ABSTRACT Both Sri Lanka and Israel entered the Westphalian epoch in 1948, but the relationship between the two states remained fragile from the beginning. The father of the nation and the first premier of Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake, was among the first world leaders to recognise the independent State of Israel, but the subsequent political upheavals that took place in Sri Lanka weakened the budding stage of Israeli–Sri Lanka relations. In particular, Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s relations with the Arab world and promoting the non-aligned movement deteriorated Israeli–Sri Lankan relations. Anti-colonial and anti-capitalist slogans were gleefully welcomed in the non-aligned platform with a special emphasis on the national liberation movements in which the Palestinian cause was highlighted. This paper examines the many ups and downs that shaped Sri Lanka–Israel relations while assessing how Sri Lanka’s internal politics and security dilemmas hampered Israel–Sri Lanka relations. This paper also evaluates the security partnership between the two states.

The aim of the following paper is to show the possibility of rethinking the concept of resilience starting from the Palestinian context: specifically, to rethink the concept of resilience as it is interpreted in the West (resilience of the individual in adversity and his adaptation), the work draws inspiration from the concept of sumud, elaborated within the actions of Palestinian resistance and struggle. To do this, the following work takes up some concepts, such as that of «vicarious trauma» (Jabr 2019) and tries to interpret them starting from the recognition of the connections that arise from a common feeling of individuals and widespread collectivities that still find inspiration from the Palestinian cause, acting and mobilizing around the word sumud.

Although various studies have examined the economic and political impacts of product boycotts, research focusing on the implementation of economic boycotts driven by religious fatwas in the Indonesian context remains scarce. This study seeks to fill that gap by analyzing the Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) Fatwa No. 83/2023 concerning support for the Palestinian cause and the boycott of pro-Israel products, within the framework of fiqh siyasah and the concept of economic warfare. Using a descriptive qualitative method with a contextual content analysis approach, this research explores the substance and implications of the fatwa. The analysis finds that the fatwa emphasizes the moral and political dimensions of Muslim solidarity, positioning boycotts and the distribution of zakat and infaq as forms of ethical and humanitarian responsibility rather than economic instruments. Furthermore, the fatwa illustrates the integration of fiqh siyasah principles into contemporary discourse on global justice and Muslim solidarity. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how religious authority can influence moral reasoning and collective action within Islamic economic thought. The findings provide conceptual insights for scholars, policymakers, and community leaders on the role of Islamic legal perspectives in shaping ethical responses to global political issues, while promoting peaceful and principled engagement in international relations.

The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, constituted a profound shock to regional stability, prompting questions about its strategic rationale given the anticipated severe Israeli retaliation. This article argues that the timing and execution of the operation are primarily explicable when situated within the escalating geopolitical competition and shifting alignments in the Middle East, particularly the drive toward Israeli–Arab normalization and the proposed India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). From this perspective, Hamas’s attack can be analyzed as a calculated, albeit high-risk, intervention designed to disrupt these transformative regional projects, which were perceived by Hamas and its regional allies, notably Iran, as detrimental to their respective interests and the broader Palestinian cause. Applying a Neoclassical Realist framework, the analysis explores how a non-state actor, such as Hamas, responds to these evolving systemic and regional dynamics, driven by an assessment of threats and opportunities within this wider power contest. By focusing on these overarching regional interests and rivalries, this article seeks to explain the October 7 attacks as a critical juncture in the re-emerging multipolar competition, where Hamas’s actions, while rooted in the Palestinian context, were shaped and enabled by broader geopolitical currents aimed at challenging the US-led regional order and its associated diplomatic initiatives.

Social media has significantly reshaped traditional concepts of free media, steering it toward greater independence. After decades of control by ministries of communication and gatekeepers over audio-visual content, these institutions have gradually lost their influence, leading to a more decentralized media landscape. In this new environment, social media platforms have become powerful tools, shaping social and political narratives by controlling information dissemination, often aligning with their policies. Artificial intelligence's rise has amplified algorithms' role, particularly during geopolitical wars and conflicts. For instance, during the latest Israeli war in Gaza that erupted in October 2023, thousands of accounts supporting the Palestinian cause were banned, raising concerns about freedom of expression due to algorithms' ability to manipulate public opinion. In response, users have adopted various tactics, such as employing encryption and content modification techniques to evade algorithmic censorship. Despite the widespread use of these tactics across the Arab world, no research has systematically explored their effectiveness in countering algorithms, especially in crisis-prone regions. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the most common encryption techniques used by users during the Gaza war, particularly in resistance axis countries. This study will utilize a mixed-methods approach to analyse a sample of 80 social media posts sourced from X, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The analysis will identify the most effective methods for circumventing AI-based censorship and highlight the sophisticated strategies used to protect freedom of expression in the digital age. Keywords: Algorithmic censorship, Gaza conflict, data encryption, social media bias, crisis communication strategies.

The six‑member states of the GCC, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, for a long time have neither recognized the existence of the state of Israel nor hold any official diplomatic relations with it. Despite this, their interactions existed and developed, changing from open hostility to neutrality and even cooperation in certain areas. However, because their mutual relations are complex and embedded in a network of internal and international connections, their development is strongly dependent on the security dynamics in the Middle East. Two factors have a particularly strong influence on the development of Israel’s relations with the GCC states: the Palestinian cause and the perception of the Iranian threat. This article explains the political and security interactions between GCC member states and Israel, their evolution, and their impact on the Middle Eastern regional order. Despite the development in the Gulf states’ relations with Israel their scope remains limited and is driven largely by a common sense of the Iranian threat. Most relations remain informal, apart from Bahrain and the UAE, which have established official diplomatic relations. As the study shows the regional patterns of amity and enmity are durable, especially when it comes to the Gulf societies’ affection for the Palestinian cause and their aversion to Israel. The support for Palestinians in the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict still marks a red line that none of the Gulf states decides to cross.

Abstract This article presents a reading and an analysis of the Palestinian cause and resistance in the writings and speeches of three prominent Egyptian Christian religious figures: the One Hundred and Seventeenth Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, Pope Shonouda III ; the One Hundred and Eighteenth Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, Pope Tawdrous II and Jesuit Father William Sidhom. It also shows the role of the Palestinian cause in the relationship between the Egyptian state and the Coptic Church by studying the historical incident of the removal of Pope Shenouda III from his position as the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church and his imprisonment by President Anwar Sadat after Pe Shenouda III ’s ban on Coptic pilgrimages to Israel. This article attempts to challenge the narrative that the Palestinian cause is a Muslim/Jewish conflict and to present an alternative narrative of the Palestinian cause as a Christian cause and the Palestinian identity as a Christian identit in the speeches and writings of these three influential Egyptian Christian religious figures.

Abstract In this paper I use rational economic models to explain the origins of two recent wars, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 and the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. In both cases the literature has prominently featured two different kinds of motivations for the attacks, one offensive and one defensive. Did Russia invade Ukraine because it was afraid that Ukraine was getting too strong and too close to NATO and Russia was weakened by this? Or did it invade because Putin thought that the West was weak, particularly after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan? Did Hamas attack Israel on October 7th because it was afraid that the other Arab countries were about to abandon the Palestinian cause and thus forever weaken it? Or did its leaders believe they could advance the Palestinian cause with a successful attack and withstand the Israeli response, having built a vast system of tunnels with money from Qatar, and possibly counting on help from Hezbollah and Iran? I address these questions in this paper with economic models. I use the models – of dictatorship and terrorism – developed in my previous work, to provide answers to these questions. In both cases, the models favor the offensive explanations of the attacks as opposed to the defensive ones. Russia attacked Ukraine because it thought it could win easily. Hamas attacked Israel because of its newfound strength.

This article explores the evolving roles of Sunnī and Shīʿī political actors in the current Gaza crisis, with a focus on how Iran has come to occupy the rhetorical and symbolic space once dominated by Sunnī Arab leadership. Historically, since the establishment of Israel in 1948, Sunnī regimes positioned themselves as the primary defenders of the Palestinian cause. However, recent shifts—originating in the late 1970s and evolving into the current wave of normalization agreements between Arab states and Israel—have weakened this leadership role. In this vacuum, Iran has articulated a theological-political narrative grounded in Shīʿī doctrines of resistance, martyrdom, and moral duty toward the oppressed, reframed through Khomeinist ideology to legitimize its regional geopolitical ambitions. Drawing on political theology as a theoretical framework, this article analyzes how sacred history shapes Iran’s foreign policy discourse and legitimizes its regional role. This article argues that the current Gaza crisis illustrates a significant transformation in the religious-political landscape of the Muslim world, as Iran leverages its Shīʿī identity to assert moral and political leadership over a cause once firmly associated with Sunnī solidarity. This study concludes that Shīʿism, led by Iran, has shown unwavering support for the Palestinian cause through its backing of Hamas in its latest conflict, despite Iran’s simultaneous pursuit of wider regional drives and ideological goals. Still, Iran’s foreign policies cannot be separated from the historical incidents that gave rise to the Shīʿī tradition of protest and resistance, which remain integral to how Iran’s Shīʿism positions itself in the present conflict.

ABSTRACT This research investigates the challenges facing education in marginalized Palestinian areas and explores how such education fosters resilience and promotes international awareness and solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Using a qualitative approach, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers, administrators, students, and the spokesperson from the Palestinian Ministry of Education to examine working and learning conditions, identify obstacles, and assess governmental efforts to sustain education under hardship. Findings reveal that schools in marginalized areas endure severe political, security, and resource-related constraints but remain crucial in strengthening Palestinian identity, resilience, and empowerment. The study recommends enhancing institutional and international support, ensuring protection for educational processes, and leveraging education as a means to advocate globally for Palestinian students’ rights and the broader national cause.

This article examines the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has persisted since the is- suance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The declaration paved the way for the establishment of Israel in 1948 and consequently led to the displacement of the Pales- tinian population. Since then, numerous confrontations have occurred, including the Six-Day War, the Intifada movements, and repeated assaults on Gaza. The conflict reached a new level of escalation in October 2023 through the Taufan al-Aqsa (Al- Aqsa Storm) operation, involving Hamas with the support of Hezbollah (Lebanon), the Houthi movement (Yemen), and Iran. Although Sunni and Shia groups differ ide- ologically, the participation of Shia factions demonstrates a shared opposition to Israel and a unified front in defending Palestine amidst the complex geopolitical tensions of the Middle East. The findings of this article indicate that the involvement of Shia factions in the Taufan al-Aqsa conflict, such as Iran’s support through Hezbollah and the Houthi movement has effectively created a proxy war against Israel, encompassing both military and ideological dimensions. Despite theological differences, Sunni and Shia actors remain united in resisting Israeli occupation. Within the framework of re- ligious moderation, the principles of tawassuth (moderation) and tasamuh (tolerance) enable Sunnis to support the Palestinian cause on humanitarian grounds, without nec- essarily endorsing Shia doctrinal positions. Solidarity rooted in shared human values thus serves as the foundation for cross-sectarian collaboration in the ongoing Pales- tinian struggle.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a political struggle that exploits its paradoxes spatio-temporally to dynamize the concreteness of otherness, displacement and ambivalence. Two nations with different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds are bludgeoned into self-defense, autonomy, superstructure and over-dominance. Many theoretical and empirical studies are declared to approach the historical dichotomy between Palestine and Israel, but no one seems a subtle evidence for analyzing the phantasmatic quality of this classical hierarchization. In fact, it is a verbal and material embodiment that enunciates the subjective and fetishistic connotations of the colonialist discourse. The Manichaeism between Palestine and Israel is a simulacrum of difference and differentiation that expunge one identity to contextualize the power dynamics of another one. Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine is one of Ghada Karmi's magnum opuses where she deconstructs the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from its political, cultural, economic and social double-consciousness. In fact, she addresses Israel's dilemma with Palestine syntagmatically and diachronically to create a thematic and systematic disquisition of its latent substratum. This literary framework is a literal argumentation of the pseudo and metaphorical representation that disenchants the historical arborescence of Palestine. That's why this paper tries to perlustrate the main argumentative approaches that are addressed by Ghada Karmi for evidencing the importance of the Palestinian cause in understanding too many anthropological and epistemological phenomena that get provoked by the universality of the imperialist regime in conceptualizing the 'Three Worlds' theory. Therefore, how does Israeli effacement of Palestine's entity contribute to the reconstruction of two paradoxical identities that redefine the denotative and connotative senses of otherness, displacement and ambivalence?<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0422/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

ABSTRACT: The world's largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East lives in Chile, where Palestinians have migrated since the 1880s. Much of Chile's Palestinian culture is expressed via Club Palestino, a football club founded in 1920 that plays in Chile's top division. The team uniforms feature the colors of the Palestinian flag. The essay examines the broader historical context of the Palestinian presence in Chile and how this community utilized its sports club to integrate into society while maintaining connections to its ancestral culture. Club Palestino's identity is intertwined with a sense of solidarity with the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the challenges of cultural survival amid genocide.

Abstract: In this article I analyze the evolution of Malaysia’s foreign policy toward Palestine, utilizing a foreign policy analysis framework that integrates bilateralism and transregionalism to capture the multifaceted interactions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The study traces Malaysia’s transformation from a newly independent state concerned primarily with national security to a middle power actively participating in organizations like the OIC and NAM. Under Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia paid little attention to the Palestinian issue, mainly due to its reliance on Western support. However, political and societal changes in the late 1960s, alongside pivotal events in Palestine, led to a more supportive approach under Abdul Razak, who embraced religious and nationalist sentiments favoring the Palestinian cause. This trajectory continued and intensified through the leadership of Hussein Onn and reached a peak under Mahathir Mohamad, whose personal commitment to Palestine significantly shaped the country’s foreign policy. The article also examines the continuity of this policy under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the emergence of new influential actors, including humanitarian non-governmental organizations and dynamic public opinion, during Najib Abdul Razak’s tenure. This analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of Malaysia’s foreign policy evolution toward Palestine during the Barisan Nasional era (1957–2018) and its broader implications for international relations in the Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern regions.

While remix has received scholarly attention as a grassroots mode of identity expression in the Palestinian context, its integration into institutional digital archives remains underexplored. This article examines how Palestine Remix, a digital archive launched by Al-Jazeera in 2014, mediates Palestinian identity and history through participatory affordances and selective exposure, with particular focus on three tools: keyword tagging, the ‘destroyed villages’ database, and remix. The article argues that remix diversifies, reanimates, and foregrounds selective narratives of Palestinian identity and history, bringing visibility to perspectives often obscured within digital archives. Together, these tools articulate a territorial conception of Palestinian identity rooted in rural life, alongside a transnational orientation that mobilizes global solidarities by situating the Palestinian cause within shared anti-colonial and pan-Arab frameworks. Tags such as 1948, Zionism, Jerusalem, and Arafat direct user engagement toward themes that resonate within Palestinian historical consciousness and broader Arab and global imaginaries. The ‘destroyed villages’ database fosters affective homophily by enabling users to connect around shared experiences of dispossession. Overall, the article situates Palestine Remix as a revealing case of how participatory media and archives can enable grassroots engagement with history and identity, while remaining embedded within institutional logics of visibility, commodification, and algorithmic control.

This study analyzes Algerian writer Abdelrazak Boukebba's short story collection Fast-Inflaming Blood as a subtle counter-narrative that subverts and deconstructs colonial narrative, particularly in its representations of the Palestinian cause. Drawing on the Edward Said's theoretical model and broader currents within postcolonial thought—namely, the notion of "counter-narrative"—the article examines the way the book transforms structural violence in the form of siege, bombardment, and forced migration into a literary process that reframes the notions of embodiment, space, and temporality. Through advanced aesthetic and intellectual strategies, Boukebba's book rewrites the colonial period as a dynamic arena of cultural resistance rather than as a passive victimization narrative and cultural recovery. The methodological approach employed combines critical cultural analysis with interpretive literary inquiry, allowing for a nuanced reading of how memory, identity, and resistance are configured within the text. Particular attention is given to stories such as Special Courage, in which the burial of a child becomes a ritual of resilience, and A Special Sea, where the fragmentation of space under occupation is rearticulated as a collective archive of memory. Everyday symbols—like an olive unearthed from a rocket crater or a sea narrated through oral tradition—serve not merely as metaphors but as acts of cultural survival. Ultimately, the study contends that Fast-Inflaming Blood stands as a paradigmatic example of literature’s power to dismantle colonial paradigms and to reimagine resistance as an enduring, embodied, and spatially grounded force.

This paper examines the evolving diplomatic strategies of Gulf States in relation to the Palestinian question, with a focus on the normalization of relations with Israel. Once staunch supporters of Palestinian rights, several Gulf governments have recently shifted toward formal engagement with Israel, raising critical questions about the implications for Palestinian aspirations and regional stability. This policy realignment reflects a complex interplay of strategic, economic, and geopolitical considerations, including countering Iranian influence, leveraging Israeli technological expertise, and aligning with U.S. regional interests. While normalization may enhance cooperation across key sectors, it also risks undermining the Palestinian cause and entrenching existing conflict dynamics. The paper argues that Gulf governments must balance pragmatic diplomacy with enduring commitments to justice and self-determination, navigating both external pressures and internal public sentiment. This transformation signals a broader reconfiguration of power and priorities in the contemporary Middle East. Keywords: Gulf Perspectives, Geopolitical relations, Palestine, Israel, Gulf dynamics, Self-determination.

The Israeli occupation of Palestine has been ongoing since 1948. After decades of military aggression, tensions escalated in October 2023 and continued up to the time of this article's writing in March 2025—marking over a year of brutal attacks. One of the major protest movements that gained momentum since October 2023 has been the boycott of brands affiliated with Israel. One such brand is Aqua, a bottled water product whose producer, Danone, is affiliated with Israel. In response to the widespread boycott, Aqua released a "100% Indonesia" TV commercial across television and digital platforms like YouTube. In addition to message analysis, this study aims to understand consumer perceptions of Aqua’s "100% Indonesia" Television Commercial (TVC) and how it influences their decision to continue or discontinue the boycott. A questionnaire was distributed across several groups consisting of Muslims concerned with the Palestinian cause. The results show that consumers with strong religious understanding, who actively follow news about Palestine and participate in pro-Palestine actions, are highly committed to expressing solidarity, one way being through boycotting brands affiliated with the occupiers. Any advertisement, no matter how well-crafted or clearly messaged, will not alter the attitudes and commitments they have made, especially when the product has many available substitutes.

During the Cold War, pro-Palestinian paramilitary organizations perpetrated numerous hijackings with the goal of rallying international attention and sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Whereas previous analyses of these hostage crises have focused largely on either the cultural consequences of these acts, or alternatively, their role in the evolution of counter-terrorist military tactics, this article argues that two pivotal hijackings—the 1976 Air France Flight 139 and the 1985 Achille Lauro—significantly shaped U.S. policy through legislation, judicial actions, and diplomatic retrenchments. Remarkably understudied in this light, both hijackings exerted outsized influences on U.S. counterterrorist policies and laws, as well as attitudes toward the Israel–Palestine conflict. Not only did the U.S. government invent new pathways for individuals to sue groups for terrorism, but it also championed new anti-terrorist regulations in the U.N. and the International Maritime Organization. More starkly, the hijackings—decades before 9/11—were landmark events that further galvanized U.S. political support for Israel, crackdowns on the PLO, and the broader counter-terrorist infrastructure still in effect today.

Abstract The role that Saudi Arabia played in the earliest days of the conflict between the Arabs and Zionists in Palestine and later after the establishment of the State of Israel is highly contested. This article seeks to contribute to the ongoing dialogue of the Saudi role by exploring the question from the standpoint of the United States. An examination of the American documentary evidence demonstrates that Ibn Saud and Saudi Arabia were viewed as significant advocates for the Palestinian cause by successive Presidential Administrations in the 1940s and 1950s. The Americans at this time did not view the Saudis as partners to the establishment of a potential Jewish state. Instead, they viewed the Saudis as staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause who could potentially prove to be obstacles to American policy in the region. This included the eventual US position to support the partition of Palestine and recognition of the State of Israel.