Islamist movements at crossroads: the choice between ideology and context-driven approach to politics. Case study on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The aim of the paper is to analyse the ongoing transformation process within the Islamist movements using the example of the moderate Islamic Action Front party in Jordan. The dilemma of participation in the 2010 general elections raised tensions between the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front, and between doves and hawks of the same organizations. Internal debate on the future has started recently among different groups within the Islamist movement in Jordan. The research is based on the author���s recent field experience in Jordan (April���July 2010, Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the American Centre of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan). The author also conducted research in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt, where several interviews were carried out with leading and lower level Islamist politicians. The dynamic changes within Islamic Action Front Party in Jordan and its relation with the regime has been used as reference point. The main question of the research was aa how the changing political and regional context shapes decisions of the Islamist with special attention to the acceptance of democratic values and human rights, political participation, and the meanings of Islamic values in the 21st century, possible cooperation with secular parties/movements/the regime.

(Re)constructing Utopia : Remembering and Forgetting in Palestinian and Israeli Art

Peer reviewed

A philosophy of performance, politics and composition

This thesis discusses socio-political issues worldwide through philosophical approaches to performance, politics and composition. My research also discuss sound decisions which I regard to be simultaneously an outlet for personal expression, as well as a practical tool to inspire a socio-political change in society. Although the latter is paramount to the methodology of the project, the sound cannot be regarded in isolation as a ���political composition���. It can only become truly functional in a political sense through interaction with other art forms, within the context of a specific place and time. My portfolio for this project is of two socio-political projects which are my chief concern. The first project concerns the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I named this project PATH. PATH aims to foster and expand peaceful thought between Jewish and Palestinian civilians in Israel-Palestine. Through performance art, PATH spreads a message of acceptance, unity and brotherhood between our peoples. Above all, PATH demands and end to intolerance, hatred and violence among all the inhabitants of the State of Israel. The second project concerns women���s rights globally. I have realised that although we have come a long way in our struggle for rights for women, great challenges remain. There is a need to unite women and men against a form of oppression that discriminates against 50% of the world���s population. I called this project, For Utopia.

���EXISTENCE AS RESISTANCE���: UNDERSTANDINGS OF IDENTITY, PLACE & BELONGING FOR YOUNG PALESTINIANS

In this thesis, I offer an exploration of what it means to be Palestinian, and constructions of identity, belonging and community, through drawing on the experiences of younger generations of Palestinians who have not lived in Palestine. This project seeks to investigate how understanding of our own individual, familial and community���s history plays in shaping our own understandings of identity, place, belonging and indigeneity, as a younger generation of Palestinians now living and studying in the diaspora. In particular, this project examined how the process of remembering and sharing memories in community act as a form of resistance to 68 years of settler colonial violence and erasure of Palestinian land and peoples, asking what our responsibilities this therefore entails from each and every one of us.

��Qu�� hay en un nombre? ���Akko-Ptolemais�����Akka-Acre

La actual ciudad de Akko in Israel, ha tenido muchos nombres a lo largo de los siglos de su prolongado asentamiento. El nombre de Acre, con el que se le conoce en el mundo Occidental, es el residuo del nombre de San Juan de Acre que le dieron sus habitantes cruzados en el s. XII de la era Cristiana. Sin embargo, el nombre de ���Akko y sus derivados, tienen una larga historia. Bajo tal nombre, aparece ya en las fuentes escritas de comienzos el II Milenio a.C., cuando e produjo la primera urbanizaci��n del lugar. Se mantuvo como ���Akko, ���Ake, etc���a lo largo de los siglos posteriors, a pesar de los inentos de varios dirigentes de cambiarelo. El asentamiento se traslad��, a causa de los cambios en la l��nea de costa y del r��o Na���aman o Belos, desde el antiguo Tel Akko a la bah��a, en la que se estableci�� un puerto artificial,reconstruido y renovado reiteradamente durante m��s de 2000 a��os. El primer nombre conocido del sitio original del asentamiento, el tell, data de ��poca de los cruzados. Este sufri�� una alteraci��n de su nombre, reflejo de la transformaci��n de la historia de Akko, en la que la intervenci��n occidental (europea9, jug�� un papel decisivo.

Fabricando falsas verdades: la prensa italiana de izquierdas y la construcci��n de la imagen de palestinos e israel��es (1947-1957)

El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar la forma en la que la prensa italiana de izquierdas construy�� la imagen de palestinos e israel��es entre 1947 y 1957. La investigaci��n se ha centrado en el estudio de los art��culos publicados por algunos destacados peri��dicos de la ��poca, con la finalidad de comprender c��mo ha ido cambiando el lenguaje empleado por dichos ��rganos de prensa a la hora de referirse a los moradores de la tierra de Palestina. La tesis de este art��culo es que dichos peri��dicos construyeron m��ltiples y contradictorias representaciones de jud��os y palestinos, representaciones que no ten��an nada que ver con la realidad de Oriente Medio, sino que obedec��an a cuestiones ideol��gicas de car��cter nacional e internacional (relaciones entre los partidos italianos y evoluci��n de las din��micas de la guerra fr��a).

"Sub Tiberio quies"? Judaea���s Political Situation under the Prefects (6-41 c.e.), between Reality and Ideology

Deeply conflicting views on the political situation of Judaea under the Roman prefects (6-41 c.e.) have been offered. According to some scholars, this was a period of persistent political unrest and agitation, whilst according to a widespread view it was a quiescent period of political calm (reflected in Tacitus��� phrase sub Tiberio quies). The present article critically examines again the main available sources ���particularly Josephus, the canonical Gospels and Tacitus��� in order to offer a more reliable historical reconstruction. The conclusions drawn by this survey calls into question some widespread and insufficiently nuanced views on the period. This, in turn, allows a reflection on the non-epistemic factors which might contribute to explain the origin of such views.

Antiguas comunidades jud��as en Macedonia, Tracia y ��piro Superior

Evidencias de car��cter literario, epigr��fico y arqueol��gico-arquitect��nicas, atestiguan la existencia de comunidades jud��as en Macedonia, Tracia y ��piro Superior (hoy Albania) durante los per��odos romano y bizantino temprano. Los Hechos de los Apostoles mencionan la presencia de comunidades jud��as, y sus sinagogas, en Filipos, Tesal��nica y Verroia, en Macedonia. El descubrimiento de inscripciones griegas en Bizya (Tracia), en Tesal��nica y Di��n, y en la antigua sinagoga de Stobia, sugieren que dichas comunidades preservaron su independencia religiosa y gozaron de un seguro estatus social, econ��mico y cultural. Una antigua tumba jud��a encontrada en Tesal��nica, decorada con una menorah, la sinagoga de Claudius Tiberius Polycharmos en Stobia y la de Saranda (��piro Superior), a��aden pruebas arqueol��gico- arquitect��nicas a las fuentes literarias. A pesar de que las fuentes literarias, los datos epigr��ficos y los hallazgos arqueol��gicos son relativamente escasos, parece que en estas regiones, y en otras de la Pen��nsula Balc��nica, existieron tambi��n otras comunidades jud��as.

Women Lawyers and the Struggle for Change in Conflict and Transition

This article examines the particular experiences of female ���cause lawyers��� in conflicted and transitional societies. Drawn from an ongoing comparative project which involved fieldwork in Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, Tunisia and South Africa, the paper looks at opportunities, obstacles and the obduracy required from such lawyers to ���make a difference��� in these challenging contexts. Drawing upon the theoretical literature on the sociology of the legal profession, cause-lawyers, gender and transitional justice, and the structure/agency nexus, the article considers in turn the conflict\cause-lawyering intersection and the work of cause-lawyers in transitional contexts. It concludes by arguing that the case-study of cause-lawyers offers a rebuttal to the charge that transitional justice is just like ���ordinary justice���. It also contends that, notwithstanding the durability of patriarchal power in transitional contexts, law remains a site of struggle, not acquiescence, and many of these cause-lawyers have and continue to exercise both agency and responsibility in ���taking on��� that power.

Occupied childhoods: discourses and politics of childhood and their place in Palestinian and Pan-��Arab screen content for children

This thesis explores changing discourses of childhood and the ways in which power relations intersect with socio-cultural norms to shape screen-based media for Palestinian children. Situated within the interdisciplinary study of childhood, the research is an institutional and textual analysis that includes discursive and micro-level analysis of the socio-political circumstances within which children consume media in present-day Palestine. The thesis takes a social constructionist view, arguing that ���childhood��� is not a fixed universal concept and that discourses of childhood are produced at specific historical moments as an effect of power. The study has a three-part research agenda. The first section uses secondary literature to explore theories and philosophies relating to definitions of childhood in Arab societies. The second employs participant observation and semi-structured interviews to understand the history and politics of children���s media in the West Bank. The final part of the research activity focuses on the impact that definitions of childhood and the politics of children���s media have on broadcasting outcomes through an analysis of (a) discourses on children���s media that circulate in Palestinian society, and (b) local and pan-Arab cultural texts consumed by Palestinian children. The analysis demonstrates that complex ideological and political factors are at play, which has led to the marginalisation, politicisation and internationalisation of local production for children. Due to the lack of alternatives, local producers often rely on international funding, and are hence forced to negotiate competing definitions of childhood, which while fitting with an international agenda of normalising the Israeli occupation, conflict culturally and politically with local conceptions of childhood and hopes for the Palestinian nation. While the Palestinian community appreciates the positive potential of local production, discourses and strategies around children���s media show that Palestinian children are constructed as vulnerable, incomplete and in constant need of guidance. Pan-Arab content presents a slightly less didactic approach and in certain cases presents childhood as a dynamic space of empowerment. However, by constructing children as ���consumercitizens���, it alienates Arab (and Palestinian) children from disadvantaged backgrounds,as the preferred audience is middle-class children living in oil-rich countries of the Gulf.

Vorurteile und Feindbilder zwischen Israelis und Pal��stinensern durch Dialogarbeit ��berwinden?

Der folgende Beitrag beschreibt am Beispiel einer akademischen Begegnung mit Israelis und Pal��stinensern Dialogarbeit zur ��berwindung von Vorurteilen und Feindbildern. Durch solche Begegnungen k��nnen monolithische Schwarz-Wei��-Denkstrukturen ��berwunden werden. Das Zuh��ren beim Erz��hlen pers��nlicher Lebensgeschichten kann Empathie ausl��sen und eigene monolithische "Narrative" in Frage stellen. Beim didaktischen Konzept solcher Dialogprozesse ist auf den Aspekt der Nachhaltigkeit besonderer Wert zu legen. (DIPF/Orig.)

Interview with Hans G. Hornung

An interview in two sessions, June and July 2014, with Hans Georg Hornung, Clarence L. Johnson Professor of Aeronautics, emeritus, in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Hornung describes the origins of the German Templer Colony in Palestine and his upbringing there before and during World War II. Family moves to Templer settlement, Melbourne, Australia, 1948. He attends technical college; University of Melbourne; master���s in engineering, 1962. Researcher, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Melbourne; PhD, Imperial College, London, 1965. He recalls his academic career at the Australian National University, Canberra (1967-1980); his interest in hypersonics; building free-piston shock tunnel with Raymond Stalker. Sabbatical in Darmstadt with Ernst Becker. Seven years as director of fluid-mechanics institute of the DLR [Deutsches Zentrum f��r Luft- und Raumfahrt], in G��ttingen. Comes to Caltech in 1987 to succeed Hans W. Liepmann as director of GALCIT [Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology]. Recalls his various aero colleagues, his work with Rocketdyne on Caltech���s T5 (successor to Canberra���s T3 shock tunnel) and Ludwieg tube, collaboration with JPL on space program, and work with graduate students Simon Sanderson and Eric Cummings. Discusses his involvement in various scientific societies and his current activities and continuing research as an emeritus professor.

Changing Road Signs in Israel: Production and Perception

In Palestine/Israel the struggle to control the land and the people is not merely conducted through physical violence. More subtle attempts for controlling the region and labeling it as belonging for one side rather than the other are implemented. This paper focuses on an Israeli suggestion to change the orthography of city names on road signs so that they are transliterations of the Hebrew name of the city. This one event, the Israeli suggestion to change city names on road signs, is represented to the public by two competing, and mostly opposing, discourses. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to analyze four articles, two of which are written by Arabic media sources, and the other two are written by Israeli ones. This analysis is paired with a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the reactions of participants of different political affiliations to chosen excerpts of the articles. The paper aims at showing how one event is represented differently through different discourses, and how people who are affected be specific discourses react to them.

An��lisis de mujeres cachemires como sujetos subalternos en la representaci��n institucional de India y Paquist��n a partir del fen��meno de desaparici��n forzada (1989-2008)

El inter��s de esta monograf��a es analizar las consecuencias de la representaci��n institucional de India y Paquist��n en la disputa territorial por Cachemira durante el periodo de 1989 a 2008. Puntualmente, se analiza y explica c��mo la representaci��n institucional prestada individualmente por India y Paquist��n valid�� sus intereses como agentes de poder en la regi��n, pas�� por alto las necesidades de la poblaci��n cachemir y foment�� la pr��ctica de la desaparici��n forzada, lo que en consecuencia convirti�� a las mujeres cachemires en un grupo subalterno. Para tal objetivo, se har�� uso de la teor��a postcolonialista, espec��ficamente el enfoque subalternista de la autora Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak ya que permite explicar adecuadamente el proceso mediante el cual las mujeres cachemires se convirtieron en un grupo subalterno.

Degradaci��n ambiental y conflictos armados: las conexiones

"La seguridad ambiental es un concepto complejo que puede ser analizado desde varios enfoques. La conexi��n entre degradaci��n ambiental, escasez de recursos, poco desarrollo econ��mico e inestabilidad pol��tica puede generar r��pidamente conflictos llamados ambientales, terrorismo ecol��gico y guerras verdes. Sin embargo, en la mayor��a de las investigaciones sobre degradaci��n ambiental y conflictos armados no se tienen en cuenta los factores desarrollo econ��mico y r��gimen pol��tico, pues se considera que los problemas ambientales pueden, por s�� solos, conducir a situaciones conflictivas nacionales, regionales e internacionales. En este contexto, los prop��sitos de este art��culo son plantear las diferentes tendencias ideol��gicas de la seguridad ambiental, definir el contenido y las causas de los conflictos ambientales y proponer un marco anal��tico complementario que incluya las variables pol��ticas y econ��micas como generadoras de conflictos ambientales y de conflictos armados de alta intensidad. Al final, se propone una agenda de investigaci��n en materia de seguridad ambiental para Colombia."