A Failed Manipulation: The British,the Oudh Bequest and the Sh i Ulama of Najaf and Karbala

Between 1850 and 1903, the Oudh Bequest channelled over six million rupees from India, through British mediation, to the Shi i shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. It has intrigued historians the way that this sophisticated British tool has exercised influence and control over the Shi i Ulama in Iran and Iraq. However, the British became directly involved in the distribution of the Bequest in 1903, on the eve of the Constitutional Revolution. In view of the ulama's growing involvement in Iranian politics, and gross corruption among the distributors, the British saw the Bequest as a means to enhance their influence over the ulama in Iran. The political usage of the Bequest was a subject of a prolonged debate within Bequest bureaucracy. Disagreements often stemmed from different priorities, determined by local considerations, of British authorities in Iraq, Iran and India. In 1912 the British took over the direct distribution of the Bequest, abandoning their expectations to use the Bequest as a ‘powerful lever’ in Iran, and shifting their focus to enhancing their prestige in Iraq itself and acquiring the goodwill of Shi is in India. These policies were renewed with greater vigour after the British occupation of Najaf and Karbala in 1917. Overall, these British attempts ended in dismal failure, showing that charity, however generous, cannot compensate for the need of religious leaders to maintain popular support by distancing themselves from foreign patronage and tutelage. Moreover, manipulation proved less powerful than broader historical processes such as the rising national and religious awakening against foreign powers.     

“Ecoterrorism”: Terrorist Threat or Political Ploy?

This article examines the phenomenon of “ecoterrorism” from a conceptual and empirical perspective. We explore the political and academic debates over the meaning and use of the term ecoterrorism, and assess the validity of the concept of “ecoterrorism” and of the alleged threat of the Radical Environmentalist and Animal Rights (REAR) movement by analyzing the characteristics of both the movement and its actions. Our analysis shows that the term ecoterrorism should only be used for a small proportion of the actions of REAR movement. Consequently, counterterrorist measures should only target these terrorist minorities, rather than all groups and the broader movement.     

Radicalizing Religion? Religious Identity and Settlers' Behavior

Does religious identity prompt radical action? This article presents a model of individual-level radical action. Drawing mostly on collective action theory the article posits that organizational membership drives the effect of religious identity on individual-level radical action. Using survey data the article assesses the behavior of Jewish settlers in the West Bank in the face of the 2005 Gaza withdrawal. The article finds that contra the prevailing view, which holds that religious identity alone is sufficient to trigger violence, evidence suggests that organizational membership is a mechanism bridging religious identity and radical action. Longstanding arguments tying radical actions solely to religion may require substantial revision.     

Two of a kind? Voting motivations for populist radical right and religious fundamentalist parties

Over the last two decades a number of theoretical perspectives have emphasized the growing phenomenon of extremist political challenges. These challenges come from two main sources: largely secular radical right-wing populism and religious fundamentalism. Yet the relationship between the two is still theoretically and empirically limited. Researchers have usually limited their discussion to only one of the phenomena, ignoring the fact that despite the basic distinction between the two (i.e., secular versus religious orientation), the literature points to many commonalities. This article takes up the challenge by analyzing the predictive power of socioeconomic, ideological, and security threat factors on voting behavior for populist radical right (PRR) parties and for religious fundamentalist (RF) parties. Data collected following the Israeli parliamentary election of 2003 (N = 808) offer a challenge to the conventional, secular wisdom of right-wing extremism. The radical right party family is multifaceted with at least two flanks – a hawkish nationalist flank on the one hand, and a ‘faith-based’ radical flank on the other. Implications of these distinctions for voting behavior scholars and radical right-wing scholars are discussed.     

“Martyrdom is Life”: Jihad and Martyrdom in the Ideology of Hamas

This article analyzes the articulation of the doctrine of “Jihad of the Sword” and martyrdom by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine, Hamas, as a central pillar of Palestinian identity and as a major source of political mobilization and national empowerment. As part of this concept Hamas presents martyrdom as the epitome of jihad and of Islamic belief. The end-goal of jihad is the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jews. By emphasizing the centrality of “Jihad of the Sword” Hamas's ideas reveal a certain similarity to, or inspiration by, radical Salafi-jihadist Islamic movements. While Hamas adopted a pragmatic approach on short-term tactics, these doctrines impose constraints on the scope of a profound ideological transformation it can undergo.     

Defense System in Israel: The State Comptroller's Perspective

The compliance of audited bodies to the recommendations published by the State Comptroller is very important while evaluating the effectiveness of the state audit process. To measure the effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit the rate of deficiencies' rectification has been taken into account. Audit frequency is defined as the number of audits in audited bodies in a given period. The effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) characterized by a rigid hierarchy was compared with that of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Ministry of Defense (MOD) characterized by a less rigid hierarchy.     

Harmful Thoughts

Law and Philosophy -     

Equal investments,different rewards: gender inequalities among Israeli lawyers

purpose of this paper is to examine empirically whether women in the legal profession in Israel experience discrimination in terms of earnings and career opportunities. The contribution of this study is threefold. On the theoretical level, we added psychological capital and career expectations to the commonly used variables. Second, we focused on an immigrant country in transition towards Westernization that presents an interesting mix of legal equality and traditional family values. Third, our analyses are based on a national mail survey of full-time lawyers in Israel.

The findings of this study show that male lawyers are rewarded better than female lawyers for the number of hours worked per week as well as for their married status. We also found that female lawyers who expected more regarding economic reward earn less, while no relationship was found for male lawyers. Furthermore, the likelihood to attain partnership is much lower for female than for male lawyers after controlling for all relevant variables. The results indicate existence of discrimination.