
Chowers, Eyal. “Review.” Perspectives on Politics 11.4 (2013): 1221-1223.
Spain, Robert. “Review.” Political Studies Review 12.2 (2014): 341-2.
Peleg, Samuel. “Right of Center: Rearranging the Israeli Political Map.” Israel Studies Review 30.1 (2015): 130-43.
Lehrer, Yair. “Review.” Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 15.1 (2015): 207-208.

New Article: Afterman and Afterman, Kahane and Contemporary Jewish Theology of Revenge

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Aryeh

Afterman, Adam and Gedaliah Afterman. “Meir Kahane and Contemporary Jewish Theology of Revenge.” Soundings 98.2 (2015): 192-217.

URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/soundings/v098/98.2.afterman.html

Abstract

The article analyzes a relatively unknown, yet influential, contemporary fundamentalist theology of revenge as put forward in the religious writings of Meir Kahane (1932–1990), the notorious militant nationalist. We seek to provide a theological context for this militancy, so as to display the motivational logic behind this troubling trend in Jewish thought and practice. While the doctrine itself has emerged only quite recently, it draws on theological ideas that reach back to the medieval period. In the article we outline the early sources and discussions (Biblical, Rabbinic, medieval, etc.) that constitute the background of Kahane’s radical theology of revenge.