Israel

The first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 has been the seminal event in the modern history of the Palestinians. The impacts of the 1948 defeat – the Nakba (Arabic: Disaster) – for Palestinians have been profound, for they have shaped the contours of Palestine and Palestinian history in myriad ways.

Nicolas Pelham concludes, that an end to western, Palestinian and Israeli isolation of Gaza and an improvement in Gaza’s lot generally, is likely to empower groups with external connections, and impede rather than accelerate Gaza’s Islamisation. By contrast, the alternative - of maintaining the closure - is likely to hasten the application of Sharia norms.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict was born at the end of last century as a result of "incompatible national aspirations" between the indigenous population of Palestine (the Palestinians) and the Zionist movement over the land of Palestine.

The Palestinian schism is often referred to as a deep one that pits a secular nationalist movement (centered around Fatah) against a religious movement (centered around Hamas). In his paper, Nathan J. Brown suggests by contrast that the division is not as deep as is often assumed but it is exceedingly wide.

Refugees under occupation - nowhere else in the world are these three words combined to describe the living reality of nearly two million people. But for Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, these words have for more than 40 years captured the essence of a doubly deprived existence caught in a political im-passe, denied basic human rights, and largely removed from the international agenda.

We have passed the 60-year mark since the Palestinian nakba, yet the question of Palestine refugees remains unsolved. More than 4.7 million registered refugees continue to live in conditions collectively characterised by uncertainty, injustice and insecurity.

Last week's meeting between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu showed a fundamental disagreement between the U.S. and Israel. Obama made it clear that he is committed to a two-state solution, yet Netanyahu vacillated. Israel and its most important ally may face a deep ideological and strategic rift.

The Czech EU Presidency was thrown right into the middle of the war in Gaza. And Czech politicians stumbled. Unlike the majority of their colleagues from Western Europe, who condemned Israel’s actions as disproportionate, the Czech prime and foreign ministers initially blamed Hamas for the conflict.

The crucial question is whether Israel under the given circumstances had a choice? Could anything be achieved otherwise? Where the objectives justified? Are we any closer now to a better future? The tragic paradox four weeks ago was that any course of action Israel would have chosen had the potential of being self-defeating.

Shlomo Brom analyses the objectives of the Israeli campaign in Gaza and suggests possible ways for Israel to maximise a sound exit strategy in light of these objectives.

It is clear that Operation Cast Lead will end with a new ceasefire. Still, it remains to be seen what the new US Administrations policies for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are.

No doubt, there are reasons to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary. The very fact that Israel has made it up to now is all but self-evident, considering its widely hostile neighbours and its extremely contradictory internal condition.

Annapolis bedeutet den Beginn virtueller Verhandlungen. Diese werden wenig dazu betragen, die unterschiedlichen Visionen und Ziele der Beteiligten einzulösen.

Prof. Shlomo Avineri erläutert anhand historischer Beispiele, unter welchen Bedingungen den USA eine erfolgreiche Intervention im Nahen Osten gelang und bewertet das Treffen von Annapolis in diesem Kontext

Eine Analyse der Ergebnisse der Konferenz und der Perspektiven. Erst die kommenden Monate werden zeigen, ob das Treffen von Annapolis ein Erfolg war. Es gibt positive Elemente und ungeklärte Punkte, grunsätzlich bleibt die Stimmung aber positiv.

Über die Ergebnisse der Konferenz aus palästinensischer uns israelischer Sicht.

Über die Neigung arabischer Kommentator, pessimistisch zu sein, nur um Recht zu behalten