Israeli War Research Articles

THE ISRAEL WAR AS A SOCIAL DISASTER AND THE FORCED MIGRATION OF PALESTINIANS

Some new types of modern wars, such as social disasters, affect not only the front lines but also every aspect of society. The Israel War represents one of the most typical examples of how deep and far-reaching the effects of social disasters can be. The impacts of modern wars can persist across generations, affecting everything from individual lives to global stability, and the process of social recovery can be long-term and complex. This study emphasizes that the Israel War should not be considered merely as a military and political issue but rather as a social disaster with extensive social and humanitarian consequences. The study evaluates the Israel War as a social disaster due to its mass casualties, humanitarian crisis, genocide, widespread human rights violations, displacement, and the need for emergency aid. The Nakba event, which holds a significant place in the ongoing Israel War since the establishment of the State of Israel, also represents a catastrophe. The periodic attacks carried out by Israel on Palestine since its founding have caused thousands of Palestinians to be displaced and forced to leave their homes. This study also briefly addresses the challenges faced by Palestinian refugees as a result of the Israel War.

The ‘Iran Card’ in Russian Foreign Policy

AbstractSince the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran and Moscow have increased their collaboration. Iran supported Russia's war in Ukraine, believing that it would weaken the Americans, reduce the effects of sanctions, and benefit its battered economy. Similarly, Russia sought to use Iran as a tool to challenge US influence in the region. However, the authors contend, the costs and benefits have been asymmetrical: While Moscow has gained strategic advantages at minimal expense, the Islamic Republic has borne substantial geopolitical burdens. This study explores the evolution of Iran‐Russia relations and assesses the implications for both countries in their conflicts with the United States. It analyzes their cooperation on the wars in Syria and Ukraine, showing that Tehran has been compelled to act in Moscow's interests but has not always received the same support. This has come into sharp relief since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, as Iran has faced attacks on its allies and on its own territory. To defend itself and its interests, it needs advanced military equipment, which the Russians have yet to provide. The evidence indicates that Iran's reliance on Russia has led to more harm than benefit.

Book Forum on Hans Kundnani's Eurowhiteness: Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project

This book forum discusses Hans Kundnani’s pivotal book on “Eurowhiteness” and the role of race in the EU integration project. It includes three reactions from Stefan Auer, Pavel Barša, and Agnes Gagyi, along with Kundnani’s response. Eurowhiteness skillfully reveals what has been obscured by the European Union as a vehicle of “imperial amnesia”. The three reactions and the author’s response continue a polemical discussion on this imperial amnesia, as viewed through different intellectual traditions and regions, including Central and Eastern Europe and anti-colonial perspectives. As a result, the forum uses the book to either deepen the debate on the EU’s civilizationism with new perspectives or expand the Eurowhiteness narrative with new geo-historical contexts and connections. Issues of Russian imperialism in Ukraine, the Israeli war in Gaza, and the economic dimensions of European coloniality are brought to the foreground, particularly when viewed through the imagination and reality of Central (and Eastern) Europe.

War, higher education and development: the experience for educationalists at Gaza’s universities

AbstractThe 2014 Israeli war on the Gaza Strip was described, as the ‘longest’ and ‘most violent’, compared to previous wars since 2008. This paper reports on this war experiences for educationalists (academic staff and students) at two of Gaza’s universities. It draws on 36 in-depth semi-structured interviews with educationalists in the Gaza Strip, which I conducted via Skype and mobile/phones from the UK, for my PhD research at the University of Cambridge. Theoretically, the inductive study uses insights from Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Bourdieu’s work on symbolic violence, retrospectively. Findings from this research show the impact of the war on Gaza’s educationalists has varied between vulnerability and resilience. The memories of loss, fear, and dehumanization continued to affect educationalists, even after the war came to halt. Some of Gaza’s universities buildings, and facilities were also damaged. Consequently, Gaza’s universities found themselves in a dilemma on how to manage immediate needs, with developmental prospects. This paper documents the history of Gaza’s universities, enhancing our sociological understanding of the experiences of higher education in the Gaza Strip, and the challenges for its development. The research widens the geographical scope of research on conflict, and education, by including the experiences of educationalists in the occupied and besieged context of Gaza, which is significantly under-researched. Insights from this research could be useful to inform the process of reconstruction of higher education in the Gaza Strip, after Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, since 7th October 2023 comes to end.

Israeli War Crimes in Palestine from the Perspective of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, marked by alleged war crimes against the Palestinian people, is rooted in a long and complex history. Despite numerous ceasefire agreements and peace negotiations, the conflict remains unresolved, often due to unilateral violations attributed to Israel. This research aims to analyze these war crimes within the framework of human rights and international humanitarian law. Using a normative legal research method and a literature study approach, the study reveals that Israel has repeatedly violated key principles of international humanitarian law, specifically military necessity, humanity, and proportionality. Incidents, such as the use of white phosphorus bombs and blockades on humanitarian aid, have intensified the conflict and are found to contravene the 1949 Geneva Convention. These actions amount to war crimes, severe human rights violations, and acts of genocide. The implications of this research underline the urgent need for accountability and adherence to international law to prevent further human rights abuses and promote lasting peace in the region.

Russia's Diplomatic Maneuvering In the Israel‐Palestine War

AbstractThis article assesses Russia's policy and behavior since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and Israel's war on Gaza. For years, Moscow's approach to the Israel‐Palestine conflict was based on “equidistance” between the two parties—maintaining working relations with the Israelis and pledging friendship to the Palestinians. However, the outbreak of the latest war led Russia to take a clearly pro‐Palestinian stance and harshly criticize Tel Aviv's military response. The analysis shows that while relations were strained by Russian officials’ anti‐Israel statements, Moscow did not fundamentally alter its position. It did not cross Israel's red lines by arming Hamas and other militant groups, nor did it abandon its well‐established commitment to the two‐state solution. Russia's rhetoric and its high‐level diplomacy primarily serve to court the pro‐Palestinian Global South and to escape the diplomatic isolation sparked by the war in Ukraine.

The impact of war situation on endometriosis patients: Evaluating physical and mental health outcomes.

To investigate the impact of war situation on physical functioning, mental health status, and disease manifestations among endometriosis patients. Questionnaire-based study analyzing physical and psychosocial well-being. The study includes 50 endometriosis patients at Sheba Medical Center who completed a detailed questionnaire before and after the onset of the October 7, 2023, War in Israel. Significant deterioration in physical and mental health after the onset of war (pain score 6 vs 7; p < 0.001). Although having a first-degree relative affected by the war was associated with health deterioration (OR, 5.44; p = 0.02), similar pattern of health status aggregation was observed also in a subgroup of 19 women without family involvement, suggesting the general war situation as a likely cause. Starting new anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications and psychological therapy had a protective effect (OR, 0.21; p = 0.05). War situation exacerbates endometriosis symptoms, highlighting the importance of early psychological interventions to mitigate negative impacts.

What It Means To Be Palestinian

Abstract In this essay, I argue that during moments of extreme flux and danger, such as the ongoing Israeli war against Gaza, it becomes relevant to consider how Palestinian identity is constructed and performed by a variety of actors, by Palestinians and by their supporters, as the most compelling contemporary form of a transnational anti-colonial identity emerging within and in opposition to persisting colonial structures, oppression and subjugation. It is also in these moments, I propose, that it becomes necessary to resituate, reconfigure and re-center Palestine in the imagination, not as a pre-determined bounded entity, but as an entity that is always in conversation with its imagined spatiality and temporality and with national and transnational communal anti-colonial struggles.

The Effect of Stressful Life Events on Online Privacy Protective Behavior of Israeli Students

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study investigates the influence of stressful life events on privacy‐protective behavior. We examine the effects of the ongoing state of war in Israel on the rate of deliberate falsification of personal details during website registration, in a user study of 107 students at Israeli universities. The students were queried using a quantitative method in online closed‐ended questionnaires. This research builds on our previous work (Weinberger &amp; Bouhnik, 2021) examining the effects of other stressful life events, specifically the COVID‐19 pandemic, on the privacy‐protective behavior of Israeli students. We found that distrust of website operators and the desire to remain anonymous are the most common reasons for identity falsification. In addition, our analysis showed that the greater the concern over privacy, the more likely identity falsification was to occur. The Israel‐Hamas War in Israel seems to have exacerbated privacy concerns among online users, in turn increasing the tendency of users to exhibit privacy‐protective behavior.

Reshaping sport performers' careers: Lessons from the 2023–2024 war in Israel

The war experience (WE) presents a highly troublesome period for sport performers, with severe effects on their lives and career trajectories. In this article, we initially conceptualize the WE through the scheme of change for sport psychology practice (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a). The WE is considered a longitudinal, multifaceted, unpredicted, noncontrolled, negative change-event, developed over four distinct stages with specific demands and responses: (a) a pre-war stage, (b) War stage-A accompanied by instability and confusion, (c) War stage-B characterized by active coping or regression, and (d) War stage-C; return to sport activity, modification of activity, or retirement. The development of this change process in sport performers’ careers is discussed within the context of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. Thereafter, we discuss applied practice efforts to support sport performers through the WE. The conclusions offer future avenues for researchers and practitioners when attempting to evaluate and cope with this unique change-event.

Posttraumatic growth trajectories and the psychopathological response to Covid-19: A longitudinal study of former prisoners of war and combat veterans

BackgroundPosttraumatic Growth (PTG) is the subjective experience of positive psychological change following exposure to trauma. Yet, researchers have discussed whether PTG is a positive outcome or a self-deceptive coping mechanism. The present study investigates PTG-trajectories and their ability to predict psychopathology in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in a longitudinal study of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and combat veterans from the 1973 Yom Kippur War in Israel. MethodsData was collected in five waves from 1991 to 2020 (NT5 = 256). To identify latent profiles of change in PTG over time, Group-Based Trajectory Modeling was applied. Logistic regression examined whether study group and PTSD-clusters predict latent trajectories of change. Boostrap MANOVA was applied to examine if the latent trajectories predict veterans’ psychopathological response to Covid-19. ResultsA 2-class solution was the best representation of the data. Being ex-POW significantly predicted the likelihood of developing high PTG over time. The High PTG group had significantly higher Acute Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, and general psychopathology in response to Covid-19. ConclusionIn conclusion, PTG is associated with greater vulnerability for psychopathology in response to later adversities. Hence, the subjective experience of positive change does not appear to signify higher resilience in trauma victims.

Israel's War on Gaza in a Global Frame

AbstractThe objective of this article is to set out lines of international complicity in Israel's war on Gaza towards establishing not merely a refreshed agenda for research but also strategic sites of accountability and intervention. The article surveys Israeli military activities in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, drawing focus on three key points of international military collaboration: the F‐16 fighter jet; the GBU type bomb; and the weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. We then turn to multiple other geographies of exchange that are visible through a global frame, including military aid, ideological support, and the deployment of military personnel from overseas. The article thus substantiates an argument that Israeli military violence in Gaza depends on a global network of supply, demand, and complicity whose extraneous relationship with the state indicates politically urgent sites of critical inquiry and intervention.

Journal Statement on Palestine and Palestinian Liberation

At a time when we should be focused on establishing a heliocentric view of identity that sees us all fighting to protect life on this planet and whatever miracles we may find in our solar system, we continue to find our institutions of higher learning entrenched with the interests of warmongers, war criminals, and human rights violators. The UC has failed to call for a ceasefire or review its investments and support of Israel's war effort. The UC has spent over $30 billion towards genocide. No longer can we, as students and staff, stand behind our University contributing to the demolition of dozens of educational institutions in Palestine. Our work as educators is compromised when we stand by those who kill children, students, teachers, and administrators. It compromises our values when our research is used to whitewash a land, and erase a people’s cultural and historical heritages and histories from the face of the Earth. We cannot sit idly by while our University resources continue to contribute to apartheid and genocide, the murder of thousands of her students and teachers, and the massacre of tens of thousands of children and their families. How can UCLA keep its motto, Fiat Luxe, Let there be light, when the administration attempts to obfuscate, deny, and conceal the violence being committed in collaboration with our administration? Let there be shame.

Indonesia’s Diplomatic Actions in the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Indonesia has consistently fought for Palestinian independence, utilizing parliamentary diplomacy to enhance its role in international efforts that support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The problem formulations in this study are (1) what factors inhibit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? (2) what is the role of Indonesian diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? This study aims to examine Indonesia's diplomatic actions towards the conflict between Israel and Palestine. This study uses a descriptive-qualitative method. The data sources in this study are books, journals, and electronic news from several related objects. The results of this study are in the case of the Indonesian Hospital in Palestine, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the proper party to adjudicate Israel's war violations of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The UN Security Council should not obstruct the enforcement of violations of international law in political relations. The veto cannot be exercised if it conflicts with jus cogens norms or undermines the ability of other Security Council members to collaborate in response to grave violations of human rights. Indonesia's Foreign Minister condemned the situation in Gaza as a human rights violation and recommended an immediate ceasefire, rejection of double standards, and support for accountable mechanisms. Indonesia also highlighted the Palestinian people's right to self-determination at the International Court of Justice. As a UN Human Rights Council member, Indonesia made justice for the Palestinian people a key issue, recommending three important actions: strengthening the human rights ecosystem, addressing the global humanitarian crisis, and promoting human rights equally.

Negotiating the Restoration Of the Iran Nuclear Deal

AbstractThere have been protracted negotiations in Vienna to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or nuclear deal, that Iran signed in 2015 but was suspended by the withdrawal of the United States four years later. This article argues that two factors account for the failure to renew the JCPOA. One is the 2021 change of presidency in Iran from the reformist Hassan Rouhani to the conservative Ebrahim Raisi. The other is the transformed international environment that provided Iran with opportunities to align with China and Russia. While it suited Iran to continue the nuclear talks to minimize the risk of more punitive actions, Tehran has recalculated its interests and taken a hard line on a potential new deal. The process has grown more complicated with Israel's war in Gaza, the conflict's possible expansion across the region, and the election of a new Iranian president. The analysis concludes that Iran is unlikely to return to the JCPOA.

The Development of the Jordanian National Guard in the 1950s

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Palestinians living in the West Bank began to infiltrate Israel. These infiltrations were characterised by robberies and break-ins, and sometimes the killing of Israelis. Israel responded to these actions with military raids and harm to the civilian population in the villages of Jordan from which these infiltrators set out and crossed the border. As a result, a defensive Jordanian National Guard was developed. Shaul Bartal presents the Jordanian military concept behind the Jordanian National Guard and outlines its military successes in repelling Israeli attacks in the period preceding the 1956 Suez Crisis. ◼

Amid the Fray: A Thematic Discourse Analysis of Presidential Statements Issued in Response to the 2023 War in Israel and Palestine

Amid the Fray: A Thematic Discourse Analysis of Presidential Statements Issued in Response to the 2023 War in Israel and Palestine

It matters what you see: Graphic media images of war and terror may amplify distress

Media exposure to graphic images of violence has proliferated in contemporary society, particularly with the advent of social media. Extensive exposure to media coverage immediately after the 9/11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombings (BMB) was associated with more early traumatic stress symptoms; in fact, several hours of BMB-related daily media exposure was a stronger correlate of distress than being directly exposed to the bombings themselves. Researchers have replicated these findings across different traumatic events, extending this work to document that exposure to graphic images is independently and significantly associated with stress symptoms and poorer functioning. The media exposure-distress association also appears to be cyclical over time, with increased exposure predicting greater distress and greater distress predicting more media exposure following subsequent tragedies. The war in Israel and Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, provides a current, real-time context to further explore these issues as journalists often share graphic images of death and destruction, making media-based graphic images once again ubiquitous and potentially challenging public well-being. For individuals sharing an identity with the victims or otherwise feeling emotionally connected to the Middle East, it may be difficult to avoid viewing these images. Through a review of research on the association between exposure to graphic images and public health, we discuss differing views on the societal implications of viewing such images and advocate for media literacy campaigns to educate the public to identify mis/disinformation and understand the risks of viewing and sharing graphic images with others.

Public Diplomacy in Time of War. Israel's War on Gaza Case Study

This paper aims to study the conflict between Israel and Hamas and its public diplomacy implications. In contemporary societies, war is viewed negatively as a phenomenon that destroys the peaceful life of society and dramatically changes people's lives. It has the potential to do great harm and spread systematic disruption, fear, and uncertainty in societies at war. It also produces profound changes in the perceptions of others in public opinion. These negative transformations affect all aspects of international political life at the regional or even global level. In such situations, there is an urgent need to take measures to remove such states of affairs. Public diplomacy can be one way to return societies to pre-war normality. It can lead to the restoration of trust in societies affected by war. It can also repair these misperceptions and reconnect people and societies to a normal life. All these are possible if public diplomacy informs a wider audience as objectively as possible. Many specialists argue that during wartime, states used public diplomacy in order to promote their subjective positions by influencing public opinion in national, regional, and global contexts. The main question is whether public diplomacy can achieve its aims and objectives during wartime.

Media treatment on the websites of Western news agencies directed to Arabs for the Israeli war on Gaza 2023: a comparative analytical study

Media treatment on the websites of Western news agencies directed to Arabs for the Israeli war on Gaza 2023: a comparative analytical study