problems and conflicts in the middle east

8/12/2019 problems and conflicts in the middle east

1/24Dev ISSuesDevelopment ISSues Volume8/Number2/December2006

Politics and Conflictin the Middle East

Also in this issue:Perspectives of Youth in Egypt

Rema Hammami on the State of PalestineLebanon as a Failed State?


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From the Editorial BoardThe Middle East is now, as it has always been, at the centre of international scrutiny. Noam Chomsky, who published extensivelyon the region, once said when invited to a conference on the Middle East, that he would entitle his lecture The Current Crisisin the Middle East because there has always been a crisis in the Middle East. Whether or not this is true is debatable, but 2006certainly has been a conict year, with ongoing bloodshed in Iraq, a regional war in Lebanon, and an almost total destructionof the peace process in the holy land. These conicts are ignited by inter-state conicts and by clashes between the diversecultures and religions of the area. This DevISSues, addressing Politics and Conict in the Middle East, reects and analyses thecurrent internal and inter-state conicts in the region.

Linda Herreras article illustrates the impact of political turbulence in Egypt on the personal lives of tomorrows adults. Ratherthan questioning politics itself, the piece illustrates what ramications the politics has on the perceptions and values ofEgyptian youth. Karim Knio addresses the stability of Lebanon in light of the recent bombings by Israel over the summer.Looking at the ongoing struggle in Lebanese power politics, he questions whether Lebanon could be perceived as either afailed, or a captured, state. Rema Hammami - Prince Claus Chair holder of 2006 - speaks extensively on both her experience asan academic during the ongoing conict with Israel, as well as the Western reaction to the recent elections in Palestine, and theconcomitant effects this has for the future of Palestine. Mansoob Murshed looks back into the history of the region, and howits borders have been shaped, to better understand todays conicts in the area. And Clare Louis Ducker, a prize-winning MA

participant of 04-05, gives deeper insight into the forced socio-cultural repression of Arabs living in Israel.

In addition to our main theme, we also take a look at new types of learning through virtual simulation, as well as virtualsearching through social book-marking, both innovative techniques that ISS has adopted for better learning.

The Editorial Board

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Lebanon, Tyre (Sur). A boy saves a few books from therubble of his home, a six storey apartment buildingwhich was bombed by the Israeli air force during themost recent bombings. The building was in the middleof a densely populated area in the city of Tyre.

Jeroen Oerlemans / Panos Pictures

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55 Years of ISS this OctoberIn October we had the celebration of our 54th yearof existence, and still going strong! For this yearscelebration Professor Joris Voorhoeve (Professor ofInternational Security Studies) delivered a speech onPeace Building for the Rule of Law, with attendingstudents and invitedguests. The 55thanniversary will bean even bigger bash,celebrated during theLustrum week of 15-19 October 2007; sopencil the dates in youragenda and make sureyoure there!


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CONTENTS

Page 4 / Theorising the State of Affairs in the Lebanese

State: Is Lebanon a Failed State?

Karim Knio

Page 7 / When Does Life Begin?

Youth Perspectives from Egypt

Linda Herrera

Page 10 / Being There... Well, Virtually

Helen Hintjens

Page 14 / Education in the Struggle For Palestine

An interview with Rema Hammami

Page 18 / The Middle East:

Cradle of Civilization or a Cauldron for Conict

Syed Mansoob Murshed

Page 22 / Complex Realities & Self-Serving Illusions

in the Middle East Conict

Clare Louis Ducker


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This piece aims to explore how toconceptualise the Lebanese State inlight of Hezbollahs increasing inuencein Lebanese politics especially duringthe recent war with Israel in July 2006.

The ports of Lebanon welcomed theirrst big cargo ships on 9 September2006, ending an eight week Israeli

blockade on Lebanese territorialwaters and air space. Although thesurprisingly ongoing ceasere tookeffect on 14 August (UN Resolution1701), Israel has kept a rm blockadeon its northern neighbour in fear ofa possible Hezbollah rearmamentnormally supplied by its regional allies.Many issues have been associatedwith this devastating war that hasthrown Lebanon back into the heartof the Arab-Israeli conict as it once

was twenty years ago. The focus ofthis piece delimits itself to the contextof Lebanon wherein the signicanceof Hezbollahs recent manoeuvre andits impact on Lebanese politics andsociety is analysed. Have the recentdevelopments rendered Lebanonas the epitome of a Failed State,or can it more appropriately belabelled as a Captured State? Bothconceptualisations in fact t well withthe Lebanese context as they add morecomplexity into the understanding ofthis small Middle Eastern state.

LEBANON AS A FAILED STATE?Like any other concept in PoliticalScience, Failed States have neverbeen identied in a monolithicfashion. Indeed, denitions oftenreect the basic understanding ofthe institution or the organisationthat is actually dealing with the term.For example, the UK Department forInternational Development considers

that a considerable lack of securitydenes one of the most importantfeatures of this concept. From thisperspective, 900 million people todaylive in Failed States. The World Bank,on the other hand, draws up a narrower

understanding since it associates theconcept with low income countriesthat are under stress. Nevertheless,an accepted general denition refersto Failed States as countries that areunable, unwilling (or more often, both)to provide their people with the corefunctions of the State. These functionscomprise individual and collective

security, protection of property,basic public services and essentialinfrastructure

Applying this general denition to theLebanese context, we nd that all thedescriptions embedded features arevividly present. Many observers holdthat Hezbollah has today formed aState within the State in Lebanon.Hezbollah, or the party of God, wasformed as a response to the Israeli

invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Sponsorednancially by Iran, the party initiallyproposed the formation of an Iranian-style Islamic state which was laterabandoned in favour of a policy thatproclaimed Jihad against the Israeliinvader. During the 1980s and early1990s, the party refused to partakein the atrocities of the Lebanese civilwar, and allocated much of its capacityto liberate the occupied southernLebanese territories. After the endof the civil war in 1991, the party hadan implicit understanding with thegovernment, which was completelydominated by Syria, whereby the centralauthority refrained from sending itsarmy into the South, and allowed theparty to have the upper hand in thesespecic areas. In 2000, the guerrillawarfare approach endorsed by theparty was largely credited for forcingthe Israeli army to end eighteen longyears of occupation. Despite thismilitary success, the party has continued

its bombarding of Northern Israelin order to force the Jewish State tohand over the Shebaa Farms, claimedby Hezbollah to be Lebanese, and toexchange prisoners releases betweenthe two sides. On 12 July 2006, the

partys unilateral and unprecedentedabduction of two Israeli soldiers insideIsrael triggered the recent conict in theMiddle East.

From a socio-economic point of view,the party has built up broad support,drawn from the Shiite community inLebanon, by providing various social

services, educational institutions andhealthcare. In this ambit, Hezbollahsinvestments lled a vacuum generatedby a historical marginalisation anddeprivation of the Shiite communityby the Lebanese State. Moustashfa AlRassul Al A azam (hospital), Al KouliahAl Islamiah (university), Al Manar (TVstation) and Iza at Al Nour (radiostation) are just a few examples ofthe provisions delivered by the party.After the cessation of bombardments

during the recent conict, the partyhas spent massively (ironically in USDollars) in order to rebuild homes andget basic services restored. For all ofthese reasons, it is quite clear why somescholars would brand Lebanon as aclassical example of a Failed State.

A CAPTURED STATE?The capture of the State as a notionrefers to the ability of a powerful politicalgroup, or an alliance of certain politicalgroups, to set the policy-making agendain a way that effectively reects and con-solidates its rm grip of power over theState and its institutions. Once the ob-

jective is achieved, the groups strategyaims to institutionally block any potentialsource of reform or any major drive toreverse the status quo. A major prerequi-site for this notion entails the accep-tance by this powerful group of the rulesof the game. In other words, the groupis denitely systematically represented,and should fully accept the governance

structure where it is operating. If weassume that Lebanon is a Failing State,then the inability and/or unwillingnessof the central government in providingsome basic provisions for its citizensmeans that it is challenged by a political

Theor is ing the s ta te of af fa i rs in the Lebanese Sta te :

Is Lebanon a Failed State?Karim Knio


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force or a movement alien to its ap-paratus and machinery. In other words,the notion of Failed States necessitatesthe existence of another force operatingfully independently from its inner circlebut located within its own territory. Is thisthe case in Lebanon? A quick answer forthis question is simply no.Although the party has successfullytransformed itself into a State withinthe State, it remains essentiallyembedded in the Lebanese politicalconguration, and representsan important fabric of its socialstructure. The party has contested

every parliamentary and municipalityelections in the country since 1992.Currently, it has 23 seats in the Lebaneseparliament (out of 128) and has threeministers in the cabinet (out of 30).It is ofcially in alliance with Hizb AlTayar Al Watani (Orange movement)headed by Michel Aoun, a former

head of the Lebanese army and oneof the major two Christian leadersrepresented in the parliament today.Together they form a blocking minoritythat has prevented the 14th of Marchpolitical movement, a conglomeration

of Sunni, Druze and Maronite leadersthat possess a simple majority in theparliament, from directing the countryin the way they politically desire. Afterthe Syrian disengagement from thecountry in 2005, the 14th of MarchGroup has relentlessly tried to tablea proposal that envisions a completerecovery of sovereignty. This sovereigntyis envisioned through the deploymentof the Lebanese army to the southernborder with Israel and the conscationof arms held by Hezbollah warriors, inline with UN Resolution 1559. Yet theweight occupied by Hezbollah and its

allies has meant that the 14th of Marchdoes not have the two thirds majorityof the parliamentary house to pass sucha resolution. Moreover, the presidentof the republic, who can be consideredas a relic from the outgoing pro Syrianregime, is also a rm ally of Hezbollah.

To move beyond this potentialinstitutional impasse, the house speaker(Nabih Berri), who is a major Shiiteleader and another ally to Hezbollahand Syria, called for consecutiveNational Dialogue series to be held

between all Lebanese political forcesoperating in the country includingHezbollah. These series, which started afew months before the outbreak of thewar, aimed at forging a consensus onvarious sensitive issues that still dividethe various Lebanese communitiestoday. These issues included the identityof the Shebaa Farms, the future ofHezbollah as a resistance force andits weapons, Palestinian refugees inLebanon, the Presidency of the Republicas an institution, and the redrawing ofborders with Israel and Syria. Apart fromagreeing on the Lebanese identity of

the previously mentioned farms, nothingconcrete emerged after four monthsof intense deliberation, with Hezbollahrmly rejecting any attempt to deploythe Lebanese army into the South or torelinquish its weapons. For all of thesereasons, many observers conclude thatHezbollahs strategies have successfully

captured the Lebanese State.

A FAILED/CAPTURED STATE?Given these short explanations, bothconceptualisations t well the Lebanesesituation. It is clear that Hezbollah has

Residents return to nd large areas of southern Beirut reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardment. Sean Sutton / MAG / Panos Pictures


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ISS News

Des Gasper (with beard) with Alumnimeeting in Manila, Philippines

Philippines graduating group

managed to create a unique positionfully independent from the State, andit appeals to a large segment of thepopulation that has been historicallysuffering from the lack of essentialprovisions. Yet the party has built acertain political leverage where it isrmly represented in the Lebanesesystem, and can strategically block anypolitical manoeuvre that seeks to reduceits power. Clearly the two conceptsdo overlap in certain cases, but thenuance between the two needs to becarefully examined, for a Captured State

need not necessarily be a Failed one,or vice versa. In the Lebanese contexthowever, the Failed State has paved theway for the other one to emerge, withSyria being the main exogenous factorthat has facilitated such a transition.In order to solve these problems inthe future, the Lebanese governmentmust monopolise the process ofreconstruction in the country. It mustalso minimise the nancial contributionof the party as much as possible ifit is serious in addressing the realroots of this chronic problem. Despite

the human and physical devastationinicted on Lebanon during this recentwar, the process of reconstructionis an ideal occasion for the State tore-establish primarily its authority andmost importantly the trust of its citizens;a concept easy to describe, but verydifcult to implement.

Karim Knio is a lecturer in Politics at ISS.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Prince Claus Chair holderProfessor Nasira Jabeen is appointed as chair holder for 2006 2007. Professor Nasira Jabeen (1959) is attached to theInstitute of Administrative Science, University of Punjab,Lahore Pakistan. She has authored publications in differentareas including Administrative Science and HumanResources, as well as on the issue of the position of womenin Pakistan. Coming from a Pakistani background, Professor

Jabeen will focus her teaching and research on thepossibilities and constraints of Good Governance as aconcept in the world of development.

Philippines Alumni and short courseGraduation of ISS lastrefresher course onMainstreaming HumanRights in Development andGovernance through aRights Based Approach inSeptember 2006 in ThePhilippines. Convenor wasdr. Karin Arts while theHosting Organisation was the Commission on Human Rightsof the Philippines (CHRP) and the Philippine Association ofExtension Program Implementers (PAEPI).

Over 20 ISS alumni havemet in Manila, ThePhilippines, on 2 October2006 were dr. Karin Arts ofISS hosted the meeting,

with dr. Des Gasper inattendance. The informalgathering was also attended

by representatives of the Royal Netherlands Embassy and theNetherlands Fellows Foundation of the Philippines.

RectificationMs Els Mulder is not retiring, as was announced in the Juneedition of DevISSues, but is leaving her position as ORPASproject Ofcer.

ISS qualified for Erasmus Mundusprogamme of European CommissionIn a consortium with three other leading Europeaninstitutions, ISS will offer the Erasmus Mundus MastersProgram in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP). This is a 2-yearinternational Masters course that provides a thoroughunderstanding of how political institutions, processes andpublic policies operate and interact from the global politicaleconomy through to national and local levels. There is adirect focus on European engagements at these levels ofgovernance.

The programme is run by the following institutes; theCentral European University in Budapest (Hungary), theBarcelona Institute of International Studies in Spain, theUniversity of York in UK and ISS. Students start with afoundation year in policy studies and research methods ateither ISS or York, followed by a Summer School and aninternship at a relevant policy institution while they aregoing to specialise in the second year in either Budapest orSpain and nish the program with an applied research orpolicy paper. When at ISS, the Mundus MAPP students willbe enrolled in the Governance & Democracy programme.

The European Commission will provide 15 fellowships a yearfor the next ve years. For more information please visit the

website www.mundusmapp.org or contact ISS dr. Wil Houtat [email protected]

Staff Changes Anirban Dasgupta joined the staff group in RuralDevelopment. He is a lecturer in Poverty Studies.

Alumni AssassinationKetesh Loganathan , an alumnus of ISS (MA Agriculture andRural Development specialisation, 1983-84) and a committed

peace activist in Sri Lanka, was killed on Saturday August 15,2006. Ketesh was a lively and engaging personality. Soft-spoken, he had a sharp, critical mind, and a ne sense ofhumour. He was much appreciated by fellow students andstaff while at ISS and he will be missed.


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Certain conditions of the contemporaryperiod are bringing to the fore a newpolitics of development in whichtodays young people, the most highlyeducated generation in human history,as described in the UN World YouthReport 2005, are recognized as criticalactors. Whether in policies dealingwith employment, education, socialequity, citizenship or security, the youthquestion is penetrating developmentdebates. Despite some efforts bylocal and international NGOs to fosterparticipatory policy approaches, youthperspectives are generally lacking, andthe lives and desires of young peoplelittle understood.

What follows are expressions of youngpeople based on excerpts taken fromtwelve in-depth interviews conducted inthe summer of 2006 with youths betweenthe ages of 16 to 25 from the citiesof Alexandria, Aswan and Damietta.Each interview took between one and

three hours spaced over one to twosessions. A set of questions guided theprocess, meaning the interviews weresemi-structured and open-ended, andcategorised around four general areas:

family background and peer and familyrelationships, attitudes about social- particularly educational - institutions,views on globalization and the politicsof development, and outlooks ongeopolitics and regional politics.

Research is perennially difcult in Egyptdue to the restrictive political climate,suspicion of research in general, and

foreign funded research in particular.To ensure a level of trust amongresearcher and researched, participantswent through a hand-picked process

of selection. All respondents weredeliberately selected from the lowerto middle strata of the urban middleclasses, for it is this social class thattheoretically constitutes the backbone of

the modern nation. In other words, it hasbeen incumbent upon the burgeoningmiddle class, with its participationin education, urban and globalizedlifestyles, media and other institutions,to support and propel the project ofdevelopment. Yet in actuality the middleclass in Egypt, as in much of the regionand Third World, has scant access toeconomic resources and in many ways

is denied meaningful participation inpolitical institutions. In a society whichis also ageist and hierarchical, youngpeople are at an added disadvantage.

What follows are glimpses into youthlives and fragments of their thoughtsaround issues of politics, justice,development and the future.

When Does Li fe Begin?

Youth Perspectives from EgyptLinda Herrara

In Egypt, as in other countries of the Muslim Middle East, there has been intensied

international focus on the youth question. Within a climate of deteriorating

economies, rising employment, growing radicalization and an escalation of regional

conicts, development interventions attempt to steer youth on a path that favours

economic and political l iberalization. Yet young people themselves are rarely

consulted about their personal desires and priorities for reform. The following

captions (next page) taken from twelve in-depth interviews with Egyptian urban

youths will attempt to provide insights into youth lives and aspirations.

They are saying there are opportunities. Where are these

opportunities? Where is the starting point, the beginning?

If only I could start I could continue my life? But where is the

starting point? Tell me, where can I begin?

Ahmed, 22 years, Alexandria


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Ahmed , a 17 year old high-school student notes: There isno democracy and justice. ThePresident has absolute power andmakes all the decisions and thepeople go along with it. Its like thatsaying, If the father plays the drum(tabla) his sons and daughters willdance. If the big one is a thief theneveryone else will be a thief.

Marwa , a 21 year old student atthe faculty of veterinarian science:The Egyptian political system isstable in a negative way. It does notchange. It doesnt make room forexpressing opinions or changingthe status quo. Security is the mostimportant thing. Its run as if it werea kingdom from the time of Kings.Even kingdoms dont connect thepresidents name with the nameof the State like we do here inEgypt. We have the expression,Misr Mubarak[Egypt is Mubarak]Why do people feel the presidentdeserves his name to be connectedwith the country when he doesntwork towards developing thecountry? Egypt has been changingfor the worse.

Sherif , a 22 year old universitygraduate working in his fathersvegetable stand says: Thegovernment should start trying tolisten to the problems of youth.There should be social justiceand an honorable life for everycitizen. No group should feel like aneglected body. The governmentdoes what it can to make foreignerscomfortable but neglects its owncitizens.Sarah , an 18 year old rst

year student at the Facultyof Commerce: Whats goodabout the Egyptian system is itsstability, but the government isnot interested in a dialogue withthe people. They dont give usfreedom to express ourselves.People dont trust the governmentbecause of the system of wasta(favours through connections) andoppression. The worst thing iswhen they make decisions withoutasking people their opinion.

Samir , a 22 year old unemployedmale, explains the lack of freedomand rights as the root cause ofterrorism: Terrorism starts fromoppression, from a lack of rights.The terrorist sees his life as a closedpath. It is closed in its past, future,material aspect and moral aspect.He needs someone to help him but

doesnt nd anyone. He doesntbelong to a strong family that canprotect him from unjust and failedlaws. He is angry about the failuresof his life, his work, love. He doesntbelieve in the social structure sinceits neither just nor legitimate. Heconsiders this system responsiblefor his failures and the destiny ofsociety. He expresses his angerby attacking Israel and the UnitedStates. He knows that nothinghe does will affect his own life orsociety. He has nothing to do but toescape.

Mona , a senior in high school,states: So many young peoplesuffer from depression because ofa lack of freedom. The governmentis not interested in a dialogue withthe people. They dont give themfreedom to express themselves.The worst thing is when they makedecisions without asking peopletheir opinion. They just makedecisions and its nal.

Mohamed , 20 year old engineeringstudents: Young people aresuffering from many problemsin every domain of life: political,economic, personal since theycant get married due to the otherproblems. The Egyptian peopletake it for granted that theseproblems will be neglected anddont do anything about it. Youngpeople do not trust the justice ofEgyptian society and the evidenceis that they leave the country atthe rst opportunity. Egyptianyouth dont trust that the societywill satisfy his needs or allow him alife.

On lack of freedom. Young people are enormously frustrated by what they describe as a lack of freedom.They complain about an absence of outlets to express opinions, and feel that adultsociety ignores them. They do nevertheless nd solace in the sense of freedom thatexists among them.

On injustice, corruption and the root causes of terrorismThese young people overwhelmingly point to the fact that lack of justice stands atthe root of societys problems. They understand injustice as a lack of democracyand accountability, corruption, and a social system that runs not on merit, but onfavours, bribes, nepotism and connections. They view oppression as the root cause ofradicalism and terrorism.

Young Live s and Yout hs Words


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Young people are deeply

tired ( ta`aban).

We need to feel theres

some just ice.

Soraya, 18 years

In posing the question in the title, whendoes life begin? the aim has been toprobe into youth attitudes about basicconditions they feel are necessary to livea meaningful, productive and dignied

life. Many respondents allude to the factthat, although they are alive, they do notfeel they are living; they do not possesswhat they consider a life. Living wouldrequire certain conditions of freedom,

justice, opportunity and respect whichthey nd largely absent in their lives.These young people express simple

desires for individual fullment: thoseof stability, love, family, employment,and housing and, to a lesser extentprofessional satisfaction. Life thenbegins with justice and the ability tolive a dignied present that can lead

to a stable future. For from justice willfollow opportunities and the genesis ofchange.

Linda Herrera is a lecturer on Development Studies

at the ISS. This research was conducted with Kamal

Naguib from the University of Alexandria as part

of a larger comparative research project of ICCYS

(International Center of Child and Youth Studies),entitled Newly Emerging Needs of Children and

Youth II. For more information please email to

[email protected] or visit www.iss.nl/iccys

On the role of the US in regional developmentThe role of the US in regional politics and political economy is a major subject ofpublic debate. Young people express vigorous opinions about the imperial policies ofthe US and harbour suspicions about the motivations of US development aid in theircountry. They see the US interference in national politics as a central cause of theirgovernments corruption.

On individual desires and the futureTo an overwhelming extent these young people express similar desires for theirlives. They want to feel useful, to earn a livelihood, nd love, have a home andbuild a family. While seemingly simple desires, these goals for the most part arehopelessly out of reach. There is an overwhelming sentiment of being stuck, of not

knowing how to get to the future, of facing insurmountable obstacles. This sentimentsometimes gives way to a kind of fatalism.

Mahmoud : I hardly know howto dream anymore. I need to fullmyself and be a useful humanbeing. I want a job, an apartment,to get married. I want stability andself assurance.

Amjad , a 17 year old student inhis third year at a technical high-school where hes studying to bean electrician, says: I want to be asuccessful man, to get married andhave my own company. But for nowI cant even replace my old shoes.My parents make me wait.

Ahmed : I need to succeed insomething but I cant nd whatit is. I feel that something bigwill happen. What is it? When?Sometimes I believe somethinggood will happen and I nd myheart secure. But the truth is Idont have anything to guaranteetomorrow.

Ramadan : My future has no light.Its dark. What I need is to feel thatIm a useful human being.

18 year old Mohamed says: Myfuture is in the hands of God, butstill, I want to be able to see it. Howdo I see it? I want to see a goodfuture.

Ahmed : If there actually wassomething called American aidin Egypt it should be benetingEgypt. But where is it? This aiddivides us, it doesnt help us. If ourleaders have a consciousness theyshould see that we have the SuezCanal; the money from this alonecan let people live as Pashas. Wehave power through our work force.We have agricultural land and wehave an enormous desert. We have

good resources but nothing worksout because of economics. TheUnited States could be the reasonfor this bad economic situation.

Zeibab , a 22 female universitygraduate explains: Egyptiansociety has been dominated bygreed. I suspect that the Egyptiangovernment frankly is inuencedby a bigger power. To tell you thetruth I do not respect the Egyptianrulers. We know very well this greatpower (US) is ruling over us, butGod is greater, subhan wa taala.

An 18 year old male states: TheUS needs Arab systems that areweak and submissive. The US doesnot give Egypt aid for nothing.American aid is a bribe for the priceof peace with Israel and the silenceof the political system in Egyptabout the existence of Israel and itscrime towards Arabs. US aid is not

just for controlling the economybut also for controlling our thinking.Our dept is 40 billion, most of itto the US. If the US continues tocontrol us we will reach the pointwhen they take our country.


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Teaching News

In May of this year over twenty ISS students took part in an on-

line role play Simulation (ORPS) on Venezuela which formed

part of the Realising Rights and Social Justice course. Each

participant took on a role from a real-world contemporary

individual from Venezuela. By the end of two weeks many of

the participants had gained great insight from the experience

because of the emotional, narrative and imaginative impulses

the simulation generated.

Stories and games can be deadly serious because of theirability to capture the imagination. They are powerful,symbolically, and as tools for (de)mobilising publics andother actors. Diplomatic and international relations are fullof stories that highlight how important the not-so-seriousissues can be. The so-called cartoon wars are one example,

[wherein there were mass demonstrations following thecartoon impression of Muhammad in Danish newspapers].

I rst came across this teaching method through virtual-simulation, when visiting the Department of Politics atthe University of Melbourne in 2002, where it was well-received by students. The Venezuela Role Play Simulation

was designed jointly with Roni Linser of Fablusi, a smalleducational games company based in Melbourne, and withsupport from ISS Staff Group States, Societies and WorldDevelopment as a pilot. Students were thrown into theirroles with relatively little guidance as to what they shoulddo. This is deliberate as, after all, creativity requires spacesin which to create. Participants gathered information forthemselves, and as Roni Linser explains, it is precisely theempty, awkward bits in the simulation that are most useful,pedagogically speaking. In the words of one ISS participant;overall, the most useful part of the entire exercise was theinteraction the spaces between each characters position.It was very different from engagement with texts forexample, in that you could virtually, and later physically,move from private into public space to consider yourpositions and issues, weighing them against others, whichthen forced you to strengthen your own ideas, or in somecases change your mind.

IMAGINATIONLetting your imagination go can be difcult when you areused to being focused on specic assignments and learningoutcomes in class and outside. The ORPS method stimulates

students to be much more creative than they themselvesthink possible; I think I did relatively well in combiningfact and fabrication to simulate a human rights climatethrough an oppositional lens, said one actor. OverallI was exible, reactive and creative, she notes, but inretrospect could have been more aggressive and sneaky!It was a good idea, noted another student, not to givetoo much input or too structured a plot within which to

work, as it forced the players to nd out what is actuallyhappening in Venezuela and then see how they can apply

the facts to the game, while at the same time being creativeand giving their own input.

EMOTIONEmotions are also part of the learning experience, ascharacters feel guilt, anger, amusement and enjoymentplaying their roles. Perhaps the most important point hereis how the spaces within the simulation opens up playersto the intricacy of achieving social justice whilst alsoprotecting human rights, such as the Venezuela simulationdid. To take on the roles, students were obliged to do a lot ofbackground work, as one participant, who played a human

rights lawyer noted; this allowed us to think from theassigned role, not from our own perspectiveit forced theparticipants to learn [about human rights in Venezeula]itencouraged us to know about the relevant provisions ofhuman rights instrumentsand through this process theacquired knowledge is retained for longer [than throughother learning methods].

Being motivated to read and reect is part of the beautyof the role play on-line as a teaching method. On theother hand, relating the simulation to reality is notstraightforward. One player considered that the exerciseallowed me to see the traditional way I considered a state,and how it addresses human rights and social justice issues,

was a rather simplistic one; in reality, it is in fact a complexgame, much like this simulation. As players invent,they can paradoxically get a better grasp of reality thanby uncovering facts presented for example in academicresearch or the media.

NARRATIVENarratives and game-type scenarios can often convey verycomplex logics in a digestible way. More conventional formsof academic research and teaching struggle with this aspectof the dynamics of power, change and the interplay of ideas

and actions. This years Venezuela Simulation exercise wasa pilot for ISS, with an aim to integrate on-line role playsimulation teaching in more courses.Evaluations of the Venezuela ORPS for this year includedsome positive suggestions for improvement, including the

Being There Well, VirtuallyHelen Hintjens


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Teaching News

Helen Hintjens (far left, sitting) with virtual learning class

request to focus on more specic aspects of human rights in Venezuela. In reexive mode, one participant commentedthat overall in the simulation: As if with x-ray vision, wesaw how information circulates in a political Human Rightsclimate. The mobility of power like iridescent traces oflight was more visible from the inside perspective than it

would have been through conventional methods literature,lm or lectures. This comment suggests that the on-linerole play method can reach parts of the memory andstimulate learning processes in ways that is not possible (or

much harder) with other, more conventional and face-to-face, teaching methods.

Helen Hintjens is a lecturer at the ISS in Development and Social Justice. For

questions or a demo please email her at [email protected] . The ORPS was part

of the Realising Rights and Social Justice course, a component of the Human

Rights, Development and Social Justice MA specialisation that began at ISS

in 2005.

To learn more about virtual learning, please visit www.simplay.net

Many thanks to ISS IT staff for helping enable this project.

A NEW FOCUSS ON DEVELOPMENTFocuss provides a high quality search engine for practitioners, researchers and students inthe area of global development studies. Other than generic search engines, such as Googleand Yahoo, Focuss indexes a specic choice of electronic resources, selected by librarians,researchers and practitioners working in participating institutions. The resources are selectedbased on their relevance for the development studies and the quality of the information.

Focuss is an initiative of ISS Library and IT Services; currently librarians from institutes such asthe African Study Centre, the Chr. Michelsen Institute, GDI,InWent, IUED, KIT and NIAS have made their selection of web resources available.

Individual researchers, students and practitioners can contribute their resources by adding them to the Development_Matters groupin the social book mark space www.citeulike.org . The entries in this group are indexed on a regular basis.

The current Focuss initiative is based on the personal activities of a limited number of individuals. We believe that with the helpof other librarians, practitioners, researchers and students we can set up a valuable service for many people who are active in thedevelopment arena as well as for people who live and work in the global south.This is why we are looking for people who wish to join the initiative and contribute their e-resource links to the search engine. Andequally important: we seek your support in promoting this initiative in your institution or organisation!

Here are ve easy steps to help you familiarise yourself with the page:1. Go to http://focuss.eu and explore2. Send your feedback to [email protected]. Register at CiteUlike: www.citeulike.org4. Once your account has been created, go to manage groups, search for development_matters and request to be added5. Post sites and references to the group


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12

New Staff Publications

International Criminal Accountability and the Rights of ChildrenKarin Arts and Vesselin Popovski.

International crimes and other forms of violence and the abuse of children are disturbingdaily realities in todays world. Children and young persons are increasingly and routinelytargeted for the purposes of murder, rape, abduction, mutilation, recruitment as childsoldiers, trafcking, sexual exploitation and other abuses. Particularly in situations of armedconict children prove to be vulnerable and at risk. The situations in Darfur, the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, the Philippines, Nepal, Colombia, and many others tragically illustratethis. This book is among the very rst academic publications that are solely devoted to thetopic of international criminal accountability and the rights of children. A rich combinationof practitioners (including ICC, ICTY and SCSL prosecutors) and academics present a wealthof relevant material in this eld. They explore to what extent international law instrumentsand international criminal accountability mechanisms are potentially useful for countering

violations of childrens rights in and after armed conict. Likewise, they analyze to what

extent the tendency of proling childrens rights much more strongly than before - mainlyunder the umbrella of the 1989 kTW Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the formof child rights-based approaches - converges with the features of international criminalaccountability mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court, the Yugoslavia andRwanda Tribunals, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Next to academics interested in theelds of international criminal law and human rights law, practitioners, policy makers andrepresentatives of the military will benet from reading this book.

Engendering Human Security:Feminist PerspectivesThanh-Dam Truong, Saskia Wieringa and Amrita Chhachi, eds.

This book engages with current debates on human security, offering a variety of feministperspectives on the gender recongurations of the state, power/knowledge systems, sexuality,care, labour and the implications of globalisation on peoples quotidian security. A keythematic area concerns the intersection between gender - as a domain of power - and humansecurity as a new policy framework. The contributions in this book present an integration of

a feminist materialist analysis of gender relations with post-modern approaches to genderrepresentation and cultural constructions, linking culture with politics and economics, andintegrating analysis of class, ethnicity and other dimensions of gender identity. The book callsfor new modes of imagination that counter the dominance of the andro-centric ontology ofneo-liberalism and neo-conservatism.

Cultures of Arab Schooling:Critical Ethnographies from EgyptLinda Herrera and Carlos Alberto Torres, eds.

Little is known regarding the inner workings of the educational systems of most Arabcountries. Cultures of Arab Schooling lls this void using critical social theory to offer arare glimpse into schools in contemporary Egypt. Giving voice to the educators and studentsthrough personal testimonies, the book sheds new light on issues of educational quality, theimpact of social movements--particularly Islamiston school cultures, the growing culturesof resistance to authoritarianism, and the gap between ofcial policies and the realities ofschooling. In a political climate that demonstrates increasing change in the Arab world,this critical ethnography of Arab education will aid in providing a better understanding ofissues relating to social justice, participation, and democracy in this part of the world.


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13

New Staff Publications

Science and Technology Policy for Development:Dialogues at the InterfaceLouk Box and Rutger Engelhard, eds.

What social relations make for successful science and technology policies? In particular, thecontributions focus on what happens at the social interfaces between policy makers andresearchers, or users and producers of knowledge. Knowledge networks are the real subjectof this book, as they emerge between the many different actors involved in the developmentof science and technology. The effects of epistemic communities on successful research andtechnologies are shown.Scholars from the Global South (Brazil, India, Kenya, South Africa) and the North (Canada,France, Netherlands, UK, USA) reect on research policy and policy research. Their linkages arestudied, and policy implications for donors, NGOs and host countries are drawn. This is oneof the rst books on the subject which is published at the same time in hardback and on theinternet for open access.

For online access go to http://knowledge.cta.int/en/content/view/full/3613

AfricanPerspectiveson New PublicManagement:Implications forHuman ResourceTrainingNicholas Awortwi andEduardo Sitoe, eds.

AfricanParliaments:BetweenGovernance andGovernmentM.A. Mohamed Salih, ed.

Desarrollo yTransicin enAsiaSen Golden y Max Spoor,eds.

ManagingCities inDevelopingCountries:The Theory andPractice of UrbanManagementMeine Pieter van Dijk.


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What is the role of academia inPalestine?

As in most of the third world, especiallyin the context of anti-colonial strugglesand state-building projects, academicsin Palestine often have a role andinuence far beyond the university. Thisis both a privilege and a burden. On theone hand, academics in the occupied

territories are often thrust into the roleof being public intellectuals in waysthat their colleagues in the West mightnd enviable. At the same time there isa price; by having to engage in the dailysociety and politics means losing thecritical distance and space to work at amore abstract and conceptual level. Inaddition, when we are at internationalforums most people expect aPalestinian speaker - no matter theiracademic discipline - to talk directlyabout the latest situation on the ground.

But I think the most complex part ofthe dilemma is the ways in which ouracademic priorities are always beingshaped by the social and politicalimperatives of the day. During theperiod of the peace process, forinstance, at Birzeit we were suddenlycalled upon by the political leadershipand donors to develop research andprogrammes to meet the emergingstate building process. Overnight

we were having to contend withproviding answers to a whole arrayof development and public policyagendas. Few of us had any formaltraining in development studies and,having been stateless, had very little

experience of policy making at thatlevel but these were the prioritiesof the times, and if the universitiesdidnt provide them, there was noone else who could. So our researchand teaching priorities changed

dramatically as we all had to suddenlymeet the urgent challenges of the newenvironment. Im just one example;

whereas before the peace process I wasresearching aspects of the social historyof Palestinian women and issues relatedto modernity and religiosity generally,in the new environment I wrote aboutwomen in the contemporary labor

market, Palestinian fertility trends, theproblem of NGOs and civil society, andmoved from teaching Anthropologyinto building a cross-disciplinary M.A.in gender development and law. Mywhole intellectual frame shifted tocontend with the new need to bepolicy relevant. This was a universalexperience among my colleaguesand was denitely something that we

critically reected on once the peaceprocess so dramatically collapsed afew years later. But the other thing thisexperience suggests is how academicsin our context have to be extremelyexible and multi-disciplinary, which Isuppose is really a strength, although itoften feels as if were unable to steadilydevelop a more consistent domain ofenquiry.

The other dimension of being anacademic in Palestine is that, likethe rest of the society, we have tocontend with the routine nastiness ofthe occupation and how it increasinglyengulfs almost all aspects of ourexistence. Checkpoints; the wall; theinability to move freely; a growing policyof deportation that has affected facultymembers without residency permits itgoes on and on. At the same time, liketeachers anywhere we are responsiblefor the well-being of our students - beit through trying to cope with their

everyday traumas, trying to intervenewhen soldiers are harassing them or justtrying to get them this weeks readingmaterial when theyre stuck undercurfew and cant reach the university.Birzeit has a human rights unit whose

Education in the Struggle For Palestine An in t erv iew wi th Rema Hammami

Rema Hammami has been professor at the Institute for Womens Studies at Birzeit University, Ramallah since its founding in 1994.

The university has had to develop and adapt its curriculum rapidly under the circumstances of the Palestinian occupation. The

struggle of life under the occupation has forced changes in the daily experiences and mentality of all Palestinians. Following the

elections of Hamas at the beginning of 2006, and the critical response by the international community, it is now a question of how

life must continue. The following is an abbreviated version of an interview with Rema Hammami. The full version can be found at

www.iss.nl/devissues.

The physical

dismemberment of the

West Bank and total

imprisonment and social

destruction of Gaza

are no longer fel t as

momentary effects but

have edged us towards

a sense of f inali ty, the

closing of a door on what

we had always thought

would be our future


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1515

function is to provide arrested studentswith a lawyer, and under circumstanceswhen the occupation permits, deliveringcourse material to students to continuetheir study while in prison. We tend toforget that none of this should be partof normal academic life, but here itsbeen the norm for now almost fortyyears.

How was the MA in Gender andDevelopment set up, and how doesthis resonate in the Palestiniancontext?

The Institute of Womens Studies wasfounded in 1994 by a cross-disciplinarygroup of women faculty fromdifferent departments across Birzeit.When the peace process tsunami Imentioned earlier happened gendermainstreaming also suddenly appearedon the agendas of the newly developedPalestinian Authority ministries and indonor and NGO projects. All of us hadbeen womens movement activists,but now we were confronted withthe new state-building reality. Thismeant a shift from a more grassrootswomens organizing to a governmentand policy level environment. Asacademics we saw both a responsibilityand an opportunity to try and shapethe way that governmental and non-governmental policy and activity dealt

with the issue of gender rights in all itslocal complexity. And the best way to dothat in the long term was to design anacademic program for activists workingin NGOs and government. Luckily theinternational Gender and Development

literature was very developed by then so we were able to build a lot fromexisting knowledge and practical

experience, and conceptually translatethem into a relevant context for ourneeds and issues. What was interesting

was how much of the global Genderand Development literature reallyresonated with the Palestinian context.A lot of the issues raised by South Asian,Latin American and African Genderand Development experiences wereextremely relevant, and really spoketo the students. However, our peculiarcircumstance of state building underoccupation the bizarre situation of

national liberation, colonization andattempted development all happeningat once and in interaction with eachother was something that none of theexisting development literature hadaddressed most likely because it was

My whole intel lectual

frame shif ted to contend

with the new need to be

policy relevant

Rema Hammami


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1616

what was so confusing and singularabout the Oslo peace process.

In light of the Hamas elections, howdo you view the relationship betweenPalestine and the internationalcommunity?

The international community has beencriminally negligent in its approach tothe conict for years. Instead of usingtheir leverage to deal with the corecause of the conict, namely Israelscolonization of the occupied territories,they routinely use their leverage onthe occupied population to ensuremalleability and little resistance. Thusthis most recent decision to imposesanctions is just a continuation downthat path, in which the victims arepunished for not acting as they shouldwhile the occupier is given free reign.

The Israeli Knesset (Israeli legislature)is full of parties whose platform isagainst a Palestinian state i.e. againsta two-state solution. While Netenyahuwas in power, the Likud (a centre-rightpolitical party), openly said they were

out to destroy the peace process,which was also the case later amongpeople in Sharons government. In those

cases it was never in the internationalcommunitys imaginary to conceive ofundertaking sanctions against Israel.But Palestinians are treated by another,extremely unfair set of rules.

The recent decision by the internationalcommunity [to enforce sanctions] isperhaps more catastrophic than in thepast because it has been undertakenwhen Palestinian society is alreadyon the edge of social, political andeconomic collapse. For the past sixyears Palestinians have been living ina war-torn economy, under the mostextreme form of sanctions imposedby the Israeli military. During thatperiod, Israels longstanding controlover the ability to move goods andpeople across the international borderswas extended to controlling humanmovement between Palestinian areas with devastating consequences.The World Bank consistently arguedin the past that the investments bythe international community in thePalestinian economy barely coveredthe losses created by Israeli closure

measures. However, in the past, ratherthan challenging how Israels controlprecluded the possibility for a normalPalestinian economy and society tofunction, the international communitydeployed aid in an attempt to mitigate

The World Bank

consistently argued in the

past that the investments

by the international

community in the

Palest inian economy

barely covered the losses

created by Israel i closure

measures

Birzeit University students study on campus


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17

its effects. The only way that basicservices and some level of livelihoodscould continue was due to the injectionsof aid by the international community.But now they neither challenge Israelsdestructive control of the Palestinianeconomy, while at the same time cuttingoff the remaining the life-line of aid.Joblessness was already very highand coping strategies were alreadystretched to the limit, but the way thataid injected money into the economycushioned the effects of Israeli closure.Now you have more than a million familymembers who depend on the wagesof the 180,000 public sector workerswhose survival strategies have collapseddue to the international sanctions.Thats a third of the population and

this was one of the only sectors fairingrelatively well [prior to the sanctions].This has knock-on effects throughoutsociety; many families could only get bybecause their local food vendor wouldgive them credit, knowing a relativewas on the government pay roll. Noweverywhere you go, shops display nocredit signs. The impact on healthhas been devastating, in a sector thatcould only offer limited health coverage,now families cant even afford this. For

education its the same; the start of theschool year is always difcult, but nowfamilies will struggle to even affordthe basic school kit necessary for theirchildren to attend. It is ironic that for allthe social and developmental problemsthat international agencies and NGOshave been working to eradicate, theyhave now taken a step that activelypropagates them; malnutrition, schooldrop-outs, poor sanitation, deeppoverty, the list goes on and on.

What is often forgotten is how theinternational community has alreadyfallen so short of their responsibilitiestowards the Palestinians of the occupiedterritories as enshrined in internationallaw; they have failed to implement theirown resolutions that call for the end ofIsraels illegal occupation. They havefailed to undertake their responsibilityto protect the occupied populationand ensure its social and economicwell-being. And they have failed to

ensure that Israel does not change thedemographic character or exploit forits own uses the natural resources ofthe land it illegally occupies. This is thecontext through which the populationsees this latest failure of international

responsibility. In short, sanctions are notgoing to lead to an overthrow of Hamasby a disgruntled population; instead it ismuch more likely that it will lead to civilsociety paralysis and social and politicalchaos.

What do you see for the future ofPalestine in the long run?

Many of us are talking about the end ofPalestine these days. Not as a society;any Palestinian will tell you that as asociety we will always be here. Theend is about the Palestinian nationalproject as we, and three generationsof Palestinians, knew it. The idea ofan independent Palestinian statethat animated Palestinian politics,

culture and identity for fty years, has

been eclipsed by a reality that was ingestation since the 1970s but that hasnow been dramatically concretizedby Israel over the past six years. Thephysical dismemberment of the WestBank and total imprisonment and socialdestruction of Gaza are no longer felt asmomentary effects but have edged ustowards a sense of nality, the closing ofa door on what we had always thoughtwould be our future. This is ArielSharons legacy; ve years of actionsthat make the basis of the only just andpractical solution a two state solution- impossible. Any foreign diplomat,

journalist or aid worker based in the

occupied territories will tell you thisoff-the-record. Its just so very obviouson the ground. What it means for thelong run no one knows. But in the hereand now, it has produced an immensesense of despair -- not only among

Palestinians, but also among Israeliand international peace activists. In thiscontext, nding hope seems as likelyas nding snow in a desert. So the onlyhope there is, is what one always looksto when governments and politiciansfail so badly the hope offered bypeople of conscience who try andmake a difference. There are the braveIsraelis who refuse to be part of theirgovernments policies; the refusniks whowould rather go to prison than serve inthe occupying army, the women whostand at checkpoints and try and calmthe brutality of their soldiers, the peaceactivists who stand with Palestinianvillagers in front of military bulldozerstoppling olive trees to build anothersection of the wall and many others.

Internationally as well you nd peopleof all ages and backgrounds organizingand trying to make a difference,small voices and gestures that have apowerful resonance at times like this.And among Palestinians, there is hopein the way that people against all oddscontinue to make life, make jokes, getmarried and celebrate birthdays andultimately hold on to their humanity.What strikes me so often, is how despitethe hatred that is being sown by Israel

and the US how when Israelis andWesterners come to visit as peopleand stand with Palestinians they aregreeted with such open hearts andgratitude. While all of this may not bepowerful enough to stop the destructionthat is taking place the role of peopleof conscience is profoundly importantin keeping hope alive in times of suchdespair.

Rema Hammami was appointed the Prince-Claus

chair holder of 2006 because of her impressive

academic contribution to peace and co-existence

in Palestine. Her permanent position is Professor

at the Institute for Womens Studies at Birzeit

University, Ramallah, Palestine.

Photos used courtesy of Rema Hammami and

Birzeit University. http://home.birzet.edu

I t is i ronic that for

al l the social and

developmental problems

that international

agencies and NGOs

have been working to

eradicate, they have now

taken a step that act ively

propagates them


18/24

18

Most wars nowadays are civil wars. Theworld has witnessed 118 conicts in

80 locations since the end of the coldwar in 1989, but the good news is thatthe number of countries embroiledin civil war is declining. Developmenteconomists are right to focus on thepoverty enhancing and growth stuntingnature of civil wars in low-incomecountries. Despite the preponderanceof civil wars, inter-state wars (or warsbetween a state or coalitions thereof)and non-state armed groups in anothercountry are not uncommon, and

nowhere is this more prevalent than inthe Middle East. Interestingly, the UKtops the league table in the number ofinter-state wars (21) it has been involvedin since 1946, ahead of France (19) andthe USA (16). Not surprisingly, formercolonial masters and the worlds onlyremaining superpower have the greatest

proclivity to go to war against other

nations (or groups therein as in Iraq andAfghanistan); this is after all what makesthem great powers.Much of the Middle East (except Iran)was part of the Ottoman Empire priorto the conclusion of the First World

War, an empire that had sided withthe defeated Central powers duringthat great conagration. The alliedpowers, principally Britain and France,entered into a clandestine agreement(the Sykes-Picot pact) to carve upthe Ottoman dominions, prior to thedefeat of Turks in the Great War of1914-18. They were dividing up whatwas, at the time, not quite theirs. TheBritish Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour,declared support for the establishmentof a Jewish state in Palestine in 1917,

again before His Majestys Governmentswrit ran through that piece of realestate. Nor were the inhabitants of thatterritory consulted in the proposedhandover by a distant European power,although the inhabitants of peninsular

Arabia, blissfully unaware of the Sykes-Picot pact, were encouraged to revoltagainst their Turkish co-religionists bythe indomitable T E Lawrence. In thewords of the novelist Arthur Koestler,by the Balfour declaration one nationsolemnly promised to a second nationthe country of a third. What followed,after the First World War, shaped thecontemporary map of the region. TheBritish and French directly controlledPalestine and Syria respectively, latterlythrough League of Nations mandates.

The importance of the Holy Landsto western powers is evinced by twostatements; when Field Marshall Allenbyentered Jerusalem he declared theCrusades nally over, and when a Frenchgeneral visited the tomb in Damascus of

The Middle Eas t :

Cradle of Civilizationor a Cauldron for ConictSyed Mansoob Murshed

The West rushes to

condemn Iran, based on

the off-chance that i t wil l

acquire nuclear weapons,

while ignoring Israels

long-standing capabil i ty

in the same area

Conict in the Middle East seems to attract clash of civilizations type justications,

as opposed to the rational choice category of argument put forward to explain

civil wars in other parts of the world. This clash of civilizations reasoning is a

disingenuous device to disguise and rationalize the perpetuation of the palpable

injustices that underlie conict in that region. Ever since its inception, Islam has

continually striven to achieve acceptance on terms of parity by the Christian West.

Rational choice theory, by contrast, advances two possible hypotheses for conict:

collective historical grievances or the desire to control valuable resources (greed),

that are far closer to the truth. The prevalence of an invaluable natural resource

(petroleum), combined with extremely unfair post-colonial dispensations fuel conict

in the Middle East. Unlike what some (including Bush and Blair) say, the violence by

the oppressed in the region is a reaction to injustice, and not born of some primordial

desire to supplant Western civilization.


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19

Saladin (who had expelled 12th centuryCrusaders) he triumphantly utteredwords to the effect that we are backSaladin. The kingdom of Iraq wascreated by the British, ruled by a Sunniking (whose father had cooperatedclosely with Lawrence of Arabia)imported from the Arabian Peninsula torule over a land with a Shia majority anda sizeable non-Arab Kurdish minority.

Rebellions by the Kurds were brutallysuppressed with the aid of the Royal AirForce, including the innovative use ofmustard gas from the air by BomberHarris, who later became chief of theRAFs Bomber Command, and wasresponsible for trashing Dresden inFebruary 1945. The brother of the

British nominee for the kingship of Iraqwas given modern day Jordan, and itis said that the zigzagged nature ofthe Jordanian-Saudi Arabian border ispartially attributable to the after effectsof a good lunch that the British ColonialSecretary, Winston Churchill, had beforedeciding on the fate of the peoplesof that region. The French proceededto partition Syria by separating whatwe now know as Lebanon from it. Theexperience of the French was far from

happy in Syria, and they withdrewshortly after the Second World War.A tenuous power sharing constructionwas fashioned for Lebanon, and smallwonder that she later descendedinto civil war. At that time an Arabintellectual renaissance (Baath) tookplace, leading to the removal of thepro-Western monarchies in Egypt(1952) and Iraq (1958). Another greatgame, between Britain and Russia, wasplayed over Iran. It had its democratic1906 constitution suspended, and anunenlightened despot restored in 1953largely due to the machinations ofthe USA and the UK. These historicalfacts indicate that the post Cold Warera since the rst Gulf War representsa turnaround to the old days ofEuropean control, as the leadershipof most Middle Eastern states are notonly undemocratically appointed, butare also incapable of conducting trulyindependent foreign policy (except Iranand Syria).

All of these injustices pale intoinsignicance when compared to thePalestinian predicament. I do not wish tobelabour the unfairness of that situation,as it is all too evident, except to stress

that the excessive acts of collectivepunishment meted out on civiliansand the wanton destruction of civilianinfrastructure by Israel in the Palestinianterritories and Lebanon are tantamountto state terrorism. Israel is also notabove abducting people and makingarbitrary arrests. It is worth remindingourselves of the fact that in the recent

war in Lebanon, most casualties onthe Lebanese side were civilian, whileat the Israeli end most fatalities weremilitary. Central to the solution is not

only a creation of a viable Palestinianstate (not some feeble Bantustan), therights of refugees (many Palestinianrefugees reside in Syria, Lebanon andJordan), and joint access to Jerusalem.The economic disparities between Israeland Palestine also need addressing.Most importantly, a just settlement inPalestine is central to achieving peace inthe region, international security and anend to global Islamist terrorism. A great obstacle to peace areWestern double standards in theregion, mainly centring around theunswerving diplomatic support thatthe United States affords Israels actsof impunity, and its tacit acceptanceby many European countries. TheWest seems unconcerned that theprice of peace, over the years, hasentailed ever increasing unrequitedconcessions by the Palestinians infavour of Israel. The West refuses todeal with a democratically elected party

(Hamas) in the Palestinian territories.Israel remains the largest recipient ofAmerican aid, despite having averageincomes comparable to a Europeancountry. The West rushes to condemnIran, based on the off-chance that it

will acquire nuclear weapons, whileignoring Israels long-standing capabilityin the same area. And the invasionand Western occupation of Iraq hashelped the country slide into civil war,due to the imperfect credibility of alocal leadership who collaborate withoccupying forces, and long delays incommencing post-war re-construction.The lessons from elsewhere in the worldsuggest that the failure of the state toprovide minimal personal and economicsecurity, as well as services, leads itscitizens to search for these elsewhere,including amongst kinship groups andarmed militias. This raises the risk of civilwar as the legitimate use of violencebecomes privatised. Nor can humanitylive without dignity. That is why respect

for Hizbollah, bloodied but unbowedas they are in an unequal struggle, maybe growing in the Arab and Muslimworld. Its reputation and credibilityamongst ordinary Lebanese as aprovider of services, and as an agentfor reconstruction, seems enhanced.Let us also not forget that the originsof Hizbollah are in resistance to theIsraeli occupation of South Lebanon(1982-2000). Also, the huge cost of asecond reconstruction in a country

already deep in debt is worrying. It istime that the United States acted morefairly, and instead of supporting warsof the New Middle East started livingup to the spirit of Abraham Lincolns1863 Gettysburg address and helpto establish true government of thepeople, by the people and for thepeople in the region, in the same wayLincoln was concerned that it shall notperish from the earth.

Mansoob Murshed is Professor in Economics of

Conict and Peace at ISS, Professor of International

Economics at the Birmingham Business School and

Honorary Professor of Development Economics at

the University of Utrecht.

The zigzagged nature

of the Jordanian-Saudi

Arabian border is partially

attributable to the after

effects of a good lunch that

Winston Churchill had before

deciding on the fate of the

peoples of that region


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20

Though situated in the Middle East,Israel has continuously representeditself as a Western entity; Ella Shohatwrites that Israel sees itself as in butnot of the Middle East with a clearEast/West dichotomy between itself,the Palestinians and the wider Arabworld. This rejection of the East,and more specically of the Arab,runs deep into Israeli society withendemic discrimination faced notonly by Palestinian citizens of Israel,but also by Jews of African and Asianorigin, sometimes known as Mizrahi(Oriental) Jews. If the 1.3 millionPalestinian citizens of Israel (19.3%of the population) are added to theproportion of Mizrahi Jews, the totalnon-European population of Israel addsup to just under 70%; this means themajority of Israeli citizens are actuallyof Arab descent (and if the Palestinianswho live in the Occupied Territories areincluded this proportion rises to 90%),though few in and outside of the Middle

East would be familiar with this fact. Asdespite their demographic minority,Ella Shohat writes that European-Israelis(Ashkenazim) are visibly dominant inevery sector in politics, education,the economy and culture the result

of years of biased resource allocationand political, economic and socialmarginalization toward Israels non-European and non-Jewish citizenry. It isfor this reason that she terms the stateEuro-Israel.

Reuven Abarjel and Smadar Lavie,both Mizrahi academics and activists,have written that the Ashkenazi Israelileadership has repeatedly evoked the

image that Israel is a European villa,

planted in the midst of a regional jungle. It is this image that plays suchan important part in Israels publicrelations strategy, and which serves todemonize the rest of the people in itssurrounding region. The newly elected

Hamas legislative has been demonizedand isolated across the Western world,as the demands that it recognise thestate of Israel and denounce the use ofviolence have become a prerequisitefor any nancial and diplomaticsupport from the West. Though thesesame demands are not pressed upon

Israel (namely to recognise the rightof Palestine to exist and to denouncethe use of violence), it would be acrucial step forward on the roadmapto peace given its disproportionatelypowerful and violent role in the conict;the continued illegal occupation ofPalestinian (and Lebanese and Syrian)land, the continued illegal constructionof settlements on land supposedlyearmarked for a Palestinian state, andits continued use of violence against

the civilian Palestinian population. Inaddition it continues to be the largestrecipient of US aid in the world, aswell as maintaining highly protableopen trade relations with the EU.One would think that by any fair andrational standards such declarationsshould be urgently sought from Israel.But presented with the narrative of thecivilized and modern versus the violent,barbaric other, where only one partysviolence matters, few seem preparedto press the matter. As a result even themass arrests and execution by air strikesof the democratically-elected Gazanleadership has occurred with little, ifany, criticism from the self-appointedchampions of democracy in NorthAmerica and Europe.

Defence for Children International(DCI) reports that there are currentlyaround 350 Palestinian children inIsraeli prisons; approximately 100 ofthese are under 16 years of age. DCI

states that the majority of childrenare taken from their homes at nightand that almost all children who arearrested suffer some form of torture,including beatings, sleep deprivation,isolation, position abuse and verbal

Complex Realities & Self-ServingIllusions in the Middle East ConictClare Louis Ducker

The total non-European

population of Israel adds

up to just under 70%; this

means the majority of

Israeli citizens are actually

of Arab descent

The constructed Western identity of the Israeli state stems from its very creation,

wherein Israels founding members (all European) asserted from the outset the

European character the Jewish state would take: Theodore Herzl, the founder of

political Zionism, wrote that the Jewish state would serve as the portion of the

rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilisation as opposed to oriental

barbarism. Conceptions of East versus West, of the modern and civilized world

against the backward and barbaric other, are a recurrent theme in Zionist literature

and directly associated with the colonial Europe Zionism emerged from. These

ideas are still very relevant to the way Israel perceives itself today and to the way it is

perceived by the wider world.


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21

An Israeli-Arab girl who was lightly wounded in a missile attack on Nazareth, Israel. Ahikam Seri / Panos Pictures

21

abuse. DCI states that this fact iswidely acknowledged and thoroughlydocumented by local and internationalhuman rights organizations, thoughthe arrest, detention and torture ofPalestinian children is rarely discussedin international political spheres and islittle known by the wider public.

But the legacy of EuropeanImperialistic/Orientalist discourse inthe Israeli context penetrates deeperthan the Zionist nationalist projectvis--vis the Palestinians. Mizrahi Jewshave been the victim of this powerfulpolitical tool to exclude them frombasic social infrastructures of political,economic, academic and cultural life,ensuring control of political institutions,

universities and principal economichubs by the Ashkenazi elites. It is withinthis hegemonic Orientalist frameworkthat the largely Arabic heritage ofMizrahi Jews was also ridiculed andrejected. While the Jews from Europewere perceived as simply having tobe absorbed into Israeli society,those from Asia and Africa could onlybe absorbed through the process

of modernisation a euphemismfor the erasure of their Arabic identityand their assimilation into Euro-Israelilife. The Orientalist discourse has thusalso served to erase links with thelargely Arab past of the Mizrahim. This

suppression of identity has meant therejection of Arabic language, music andcustoms, and the Arabic communities towhich they once belonged.Mizrahi Jews have also borne the brunt

of Palestinian and Hizbollah guerrillaattacks as they were channelled intoIsraels peripheral border towns,now overwhelmingly populated withIsraels poor and marginalised; theimmigrants from Arab countries andtheir descendants, and more recentlythe immigrants from Russia andEthiopia. Abarjel and Lavie write thatmost of the Palestinian suicide attackshave occurred in the public spaces ofthe economically deprived and legallydisenfranchised Mizrahi communities:bus rides taken by people who cantafford to have a private car, marketsfrequented by those who cant affordto shop in air conditioned malls andsupermarkets, and hoods too poor toafford to purchase the patrol services

of private security companies... It isthis rarely acknowledged relationshipbetween ethnicity, poverty and classwithin Israels Jewish population thatalso demands serious attention, if weare to fully comprehend the complexrealities on the ground and thereforetake some meaningful steps on the roadto peace.

During this Summers crisis, theoccasional interview aired on CNN or

BBC news, with inhabitants of KiryatShemona an Israeli town on the borderwith Lebanon that has been a frequenttarget of Hezbollahs katyusha rockets hinted at a neglected history whenidentities and borders across the MiddleEast region were dened very differently:the Iranian-born shopkeeper lamentinghis mounting debts and then the Iraqi-born restaurant owner deantly keepinghis empty restaurant open despite thethreat of more rocket attacks, remindedthe world for a brief moment of thetragic upheavals, displacements anddivisions that have occurred out ofthe colonial experience. Indeed it veryoften seems that we are still trapped inits divisive language and dangerouslysimplistic ideas that obscure thecomplexities of the Middle East regionand the wider world around us.

Clare Louis Ducker is MA participant 04-05 and

one of three prize winners of the 2005 MA research

papers.

The paper can be found through www.iss.nl/libraryPlease visit http://www.iss.nl/devissues for the

online version of this article which includes source

references.

While the Jews from Europe

were perceived as simply

having to be absorbed

into Israeli society, those

from Asia and Africa

could only be absorbed

through the process of

modernisation


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22

Development and Change

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The journal Development and Change is published six times a year by Blackwell Publishers (Oxford, UK) on behalf of theInstitute of Social Studies. For more information, see the ISS website or email us at d&[email protected] . Available online athttp://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/online . Special rate available to ISS alumni.

Volume 37 / Number 4 / July 2006

SPECIAL ISSUE Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa

Guest Editor: Christian LundChristian Lund Twilight Institutions: An IntroductionChristian Lund Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in AfricaDavid Pratten The Politics of Vigilance in Southeastern NigeriaLars Buur Reordering Society: Vigilantism and Expressions of Sovereignty in Port Elizabeths

Townships

Simon Turner Negotiating Authority between UNHCR and The PeopleSten Hagberg It was Satan that Took the People: The Making of Public Authority in Burkina FasoGiorgio Blundo Dealing with the Local State: The Informal Privatization of Street-Level Bureaucracies in

SenegalKristine Juul Decentralization, Local Taxation and Citizenship in SenegalLars Buur and Contested Sources of Authority: Re-Claiming StateHelene Maria Kyed Sovereignty by Formalizing Traditional Authority in MozambiquePierre-Yves Le Meur State Making and the Politics of the Frontier in Central BeninCarola Lentz Decentralization, the State and Conicts over Local Boundaries in Northern Ghana

Jeremy Gould Strong Bar, Weak State? Lawyers, Liberalism and State Formation in Zambia

Volume 37 / Number 5 / September 2006

Eric Helleiner Reinterpreting Bretton Woods: International Development and the Neglected Origins of

Embedded LiberalismPeter Lloyd-Sherlock Simple Transfers, Complex Outcomes: The Impacts of Pensions on Poor Households in

Brazil A. Krishna et al. Fixing the Hole in the Bucket: Household Poverty Dynamics in the Peruvian Andes Annelies Zoomers Pro-Indigenous Reforms in Bolivia: Is there an Andean Way to Escape Poverty? Valentina Mazzucato et al. Transnational Migration and the Economy of Funerals: Changing Practices in GhanaEsther Wiegers te al. Patterns of Vulnerability to AIDS Impacts in Zambian HouseholdsLinda Norgrove and Confronting Conservation at Mount Elgon, UgandaDavid Hulme

Hong Meen-Chee and Restoring the Shine to a Pearl: Recycling Behaviour inSuresh Narayanan Penang, Malaysia

BOOK REVIEWS


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ISS Working Papers

Development and Change Forum 2006

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Volume 37 / Number 6 / November 2006

Guest Editors: Amrita Chhachhi and Howard NicholasFOCUS

Ashwani Saith From Universal Values to Millennium Development Goals: Lost in TranslationMichael Bourdillon Children and Work: A Review of Current Literature and DebatesDEBATE: Cosmopolitanisms: A Discussion of the Frontiers of JusticeDes Gasper Cosmopolitan Presumptions? On Martha Nussbaum and her Commentators

Jan Nederveen Pieterse Emancipatory Cosmopolitanism: Towards an AgendaThanh-Dam Truong One Humanity, Many Consciousnesses: Unresolved Issues on Nussbaums New Frontiers

of Justice John Cameron Reections on Cosmopolitanism and Capabilities Ananta Kumar Giri Cosmopolitanism and Beyond: Towards a Multiverse of TransformationsCraig N. Murphy International Relations and Responsibility in an Increasingly Unequal WorldDeirdre McCloskey Hobbes, Nussbaum, and All Seven of the Virtues

Martha Nussbaum Reply: In Defence of Global Political Liberalism Amrita Chhachhi Postscript: Tensions and Absences in the Debate on Global Justice and CosmopolitanismREFLECTIONS

Amrita Chhachhi Interview with Kumari JayawardenaRema Hammami Interview with Deniz Kandiyoti

Wicky Meynen Interview with Carmen Diana DeereRhoda Reddock Interview with Peggy AntrobusLEGACIES Louis Emmerij Hans Singer: The Gentle Breeze of Development EconomicsCristbal Kay Solon L. Barraclough: Leading Agrarian Reform Researcher and AdvocateCraig Calhoun Pierre Bourdieu and Social Transformation: Lessons from Algeria

ASSESSMENTS

Jayati Ghosh Making Sense of the World Economy Linda Herrera Whats New about Youth? A Review EssayHilde van Dijkhorst and Reviewing the WorldDorothea Hilhorst

Since the previous DevISSues the following ISS Working Papers were published. The full text can be downloaded from the website: www.iss.nl under publications. You can also subscribe to the Working Papers Awareness Service:http://subscribe.iss.nl . With every new issue you will receive an email with the abstract and the l ink to the full text attached.

For more information contact: the ISS Working Papers Team: [email protected]

434 Exchange rate uncertainty and monetary transmission in the Philippines / Veronica B. Bayangos 2006433 Regional varieties of capitalism: inter-rm relations and access to nance in Satun (Thailand) and Perlis (Malaysia) /

Edo Andriesse 2006432 Human security and the governmentality of neo-liberal mobility: a feminist perspective / Thanh-Dam Truong 2006431 Complex emergencies, food security and the quest for appropriate institutional capacity / Martin Doornbos 2006430 Uncounted or illusory blessings? Competing responses to the Easterlin, Easterbrook and Schwartz paradoxes of

well-being / Des Gasper 2006429 Domestic violence and dowry: evidence from a south Indian village / Sharada Srinivasan and Arjun S. Bedi 2006428 What is the capability approach?: its core, rationale, partners and dangers / Des Gasper 2006427 Children, childhood and migration / Roy Huijsmans 2006426 IDS, freedom and the moral community of citizens in Southern Africa / Bridget OLaughlin 2006425 Entry, survival, and growth of manufacturing rms in Ethiopia / Admasu Shiferaw 2006424 Physical public infrastructure and private sector output/productivity in Uganda: a rm level analysis /

Albert A. Musisi 2006423 Young single motherhood : contested notions of motherhood and sexuality in policy discourses/program

interventions / Elizabeth Mulewa Ngutuku Mulongo 2006


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