Palestinian society is very fragmented. There are three main categories of Palestinian communitie... more Palestinian society is very fragmented. There are three main categories of Palestinian communities that comprise what is usually conceived as Palestinian society. There are many Palestinians living, mostly as refugees, in Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Although this group of Palestinians live in different Arab countries and face different circumstances, they share the same history and experience of exile. Another Palestinian community is composed of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Yet another relatively large Palestinian community is that living in Israel since 1948 and having Israeli citizenship status. Notwithstanding the differences between these communities, they compose what is usually called Palestinian society, despite the fact that the concept of society known to us from the sociological literature may not be valid in this particular case.
Amal Jamal is Professor of Political Science at the School of Political Science, Government, and ... more Amal Jamal is Professor of Political Science at the School of Political Science, Government, and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University. He was Chair of the Political Science Department (2006–2009) and is co-Editor-in-Chief of the political science journal The Public Sphere. His books include Arab Civil Society in Israel (2017), The Nakba in Israel’s National Memory (2015), and Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel: The Politics of Indigeneity (2011).
Israel has been undergoing major changes in the last few decades. One of these major changes is t... more Israel has been undergoing major changes in the last few decades. One of these major changes is the rise of a very conservative and even messianic ultranationalistic political block that is dominating center stage in the political system, and turning its ideology into the official policy of the state. This development, which started decades ago and reached a hegemonic position in the last few years, reflects a process according to which Israel has moved into a NeoZionist era, characterized by an intensive “nationalizing” process, manifested in the legal, judicial, and cultural fields. 1 The process of nationalizing, as described by Rogers Brubaker, “is the tendency to see the state as an ‘unrealised’ nationstate, as a state destined to be a nationstate, the state of and for a particular nation, but not yet in fact a nationstate (at least not to a significant degree); and the concomitant disposition to remedy this perceived defect, to make the state what it is properly and legitimate...
This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examinatio... more This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examination of the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the media. After providing an overview of the media under Israeli occupation, the author examines their development and transformation under the PA, including the PA's means of control both formal and informal. While noting the PA's vulnerability to outside pressures and the needfor the press itself to be more assertive in claiming its freedom, the author concludes that the PA's record with the media thus far does not bode wellfor a democratic political culture in Palestine. IN AN AGE OF COMMUNICATION, where information technology has multiplied along with methods of indoctrination and censorship, the tension between the media as a public space and the media as a tool of political control has become a hallmark of postcolonial states. This is true of Palestine as well, though the continuation of Israeli overall rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip make it a special case. The examination of the Palestinian national reconstruction led by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the one hand, and the attempts to introduce democratic liberalization demanded by broad sectors of Palestinian society on the other, provide a contemporary example of the tension between the authoritarian and liberal dimensions of the state-building process. External pressures are exerted on the PA to prove its governing capabilities, while at the same time internal pressures by local groups demand open public space. Since this process is still ongoing, it is too soon to assess its results. Still, the current study seeks to shed light on future prospects through highlighting patterns of behavior and responses. The central issues in this context are the extent to which institutional pluralism in the Palestinian media mirrors real diversity and how the PA deals with the dilemma of the autonomy of and control over communications organizations.
This article explores Hannah Arendt’s conceptualization of half-statelessness, theorized as the p... more This article explores Hannah Arendt’s conceptualization of half-statelessness, theorized as the partial invasion of citizenship by characteristics of statelessness. It is a process of dehumanizatio...
The following analysis of the Israeli Nation State law reflects on the emerging new constitutiona... more The following analysis of the Israeli Nation State law reflects on the emerging new constitutional imagination in Israel. It argues that this Zionist imagination mirrors the deep sociological and political changes taking place in Israeli society. The hegemonic political elites have transformed the Israeli constitutional identity from one based on constructive legal ambiguity into one rooted in exclusive ethno-theological values. The latter stands in direct negation of the Zionist constitutional formula promoted by the founding fathers of the State as embodied in the 1948 Declaration of Independence. This rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence incorporated liberal values, in spite of the fact that the Labour Zionist political elite of the time was not fully committed to the practical meanings of these values. The current hegemonic elite in Israel views such a veiling strategy as not only unnecessary, but also as hazardous.
This article deals with state stigmas in the international arena, and addresses the question: why... more This article deals with state stigmas in the international arena, and addresses the question: why do state-stigmas develop and become sustained in some cases, whereas in other cases they wither away? For parsimonious, analytical purposes we view the process of state stigmatisation through two, interrelated stages: the stigma’s development – where transnational civil society activists and the engagement of mainstream international media play an important role; and the stigma’s sustenance where these elements are joined by the target state’s coping strategy. For theoretical consistency, we limit ourselves to exploring states that are (a) involved in conflicts and (b) aspiring to be part of the Western-led ‘club’ of states. Through the analysis of press articles and UN documents relating to two vastly different case studies: South Africa (1985–1994) and Israel (2000–2019), we demonstrate that states in conflictual situations have limited manoeuvring space in dealing with their developing stigmas; and that the choice of tools utilized in the implementation of the same coping strategy can lead to different results.
Since late 2010, the Arab world has entered a tumultuous period of change, with populations deman... more Since late 2010, the Arab world has entered a tumultuous period of change, with populations demanding more inclusive and accountable government. The region is characterised by weak political institutions, which exclude large proportions of their populations from political representation and government services. Building on work in political science and economics, we assess the extent to which the quality of governance, or the extent of electoral democracy, relates to adult, infant, and maternal mortality, and to the perceived accessibility and improvement of health services. We compiled a dataset from the World Bank, WHO, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Arab Barometer Survey, and other sources to measure changes in demographics, health status, and governance in the Arab World from 1980 to 2010. We suggest an association between more effective government and average reductions in mortality in this period; however, there does not seem to be any relation between the extent of democracy and mortality reductions. The movements for changing governance in the region threaten access to services in the short term, forcing migration and increasing the vulnerability of some populations. In view of the patterns observed in the available data, and the published literature, we suggest that efforts to improve government effectiveness and to reduce corruption are more plausibly linked to population health improvements than are efforts to democratise. However, these patterns are based on restricted mortality data, leaving out subjective health metrics, quality of life, and diseasespecific data. To better guide efforts to transform political and economic institutions, more data
... in Israel Amal Jamal TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY This ... Arab minority. It is claimed that Arab patt... more ... in Israel Amal Jamal TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY This ... Arab minority. It is claimed that Arab patterns of communicative behavior may lead to 'dou-ble consciousness' among the Arab minority (Du Bois, 2003; Manning, 1986). Double ...
This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examinatio... more This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examination of the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the media. After providing an overview of the media under Israeli occupation, the author examines their development and transformation under the PA, including the PA's means of control both formal and informal. While noting the PA's vulnerability to outside pressures and the needfor the press itself to be more assertive in claiming its freedom, the author concludes that the PA's record with the media thus far does not bode wellfor a democratic political culture in Palestine. IN AN AGE OF COMMUNICATION, where information technology has multiplied along with methods of indoctrination and censorship, the tension between the media as a public space and the media as a tool of political control has become a hallmark of postcolonial states. This is true of Palestine as well, though the continuation of Israeli overall r...
This article explores the dynamics of Jewish sovereignty when dealing with the massive presence o... more This article explores the dynamics of Jewish sovereignty when dealing with the massive presence of millions of Palestinians in its sphere of power. It does so by looking at foundational Israeli documents. Two of the best to serve our goal are the Israeli Declaration of Independence (IDI), adopted in 1948, and the Basic Law—Israel: The Nation State of the Jewish People (Nation-State law) enacted in 2018. The aim is not to compare and contrast the two documents as much as to deduce the deep meaning of Jewish sovereignty embedded in them, and its ramifications on the Palestinian presence in the land this sovereignty dominates. It is argued that the two foundational documents establish an underlying differentiation between dissimilar realms of existence. Whereas they construct Jewish presence as dynamically sovereign, they render Palestinians as threatening strangers who should be subordinated or silenced to be tolerated. This means that the documents explicate the main characteristics ...
Palestinian society is very fragmented. There are three main categories of Palestinian communitie... more Palestinian society is very fragmented. There are three main categories of Palestinian communities that comprise what is usually conceived as Palestinian society. There are many Palestinians living, mostly as refugees, in Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Although this group of Palestinians live in different Arab countries and face different circumstances, they share the same history and experience of exile. Another Palestinian community is composed of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Yet another relatively large Palestinian community is that living in Israel since 1948 and having Israeli citizenship status. Notwithstanding the differences between these communities, they compose what is usually called Palestinian society, despite the fact that the concept of society known to us from the sociological literature may not be valid in this particular case.
Amal Jamal is Professor of Political Science at the School of Political Science, Government, and ... more Amal Jamal is Professor of Political Science at the School of Political Science, Government, and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University. He was Chair of the Political Science Department (2006–2009) and is co-Editor-in-Chief of the political science journal The Public Sphere. His books include Arab Civil Society in Israel (2017), The Nakba in Israel’s National Memory (2015), and Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel: The Politics of Indigeneity (2011).
Israel has been undergoing major changes in the last few decades. One of these major changes is t... more Israel has been undergoing major changes in the last few decades. One of these major changes is the rise of a very conservative and even messianic ultranationalistic political block that is dominating center stage in the political system, and turning its ideology into the official policy of the state. This development, which started decades ago and reached a hegemonic position in the last few years, reflects a process according to which Israel has moved into a NeoZionist era, characterized by an intensive “nationalizing” process, manifested in the legal, judicial, and cultural fields. 1 The process of nationalizing, as described by Rogers Brubaker, “is the tendency to see the state as an ‘unrealised’ nationstate, as a state destined to be a nationstate, the state of and for a particular nation, but not yet in fact a nationstate (at least not to a significant degree); and the concomitant disposition to remedy this perceived defect, to make the state what it is properly and legitimate...
This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examinatio... more This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examination of the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the media. After providing an overview of the media under Israeli occupation, the author examines their development and transformation under the PA, including the PA's means of control both formal and informal. While noting the PA's vulnerability to outside pressures and the needfor the press itself to be more assertive in claiming its freedom, the author concludes that the PA's record with the media thus far does not bode wellfor a democratic political culture in Palestine. IN AN AGE OF COMMUNICATION, where information technology has multiplied along with methods of indoctrination and censorship, the tension between the media as a public space and the media as a tool of political control has become a hallmark of postcolonial states. This is true of Palestine as well, though the continuation of Israeli overall rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip make it a special case. The examination of the Palestinian national reconstruction led by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the one hand, and the attempts to introduce democratic liberalization demanded by broad sectors of Palestinian society on the other, provide a contemporary example of the tension between the authoritarian and liberal dimensions of the state-building process. External pressures are exerted on the PA to prove its governing capabilities, while at the same time internal pressures by local groups demand open public space. Since this process is still ongoing, it is too soon to assess its results. Still, the current study seeks to shed light on future prospects through highlighting patterns of behavior and responses. The central issues in this context are the extent to which institutional pluralism in the Palestinian media mirrors real diversity and how the PA deals with the dilemma of the autonomy of and control over communications organizations.
This article explores Hannah Arendt’s conceptualization of half-statelessness, theorized as the p... more This article explores Hannah Arendt’s conceptualization of half-statelessness, theorized as the partial invasion of citizenship by characteristics of statelessness. It is a process of dehumanizatio...
The following analysis of the Israeli Nation State law reflects on the emerging new constitutiona... more The following analysis of the Israeli Nation State law reflects on the emerging new constitutional imagination in Israel. It argues that this Zionist imagination mirrors the deep sociological and political changes taking place in Israeli society. The hegemonic political elites have transformed the Israeli constitutional identity from one based on constructive legal ambiguity into one rooted in exclusive ethno-theological values. The latter stands in direct negation of the Zionist constitutional formula promoted by the founding fathers of the State as embodied in the 1948 Declaration of Independence. This rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence incorporated liberal values, in spite of the fact that the Labour Zionist political elite of the time was not fully committed to the practical meanings of these values. The current hegemonic elite in Israel views such a veiling strategy as not only unnecessary, but also as hazardous.
This article deals with state stigmas in the international arena, and addresses the question: why... more This article deals with state stigmas in the international arena, and addresses the question: why do state-stigmas develop and become sustained in some cases, whereas in other cases they wither away? For parsimonious, analytical purposes we view the process of state stigmatisation through two, interrelated stages: the stigma’s development – where transnational civil society activists and the engagement of mainstream international media play an important role; and the stigma’s sustenance where these elements are joined by the target state’s coping strategy. For theoretical consistency, we limit ourselves to exploring states that are (a) involved in conflicts and (b) aspiring to be part of the Western-led ‘club’ of states. Through the analysis of press articles and UN documents relating to two vastly different case studies: South Africa (1985–1994) and Israel (2000–2019), we demonstrate that states in conflictual situations have limited manoeuvring space in dealing with their developing stigmas; and that the choice of tools utilized in the implementation of the same coping strategy can lead to different results.
Since late 2010, the Arab world has entered a tumultuous period of change, with populations deman... more Since late 2010, the Arab world has entered a tumultuous period of change, with populations demanding more inclusive and accountable government. The region is characterised by weak political institutions, which exclude large proportions of their populations from political representation and government services. Building on work in political science and economics, we assess the extent to which the quality of governance, or the extent of electoral democracy, relates to adult, infant, and maternal mortality, and to the perceived accessibility and improvement of health services. We compiled a dataset from the World Bank, WHO, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Arab Barometer Survey, and other sources to measure changes in demographics, health status, and governance in the Arab World from 1980 to 2010. We suggest an association between more effective government and average reductions in mortality in this period; however, there does not seem to be any relation between the extent of democracy and mortality reductions. The movements for changing governance in the region threaten access to services in the short term, forcing migration and increasing the vulnerability of some populations. In view of the patterns observed in the available data, and the published literature, we suggest that efforts to improve government effectiveness and to reduce corruption are more plausibly linked to population health improvements than are efforts to democratise. However, these patterns are based on restricted mortality data, leaving out subjective health metrics, quality of life, and diseasespecific data. To better guide efforts to transform political and economic institutions, more data
... in Israel Amal Jamal TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY This ... Arab minority. It is claimed that Arab patt... more ... in Israel Amal Jamal TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY This ... Arab minority. It is claimed that Arab patterns of communicative behavior may lead to 'dou-ble consciousness' among the Arab minority (Du Bois, 2003; Manning, 1986). Double ...
This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examinatio... more This article explores the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state through examination of the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the media. After providing an overview of the media under Israeli occupation, the author examines their development and transformation under the PA, including the PA's means of control both formal and informal. While noting the PA's vulnerability to outside pressures and the needfor the press itself to be more assertive in claiming its freedom, the author concludes that the PA's record with the media thus far does not bode wellfor a democratic political culture in Palestine. IN AN AGE OF COMMUNICATION, where information technology has multiplied along with methods of indoctrination and censorship, the tension between the media as a public space and the media as a tool of political control has become a hallmark of postcolonial states. This is true of Palestine as well, though the continuation of Israeli overall r...
This article explores the dynamics of Jewish sovereignty when dealing with the massive presence o... more This article explores the dynamics of Jewish sovereignty when dealing with the massive presence of millions of Palestinians in its sphere of power. It does so by looking at foundational Israeli documents. Two of the best to serve our goal are the Israeli Declaration of Independence (IDI), adopted in 1948, and the Basic Law—Israel: The Nation State of the Jewish People (Nation-State law) enacted in 2018. The aim is not to compare and contrast the two documents as much as to deduce the deep meaning of Jewish sovereignty embedded in them, and its ramifications on the Palestinian presence in the land this sovereignty dominates. It is argued that the two foundational documents establish an underlying differentiation between dissimilar realms of existence. Whereas they construct Jewish presence as dynamically sovereign, they render Palestinians as threatening strangers who should be subordinated or silenced to be tolerated. This means that the documents explicate the main characteristics ...
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