Land problems in Palestine

by A. Granovsky

New Judea : Jewish life in modern Palestine and Egypt

by Benjamin L. Gordon

Essai sur l'histoire et la géographie de la Palestine : d'après les Thalmuds et les autres sources rabbiniques

par J. Derenbourg

Two historical maps from nineteenth-century Palestine, with links to digitized maps in shapefile format

Reconstructing past landscapes from historical maps requires quantifying the accuracy and completeness of these sources. The accuracy and completeness of two historical maps of the same period covering the same area in Israel were examined: the 1:63,360 British Palestine Exploration Fund map (1871-1877) and the 1:100,000 French Levés en Galilée (LG) map (1870). These maps cover the mountainous area of the Galilee (northern Israel), a region with significant natural and topographical diversity, and a long history of human presence. Land-cover features from both maps, as well as the contours drawn on the LG map, were digitized. The overall correspondence between land-cover features shown on both maps was 59% and we found that the geo-referencing method employed (transformation type and source of control points) did not significantly affect these correspondence measures. Both maps show that in the 1870s, 35% of the Galilee was covered by Mediterranean maquis, with less than 8% of the area used for permanent agricultural cropland (e.g., plantations). This article presents how the reliability of the maps was assessed by using two spatial historical sources, and how land-cover classes that were mapped with lower certainty and completeness are identified. Some of the causes that led to observed differences between the maps, including mapping scale, time of year, and the interests of the surveyors, are also identified.

Survey of Western Palestine 1880, Palestine Exploration Fund 1:63,360 mosaicked map

The Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) Survey of Western Palestine (1871-1877) is highly praised for its accuracy and completeness; the first systematic analysis of its planimetric accuracy was published by Levin (2006). To study the potential of these 1:63,360 maps for a quantitative analysis of land cover changes over a period of time, Levin has compared them to 20th century topographic maps. The map registration error of the PEF maps was 74.4 m using 123 control points of trigonometrical stations and a 1st order polynomial. The median RMSE of all control and test points (n = 1104) was 153.6 m. Following the georeferencing of each of the 26 sheets of the PEF maps of the Survey of Western Palestine, a mosaicked file has been created. Care should be taken when analysing historical maps, as it cannot be assumed that their accuracy is consistent at different parts or for different features depicted on them.

Palestine, 1876 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Palestine ancienne & moderne d'après les sources les plus authentiques, par E. Andriveau ; gravé le trait et les montagnes par Gérin, les écritures par P. Rousset, les eaux par Mme Fontaine. It was published by E. Andriveau-Goujon in 1876. Scale 1:600,000. Covers all or portions of Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Map in French with place names in Latin, Arabic and Hebrew. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the World Miller Cylindrical projection. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as drainage, cities and other human settlements, roads, monasteries, fortification, ruines, territorial boundaries, shoreline features, and more. Relief shown by hachures. Depth shown by sounding and isolines. Includes notes and insets: [Sinai] (Scale [ca. 1:2,600,000]) -- Golfe de Suez -- [Cross section of the Palestine from the source of the Jordan to the Red Sea] -- [Panoramic view of the mountains of Palestine] -- Jérusalem d'après le plan de G. Williams (Scale [ca. 1:80,000]). This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection as part of the Open Collections Program at Harvard University project: Islamic Heritage Project. Maps selected for the project represent a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes. The Islamic Heritage Project consists of over 100,000 digitized pages from Harvard's collections of Islamic manuscripts and published materials. Supported by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and developed in association with the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University.

Palestine ancienne & moderne d'après les sources les plus authentiques

par E. Andriveau ; gravé le trait et les montagnes par Gérin, les écritures par P. Rousset, les eaux par Mme Fontaine.

The EU’s Self-Defeating Aid Policy towards Palestine. CEPS Policy Brief No. 343/May 2016

Motivated by the dual aims of strengthening the Middle East Peace Process and contributing to Palestinian state-building, the European Union and its member states have been the biggest donors of financial assistance to the Palestinians. This CEPS Policy Brief finds, however, that these efforts have not achieved the desired change, as the EU failed to develop a coherent strategy to address Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and it has accepted practices that undermine its political objectives. Hence, the author, Brigitte Herremans, argues that the aid has not contributed to a strong Palestinian government that can contribute to the security of both Palestinian and Israeli civilians. She calls upon the EU and its member states to take more measures to ensure that aid is received by people in need and that illegal practices on the part of Israel do not hamper its effectiveness.

EIS QUE LIVRAREI DA PRISÃO O MEU POVO ISRAEL E JUDÁ : AS PALAVRAS DE SALVAÇÃO EM JR 30-31 COMO PROJETO DE RETRIBALIZAÇÃO

A presente tese propõe uma interpretação exegética da profecia de Jr 30-31 na perspectiva social. Jr 30-31 forma uma unidade literária no livro de Jeremias, composta por subunidades que podem ser designadas de perícopes. Grande parte das expectativas salvíficas deste trecho literário devem ser atribuídas à literatura originária do livro, e provém das articulações sociais engendradas por Jeremias no fim do século 7 e início do século 6 a.C. em prol dos empobrecidos da antiga sociedade palestina Israel/Norte e de Judá/Sul. Os primeiros ditos salvíficos de Jr 30-31 surgiram na época de Josias (Jr 30,10-11.18-21; 31,2-5). Nessa época, originaram-se as expectativas de salvação dirigidas para as populações israelitas do Norte. Outro intenso surgimento das expectativas salvíficas aconteceu nos anos imediatamente posteriores à queda de Judá, em 587 a.C., quando Jeremias novamente direcionou uma palavra de esperança aos pobres do Israel/Norte, e incluiu também em sua mensagem aqueles que permaneceram na terra de Judá/Sul depois do saque babilônico. Nesse cenário podem ser localizadas as seguintes perícopes: 30,3.5-7.12-17; 31,15.16-20.21-22.27-28.31-34. A presente tese supõe que, de modo geral, Jr 30-31 seja uma reconfirmação da desmilitarização e da desurbanização de Jerusalém ocorridas naquele período, já que esse novo cenário político e econômico favoreceu os desprestigiados da Palestina. O tribalismo é o moto das expectativas salvíficas da literatura jeremiana original. No engendramento de uma nova sociedade, retribalizada, livre do jugo monárquico e dos imperialismos, Jr 30-31 defendem a posse da terra aos camponeses que sofreram espoliações do império assírio e dos reis judaítas. Com a queda do Estado de Judá, os empobrecidos poderiam retomar suas vidas e possuir a terra como meio de produção e subsistência. A relação entre as palavras de salvação e o tribalismo também pode ser notado em outros trechos do livro de Jeremias. A estruturação verbal proponente de destruição e reconstrução de 31,28 pode ser encontrada em Jr 1,10; 18,7.9; 24,6; 42,10 e 45,4. As promessas de salvação contidas em Jr 1,10, 31,27-28 e 42,10 anunciam a continuidade da vida na terra de Judá depois da catástrofe de 587 a.C. Essa ideia também pode ser percebida em Jr 23,5-6, 30,8-9. Em Jr 24,6, por sua vez, lê-se uma promessa para os exilados de Judá, que viviam na Babilônia sob o sistema tribal. Em Jr 3,6-13.19-25; 4,1-2, as expectativas salvíficas de Jeremias apresentam o caminho para a reorganização social através da conversão para Javé.

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.

Innovative cartography standards for Web-GIS portals : case study of the 'Survey of Israel's' Web-GIS Portal

Maps have been published on the world wide web since its inception (Cartwright, 1999) and are still accessed and viewed by millions of users today (Peterson, 2003). While early webbased GIS products lacked a complete set of cartographic capabilities, the functionality within such systems has significantly increased over recent years. Functionalities once found only in desktop GIS products are now available in web-based GIS applications, for example, data entry, basic editing, and analysis. Applications based on web-GIS are becoming more widespread and the web-based GIS environment is replacing the traditional desktop GIS platforms in many organizations. Therefore, development of a new cartographic method for web-based GIS is vital. The broad aim of this project is to examine and discuss the challenges and opportunities of innovative cartography methods for web-based GIS platforms. The work introduces a recently developed cartographic methodology, which is based on a web-based GIS portal by the Survey of Israel (SOI). The work discusses the prospects and constraints of such methods in improving web-GIS interfaces and usability for the end user. The work also tables the preliminary findings of the initial implementation of the web-based GIS cartographic method within the portal of the Survey of Israel, as well as the applicability of those methods elsewhere.

Israel's airstrike on Syria's Al-Kibar facility : a test case for the doctrine of pre-emptive self-defence?

This article analyses the legality of Israel’s 2007 airstrike on an alleged Syrian nuclear facility at Al-Kibar—an incident that has been largely overlooked by international lawyers to date. The absence of a threat of imminent attack from Syria means Israel’s military action was not a lawful exercise of anticipatory self-defence. Yet, despite Israel’s clear violation of the prohibition on the use of force there was remarkably little condemnation from other states, suggesting the possibility of growing international support for the doctrine of pre-emptive self-defence. This article argues that the muted international reaction to Israel’s pre-emptive action was the result of political factors, and should not be seen as endorsement of the legality of the airstrike. As such, a lack of opinio juris means the Al-Kibar episode cannot be viewed as extending the scope of the customary international law right of self-defence so as to permit the use of force against non-imminent threats. However, two features of this incident—namely, Israel’s failure to offer any legal justification for its airstrike, and the international community’s apparent lack of concern over legality—are also evident in other recent uses of force in the ‘war on terror’ context. These developments may indicate a shift in state practice involving a downgrading of the role of international law in discussions of the use of force. This may signal a declining perception of the legitimacy of the jus ad bellum, at least in cases involving minor uses of force.

The validity and reliability of the Parent Fever Management Scale: A study from Palestine

Background Parental fever phobia and overuse of antipyretics to control fever is increasing. Little is known about childhood fever management among Arab parents. No scales to measure parents’ fever management practices in Palestine are available. Aims The aims of this study were to translate and examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Parent Fever Management Scale (PFMS). Methods A standard “forward–backward” procedure was used to translate PFMS into Arabic language. It was then validated on a convenience sample of 402 parents between July and October 2012. Descriptive statistics were used, and instrument reliability was assessed for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity was confirmed using convergent and known group validation. Results Applying the recommended scoring method, the median (interquartile range) score of the PFMS was 26 (23-30). Acceptable internal consistency was found (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.733) and the test–retest reliability value was 0.92 (P < 0.001). The chi-squared (χ2) test showed a significant relationship between PFMS groups and frequent daily administration of antipyretic groups (χ2 = 52.86; P < 0.001). The PFMS sensitivity and specificity were 77.67% and 57.75%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 67.89% and 32.11%, respectively. Conclusions The findings of this validation study indicate that the Arabic version of the PFMS is a reliable and valid measure which can be used as a useful tool for health professionals to identify parents’ fever management practices and thus provide targeted education to reduce the unnecessary burden of care they place on themselves when concerned for a febrile child.

Incidence trends of keratinocytic skin cancers and melanoma in Israel 2006-2011

BACKGROUND The incidence of skin cancer, both melanoma and keratinocyte cancers (KC) is rising throughout the world, specifically squamous cell carcinomas(SCC) and basal cell carcinoma(BCC), being the most common of all cancers. OBJECTIVE To determine trends in incidence of Melanoma, BCC and SCC among 1.7 million members of Maccabi Healthcare Services from 2006 to 2011. METHODS Data on newly diagnosed Melanoma, SCC and BCC cases was collected from the MHS Cancer Registry and based on histology reports from the centralized pathology lab. Age-specific and overall age-adjusted European standardized rates were computed. Trends were estimated by calculating Average Annual Percentage Change(AAPC). RESULTS During the six year study period, a total of 16,079 subjects were diagnosed with at least one BCC, 4,767 with SCC and 1,264 with invasive melanoma. Age-standardized incidence rates were 188, 58 and 17 per 100,000 person years for BCC, SCC and melanoma, respectively. All lesions were more common among males and primarily affected the elderly. BCC rates were stable throughout the study period(AAPC -0.7%, 95%CI -4.5% to 3.2%) while SCC incidence increased significantly(AAPC 15.5%, 95%CI: 2.6% to 30.0%). In contrast, melanoma rates continuously decreased with a significant AAPC of -3.0%, 95%CI (-4.5 to -0.1). CONCLUSIONS Previously unreported, the incidence of KC in Israel is high. The disparities in incidence trends between SCC, BCC and melanoma allude to their different etiologies. These findings underscore the importance of continuous monitoring, education and prevention programs in a growing high risk population.