Arab-Israeli Research Articles

Time-series satellite remote sensing reveals gradually increasing war damage in the Gaza Strip.

War-related urban destruction is a significant global concern, impacting national security, social stability, people's survival and economic development. The effects of urban geomorphology and complex geological contexts during conflicts, characterized by different levels of structural damage, are not yet fully understood globally. Here we report how integrating deep learning with data from the independently developed LuoJia3-01 satellite enables near real-time detection of explosions and assessment of different building damage levels in the Israel-Palestine conflict. We found that the damage continually increased from 17 October 2023 to 2 March 2024. We found 3747 missile craters with precision positions and sizes, and timing on vital infrastructure across five governorates in the Gaza Strip on 2 March 2024, providing accurate estimates of potential unexploded ordnance locations and assisting in demining and chemical decontamination. Our findings reveal a significant increase in damage to residential and educational structures, accounting for 58.4% of the total-15.4% destroyed, 18.7% severely damaged, 11.8% moderately damaged and 12.5% slightly damaged-which exacerbates the housing crisis and potential population displacement. Additionally, there is a 34.1% decline in the cultivated area of agricultural land, posing a risk to food security. The LuoJia3-01 satellite data are crucial for impartial conflict monitoring, and our innovative methodology offers a cost-effective, scalable approach to assess future conflicts in various global contexts. These first-time findings highlight the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further damage and support the release of hostages and subsequent reconstruction efforts.

Jewish Self-identification and Political Compromise: Evidence from the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict

This paper explores the relationship between Jewish self-identification and their attitudes to political compromise in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, grounded in social identity theory. The multifaceted dimensions of Jewish identity, such as religious, cultural, and national ones, and their impacts on political stances and peace negotiations. Through semi-structured interviews, the study reveals that Jewish collective identity significantly influences their political positions and behavior. Most respondents held that their Jewish identity shapes their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, mainly due to experiences of being persecuted and the establishment of Israel after the Holocaust, which lead them to a cautious attitude to political compromise, especially regarding security or sovereignty. Additionally, internal divisions within Jewish community (e.g., conservative to progressive) significantly influenced their attitudes to the conflict and a two-state solution. It emphasizes the important impact of recognizing and respecting Jewish identity on fostering inclusive dialogue, bridging ideological gaps, and promoting peace. It is necessary to pay attention to the crucial role of historical memory and cultural heritage in shaping political positions for effective conflict resolution strategies. This study offers insights but also exists limitations, suggesting future research, such as quantitative analysis and widening data collection to capture evolving political attitudes within the global Jewish diaspora.

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.

THE CONCEPT OF SECURITY IN GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY

The Ukrainian crisis escalation in February 2022 became an impetus for securitizing German foreign and domestic policies. An appeal to the notion of security is present in most significant discussions on the state development. Germany’s national security strategy securitized all major spheres of life in German society, making security a universal and comprehensive concept. This is also reflected in other guiding documents, such as the White Paper of the Bundeswehr, the Guiding Principles of Feminist Foreign Policy, the Cybersecurity Strategy. The «change of eras» concept announced by Olaf Scholz updated the security debate by addressing traditional military threats, launching a general revision of the security concept in German politics. Consequently, the boundaries of use of the security concept have expanded, making it commonly used by all participants of domestic political debates and, at the same time, significantly relativizing it. An illustrative example is the migration crisis, where both supporters and opponents of Berlin’s liberal migration policy appeal to German security interests. The further development of the security concept in German foreign policy will be determined by the development of the party-political system of the country, Berlin’s role in key international crises (Ukrainian conflict, Palestinian-Israeli conflict), and processes within German society.

Humanitarian Aid from the Islamic Mass Organizations in Indonesia to Palestine

The editorial in this issue highlights how humanitarian aid to Palestine has become a symbol of solidarity among Indonesians. It examines two major Islamic mass organizations in Indonesia, Nahdhatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, and how they mobilize their resources and members to support Palestinian relief. The two organizations show a strong commitment to supporting the Palestinian cause before the current war on Gaza, which started in October 2023. This commitment to helping the Palestinian struggle is also in line with the position of the Indonesian government and academics.

A Critical Analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Its Impact on the Continent of Africa

The Israel-Palestine conflict of 2023 encapsulated a year of heightened tensions, recurring violence, and elusive peace prospects. Against a backdrop of historical grievances and territorial disputes, the region witnessed a resurgence of hostilities marked by intermittent clashes, rocket attacks, and retaliatory airstrikes. Amidst escalating violence, both Israeli and Palestinian leadership have faced internal challenges and political turmoil, exacerbating the complexity of reaching a sustainable resolution. The absence of meaningful dialogue and trust-building measures further entrenched the cycle of violence, deepening the humanitarian crisis and exacerbating civilian suffering. Similarly, international actors, including the United Nations and key regional powers, have engaged in diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire and revive peace negotiations. However, deep-seated mistrust and divergent political agendas hindered progress towards a comprehensive peace agreement. As a result, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has resonated far beyond the borders of the Middle East, with reverberations felt even on the continent of Africa. Therefore, this research paper explores a critical analysis and delves into the multifaceted dimensions of the conflict's impact on Africa. Adopting qualitative methods and secondary sources of data, the research finds that the impact of the conflict on Africa ranges from political, economic, humanitarian, and social consequences. The paper concludes that the conflict has detrimental effects on the continent’s social cohesion and political stability. Lastly, the research paper recommends Ending of Settlement Expansion, Negotiation and Dialogue, Two-State Solution, and Promotion of Reconciliation as some of the possible means by which the conflict can come to an end.

The Nakba in Israeli history education: Ethical judgments in an ongoing conflict

ABSTRACT The Nakba, which means “the catastrophe” in Arabic, is the most controversial historical topic in Israeli history education. Despite the Nakba’s significance to the history of Israel and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, until the last decade it has traditionally been excluded from Israeli public discourse and school curriculum. This article analyzes the different types of ethical judgments about the Nakba included in authorized curricula, teaching resources, and national exams currently used in the Israeli Jewish public education systems. Our data analysis reveals that the Nakba is explicitly mentioned in 40% of teaching materials used in Israeli Jewish schools, and the teaching materials include six types of implied ethical judgments. We developed a typology of three ethical justifications commonly utilized in the teaching materials: denial; acknowledging suffering, limited responsibility; and complex engagement. While some of the teaching materials promote critical engagement with the Nakba, others continue to deny its existence or minimize the negative consequences experienced by Palestinians. This research highlights how political beliefs influence the ethical judgments made in teaching materials and the importance of teaching about ethical judgments for helping students critically engage with and understand difficult histories.

Comparative Framing of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in Newspapers: An Analysis of Affect

Comparative Framing of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in Newspapers: An Analysis of Affect

The Impact of Geopolitical Risks on Global Supply Chains - The Example of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Geopolitical risk is an international risk that transcends the borders of a single country, and in response to the diversity and suddenness of the types of geopolitical risk-causing indices, there are all kinds of uncertainties in the process of global supply chain management affected by geopolitical risk, which makes the main body of the supply chain affected by the risk. With the development of globalisation, more and more enterprises extend their production and supply chains to all parts of the world, which makes geopolitical risk one of the important challenges that they must pay attention to and deal with. Factors such as regional political instability caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, disruptions in the transport of goods, the impact on regional supply chains, and volatility in financial markets all pose challenges to the stability and reliability of global supply chains.

The Middle East Tragedy: Between Utopia and Dystopia

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the present Israeli-Palestinian war, with an emphasis on the destructive clash between two utopian visions: the vision of “Greater Israel” – including all Palestinian territories – of the far right in Israel, and the vision of destroying the state of Israel, fundamental in Hamas ideology. The dystopic result of this clash is explored from a psychoanalytic point of view, relying in part on Ogden’s notion of historicity as achieved only in the depressive position, and Jessica Benjamin’s notion of a “doer and done-to” mode which excludes recognition of the reciprocal interaction that is essential to that historicity. A brief review of the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, lasting more than a hundred years, points to the constant reciprocal influences leading to its deterioration, and ends with the hope for a pragmatic compromise that would alleviate the suffering and traumatization on both sides.

Unintentional childhood mortality during emergencies in Israel: a comparative study

BackgroundArmed conflicts are likely to have implications for the welfare and safety of children, potentially leading to increased rates of unintentional childhood injuries.MethodsWe examine data from Israel concerning the relationship...

School Violence in the Israeli Arab Educational System: Investigating the Implications of Paternalistic Leadership and teachers’ Job Satisfaction

ABSTRACT School violence is a growing issue that adversely affects learning, academic achievement, and student growth. Drawing upon the heuristic model of school violence proposed by the study proposes to examine the direct and indirect relationship (through teacher satisfaction) between paternalistic leadership (PL) and school violence in the Arab educational system in Israel. The data were collected through a questionnaire returned by a two-stage clusters random sampling of 350 teachers randomly chosen from 70 elementary Israeli Arab schools. Data were collected from three sources: self-reporting (teachers and students) and non-self-reporting to minimize measure error. The Structural Equation Modelling and bootstrap results highlighted that paternalistic leadership was not correlated to teachers’ satisfaction but directly correlated to school violence. The findings also showed positive relationships of teachers’ job satisfaction and lessening school violence levels. Implications for theory and practise are discussed.

Homophily in Interfaith Marriages in Israel Between Jewish Israeli Men and Arab Israeli Women

This study examines the perspectives of Israeli-Jewish men who are married to Israeli-Arab women. Given religious, ethnic, and political tensions and challenges, romantic relationships between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs are not common. The homophilic tendency is a common model used to choose a partner based on religious, social, linguistic and educational similarities. This study utilized interpretive phenomenological analysis approach to focus on a unique and rather rare phenomenon in Israel to understand the lived experiences and coping mechanisms of Jewish men who married Christian or Muslim women in Israel. Fifteen Israeli men married to Arab Muslim or Christian Israeli women were included interviewed. Based on the analysis of the findings, several themes were identified which describe how participants utilize a pragmatic approach to bridge family, social, religious and political tensions. These themes strengthen recent studies, which found a certain degree of flexibility toward homophily among Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Regional security and the role of regional players

The article examines the importance and necessity of creating a new international organization designed to take on the role of ensuring regional security. As an example, the Astana process to resolve the Syrian crisis, which was created with the participation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, is considered. Thus, the countries demonstrated the ability to take responsibility for ensuring regional security in the conflict zone. Russia, Iran and Türkiye were able to develop specifi c ways to resolve this crisis situation. Using the experience of the Astana format, such major players as Russia, Türkiye and Iran could find ways to solve other international problems. And here they may be joined by another influential world power — China. The strength of the new international security architecture will depend on these states. China has long played an important role in maintaining global stability. And here we can note the special role of mediation diplomacy, which has recently become the most striking calling card of Chinese diplomacy. Thus, in March 2023, with the participation of China, a historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran took place. In light of the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli confl ict, China has published a position paper on a political solution to the crisis. The document off ers recommendations to resolve the problem, namely, a complete cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, provision of humanitarian assistance, strengthening diplomatic mediation and the search for a political settlement. The authors come to the conclusion that, taking into account the accumulated experience in fi nding ways to resolve acute regional conflicts, and by joining forces, Russia, China, Iran and Türkiye are able to create an international structure for resolving crisis situations, which will become a guarantor for ensuring international security and stability.

From Grievances to Growth

Abstract Past animosities and complex geopolitics make the Israel-Palestine conflict complex and require a multifaceted approach. As modernization theory fails to address such conflicts, we combine post-colonial theory, identity politics, critical geopolitics, with modernization theory to provide a more complete picture. A comprehensive strategy for building a strong and united Palestinian society is presented in this paper, which emphasizes democratic changes, military power rebalancing, international law, and economic independence. Education and technological progress drive societal growth, so strong governance systems are essential for political stability. We demonstrate how these methods work and what are their drawbacks by analyzing real-life examples of how social, economic, and political factors affect conflict. In the study, governments, civil society, and international organizations are a key focus for finding a long-term solution. This extensive research on conflict resolution and growth expands the conversation and offers lessons that can be applied to various conflict situations.

The impact of potentially morally injurious experience of betrayal on PTSD and depression following the October 7th terror attack

With about 1200 individuals murdered, the massacre of October 7th was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history. The mental health consequences of terrorist attacks have been documented. However, little is known of the impact of the potentially morally injurious experience (PMIE) of betrayal––in which individuals feel betrayed by leaders they once trusted––on levels of psychological burden in the aftermath of such an attack. In this national prospective cohort study, we examined to what extent the PMIE of betrayal exacerbates the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in the wake of the October 7th terrorist attack. A representative sample of 710 Israeli adults (362 female, 51.1%), Jews (557, 79.9%) and Arabs (153, 20.1%), aged 18–85 (M = 41.01, SD = 13.72) completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing PTSD, depression, and PMIE-betrayal at two timepoints: T1, in August 2023 (6–7 weeks before the attack) and T2, in November 2023 (5–6 weeks after the attack). In two hierarchical logistic regressions, we found that experience of PMIE-betrayal predicted diagnoses of both PTSD (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.26–2.92) and depression (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.37–3.01) at T2, beyond probable PTSD/depression at T1 and demographic and trauma-related variables. Moreover, in two repeated-measure analyses predicting PTSD/depression symptoms, we found significant interactions between PTSD/depression trajectories and PMIE-betrayal, meaning that the increase of PTSD/depression symptoms was significantly higher among participants experiencing betrayal in the context of the attack. Our study highlights the impact of PMIE of betrayal on the dramatic increase in psychopathology following the October 7th terror attack on Israel’s population. Clinicians treating individuals coping with PTSD and depression should attend to their patients’ possible exposure to betrayal following the attack. Moreover, national leaders and policymakers should take significant steps to repair the public’s betrayal experience.

Pemikiran Etika Perang Imām al-Shawkānī: Analisis Teori Just War dan Relevansi Konflik Israel-Palestina

This research analyzes Imām al-Shawkānī’s thoughts on war ethics within the Just War theory perspective, using the book “Nayl al-Awṭār.” The Israel-Palestine conflict is seen as an example of the abuse of power in just war ethics to the detriment of Palestinian civilians. Just War theory emphasises justice, proportionality and protection of civilians, yet Israel's military operations often violate these principles. Imām al-Shawkānī's thought in Nayl al-Awṭār had an Islamic perspective that emphasised justice and humanity in war. Integrating Just War principles with al-Shawkānī's ethics of war can provide a strong ethical framework to evaluate military actions in the Israel-Palestine conflict and seek a more just solution. Through a library research method and descriptive analysis, this study aims to contribute to the explanation of the connection between religion, ethics, and armed conflict, while promoting international peace and justice. Its practical implications highlight the significance of strengthening Islamic values in facing foreign cultural dominance, while its contemporary relevance underscores the necessity of upholding international law and human rights conventions in addressing armed conflicts. Thus, this research not only provides new insights into the ethics of war in Islam but also highlights the importance of actions to uphold humanity and justice in global armed conflicts.

The Israelite Community Council of Sidon 1914–1948: Between the Yishuv and Grand Liban

Abstract The history of the Jews of Lebanon is often overlooked—they are considered victims of the Arab–Israeli conflict, or within the context of the wider Levantine Jewish community. Sidon, a port city of biblical origins, is a distinct case study through which to examine the interplay between Zionism and Lebanese nationalism because of Sidon’s historical background, geographic proximity to Palestine, and subordinate position to the Beiruti Jewish community. I show how the Israelite Community Council operated within a contested national-ethnic sphere, where it effectively straddled the Zionism promoted by members of the Yishuv and the emerging Lebanese nationalism of the newly established Grand Liban. Initially seeing itself as part of the Land of Israel/Eretz Israel, the Jewish community of Sidon asserted itself within the multiconfessional Lebanese state. Sitting at the crossroads of competing ethnonational currents, Sidon’s Jewish community leaders espoused a fluid, local-territorial-based identity, one that was at ease both with Jewish and Lebanese nationalism. We expand our understanding of this now dispersed community through an examination of the evolution of national borders, intercommunal relationships, and engagement with the Yishuv.

Correction to ‘Territorial ownership perceptions and reconciliation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: A person‐centred approach’

Correction to ‘Territorial ownership perceptions and reconciliation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: A person‐centred approach’

Social Media Attention to Geopolitical Conflicts - An Analysis of Weibo Users' Comments on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In the globalized information age, social media has become a primary channel for news and information dissemination, particularly during geopolitical conflicts. This study investigates public sentiment and discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Utilizing content analysis, the researcher conducted sentiment statistics and word frequency analysis on Weibo comments to understand Chinese public attitudes toward this conflict. The research reveals a significant increase in negative emotions from 33.33% in October 2023 to 100% in April 2024, indicating growing public discontent and concern as the conflict intensified. Concurrently, positive emotions sharply declined from 47.62% to 0%, reflecting diminished hopes for a peaceful resolution. Neutral sentiments also fluctuated, initially at 19.05%, dropping to 0% by April 2024. Additionally, the study identifies a shift in keyword usage from "world peace" and "hope" to specific entities like "Israel" and "Hamas," and terms like "disaster." This highlights a change in public and media focus from peace initiatives to the humanitarian impact of the conflict. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for promoting a more inclusive gaming environment, challenging existing gender stereotypes, and fostering social stability. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of Chinese public opinion on international geopolitical issues and underscores the importance of social media in shaping public discourse.