The Struggle to Save the National Symbol: Jaffa Port from the Arab Revolt Until the Twilight of the British Mandate

The outbreak of the Arab revolt marked the start of the continuous economic decline of Jaffa, which hitherto had been known as an outstanding and flourishing economic centre. The decisive factor that highlighted above all others the city's economic deterioration was the decline of its port. This carried notable moral implication for the Arab public, as Jaffa port, the city's symbol and legacy, was deemed a national emblem and a foundation stone of the Palestinian Arab economy. Its decline from 1936 onwards instigated a bitter struggle to restore it to its halcyon days. The article examines the measures taken by the local Arab leadership bodies and by the Arab Higher Committee to resurrect the port and its status, from the outbreak of the 1936 disturbances until the war that broke out in 1947.     

The Social Texture of the Baqa Well:Drawing History from an Old Well in a Palestinian Arab Town in Israel

Water sources have always played a significant role in Palestinian rural life. Springs and wells are frequently depicted in orientalist sources, yet they have barely been studied from the perspective of oral history. This article explores the social texture of an ancient well, located in the Palestinian Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyya in Israel, by using fragmented memories of the old women and men who drew water from that well more than half a century ago. This study examines the well as a powerful reservoir of local memories, focusing on the feminine experience that was formed at the well, on its symbolic meaning in the lives of Palestinian women, and on a silent language of implicit expressions that was once used at the well.     

The Educational Philosophy and Curriculum of the Palestinian Nationalist Movement: From Arab Palestine to Arab-Islamic Palestine

The educational curriculum produced by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is said to be situated on the intellectual basis of faith in Allah. The curriculum presents Islam as one of three essential components of the Palestinian identity. The place given to Islam in the educational philosophy and curriculum of the PA signifies a departure from the place given to Islam in the PLO's earlier documents and Fatah's earlier discourse; in fact, owing to the elevated position of Islam, the discourse in the curriculum more closely resembles that of the PLO's Islamist opposition, namely Hamas. This article compares the Palestinian identity discourse as it is presented in the PA educational philosophy (1998) and school curriculum (2000–2006) with the identity discourse in the PLO's earlier philosophy of education as well as Hamas' philosophy of education. The explanation for this change in the discourse of the Palestinian nationalist movement takes into account Fatah's bid to maintain legitimacy in a deeply divided society and Hamas' challenge to Fatah in the Palestinian arena as well as the background of the Islamic revival across the greater Muslim world.     

Arab Identity and Ideology in Sudan: The Politics of Language, Ethnicity, and Race

In what is now Sudan there occurred over the centuries a processof ta'rib, or Arabization, entailing the gradual spread of bothArab identity and the Arabic language among northern peoples.After the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of 1898, British colonialpolicies favoured a narrow elite from within these ‘Arab’communities. Members of this elite went on to develop a conceptionof a self-consciously Sudanese Arabic national identity, inthe process adapting the term ‘Sudanese’ (sudani),which derived from an Arabic word for blackness and previouslyhad servile connotations. At decolonization in the 1950s, thesenationalists turned ta'rib, into an official policy that soughtto propagate Arabic quickly throughout a territory where scoresof languages were spoken. This article considers the historicaldiffusion of Sudanese Arabic-language culture and Arab identity,contrasts this with the post-colonial policy of Arabization,and analyses the relevance of the latter for civil conflictsin Southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and, more recently, Darfur.Far from spreading Arabness, Arabization policy sharpened non-Araband, in some cases, self-consciously ‘African’ (implyingculturally pluralist) identities. Arabization policy also accompanied,in some quarters, the growth of an ideology of Arab culturaland racial supremacy that is now most evident in Darfur. This publication was made possible in part by grants from theCarnegie Corporation of New York (Carnegie Scholars Program,2006) and the University Research Foundation of the Universityof Pennsylvania, but the statements made and views expressedare solely the responsibility of the author. The author wouldalso like to thank Benjamin F. Soares, Karin Willemse, VijayBalasubramanian, and two anonymous referees for their feedbackon earlier drafts of this article; the African Studies Centreat the University of Leiden for hosting the seminar (April 2007)where this work was first presented; and Tukufu Zuberi, EveTroutt Powell and the Africana Studies Center of the Universityof Pennsylvania for organizing a symposium on Darfur (1 March2007) that helped to bring ideas into focus.     

Youth and Development in the Arab Countries: The Need for a Different Approach

Arab countries are currently faced with the highest youth cohort in their modern history. Arab youth are not only more numerous, but they are also more educated and marrying at a later age than before. One in each three young Arab persons is unemployed, and gender bias against young women's university enrolment and labour participation is pervasive. Against a backdrop of rising frustration among their youth, Arab policymakers need to act quickly. A revision of the social and economic contract towards more and better provision of public goods is central to addressing the challenges faced by the Arab youth.     

世界体系中的后苏联国家:欧盟新成员国、独联体成员国和中国之比较

自1989年以来,后苏联国家呈现出不同的沿革轨迹。这些国家大体上可以分为四个群体:欧盟新成员国(NMS)、独联体在欧洲的成员国、独联体在亚洲的成员国和中国。这四个国家群体对于当今世界经济政治体系的参与和依附程度各不相同。需要对它们在工业和贸易方面的能力作出界定,而这些能力对其经济的全球化和金融化产生着影响。国家群体对于世界体系的特定联系决定了其特定的经济(以及政治)能力和依附水平。通过考察它们各自不同的投资模式、贸易伙伴和金融依附情况,以及2007年以来世界金融危机造成的金融压力方面的影响,可以看到:一方面,欧盟的后苏联国家坚定地融入世界经济体系;另一方面,大型经济体(如俄罗斯和中国)有可能建立起本国的市场及网络,因而其经济自立水平要高于欧盟新成员国。存在着三种对于世界经济危机的主要反应方式:更深地融入占支配地位的世界资本主义制度、走向一个较少新自由主义色彩而较多协调主义的世界体系、形成以"对峙力量"和区域集团为标志的更加多元化的世界体系。     

Change and Continuity after the Arab Uprising: The Consequences of State Formation in Arab North African States

This article provides a comparative macro-level overview of political development in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. It examines their evolution from the colonial period through several distinct phases, showing how differences in their origins were followed over time by a certain convergence towards a common post-populist form of authoritarianism, albeit still distinguished according to monarchic and republican legitimacy principles. On this basis, it assesses how past state formation trajectories made the republics more vulnerable to the Arab uprising but also what differences they make for the prospects of post-uprising democratisation. While in Morocco the monarch's legitimacy allows it to continue divide-and-rule politics, in Egypt the army's historic central role in politics has been restored, while in Tunisia the trade union movement has facilitated a greater democratic transition.     

Concept Paper: The Palestinian Refugee Problem and the Right of Return

This "concept paper" by Joseph Alpher and Khalil Shikaki, was written with the participation of the following members of the Joint Working Group on Israeli-Palestinian Relations: Gabriel Ben-Dor, Ibrahim DaWrak, Yossi Katz (MK), Ghassan Khatib, Moshe Ma'oz, Yezid Sayigh, Ze'ev Schifi and Shimon Shamir. The Introduction is by Herbert C. Kelmanand Nadim N. Rouhana, co-chairs of the Working Group, a project of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Weatherhead Center for International Aflairs, Harvard University (1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-picar@cfia.harvard.edu ).