Traditions and Transitions in Israel Studies

Description

This sixth volume in the Books on Israel series is an interdisciplinary compilation that encompasses contributions from both the social sciences and the humanities, and reflects the exciting integration of approaches that are on the cutting edge of Israel Studies. The contributors go beyond the review of recent books on Israel to offer original examinations of the state of scholarship about Israel within the various disciplines of anthropology, economics, history, literature, political science, and sociology. Recent trends in contemporary Israeli society, politics, economics, and culture are also explored.

Introduction

History and Memory

1. Reassessing Israel's Road to Sinai/Suez, 1956: A "Trialogue"
Mordechai Bar-On, Benny Morris and Motti Golani

2. The Holocaust and Its Fifty-Year-Old Commemoration: Have We Reached the Limit?
Rachel Feldhay Brenner

Israeli Society: The Jewish Community

3. Controlling Territory: Spatial Dimensions of Social and Political Change in Israel
David Newman

4. "A Nation that Dwelleth Alone": Judaism as an Integrating and Divisive Factor in Israeli Society
Ephraim Tabory

Israeli Society: The Arab Community

5. Palestinians in Israel: Social and Educational Conditions in the 1990s
Ilham Nasser

6. Research on Welfare and Well-being in Israel: A Palestinian Perspective
Khawla Abu Baker

Whither Post-Zionism?

7. Does Post-Zionism Have a Future?
Deborah L. Wheeler

8. The Open Society and Its Enemies: Changing Public Discourse in Israel
Leah Rosen and Ruth Amir

9. Literature as a Response to Paradox: On Reading A.B. Yehoshua's A Journey to the End of the Millennium
Stephen Schecter

Peace Process

10. Anthologizing the Peace Process
Mira Sucharov

11. Power-Relations, Recognition, and Dialogue: The Dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Amal A. Jamal

12. Economics as a Security Tool in an Era of "Peace" in the Middle East
Maen F. Nsour

Israel Studies Around the World

13. Changing Italian Perspectives on Israel
Antonio Donno

14. Israel Turns Fifty: New Books Published in Germany
Angelika Timm

15. Israel in Chinese Scholarship
Xu Xin

Notes on the Contributors and Editors

Sujets

• Israel
• History of the Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791487532
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Traditions and Transitions in Israel Studies

SUNY Series in Israeli Studies Russell Stone, editor

TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS IN ISRAEL STUDIES

Books on Israel, Volume VI

Edited by Laura Z. Eisenberg Neil Caplan Naomi B. Sokoloff, and Mohammed Abu-Nimer

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Christine L. Hamel Marketing by Jennifer Giovani

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Traditions and transitions in Israel studies / edited by Laura Zittrain Eisenberg . . . [et al.]. p. cm. (Books on Israel ; v. 6) (SUNY series in Israeli studies) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7914-5585-8 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5586-6 (pbk.) 1. Israel—Social conditions—20th century. 2. Palestinian Arabs— Israel—Social conditions—20th century. 3. Israel—Politics and government—20th century. 4. Arab-Israeli conflict—1993—Peace. 5. Israel—Foreign public opinion. 6. Israel—Ethnic relations. 7. Israel—Book reviews. I. Eisenberg, Laura Zittrain. II. Association for Israel Studies. III. Series. IV. Series: SUNY series in Israeli studies

DS102.95.B66 1988 vol. 6 [DS126.5] 956.9405—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002026679

Introduction

Contents

History and Memory

1. Reassessing Israel’s Road to Sinai/Suez, 1956: A “Trialogue” Mordechai Bar-On, Benny Morris and Motti Golani

2. The Holocaust and Its Fifty-Year-Old Commemoration: Have We Reached the Limit? Rachel Feldhay Brenner

Israeli Society: The Jewish Community

3. Controlling Territory: Spatial Dimensions of Social and Political Change in Israel David Newman

4. “A Nation that Dwelleth Alone”: Judaism as an Integrating and Divisive Factor in Israeli Society Ephraim Tabory

Israeli Society: The Arab Community

5. Palestinians in Israel: Social and Educational Conditions in the 1990s Ilham Nasser

6. Research on Welfare and Well-being in Israel: A Palestinian Perspective Khawla Abu Baker

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Contents

Whither Post-Zionism?

7. Does Post-Zionism Have a Future? Deborah L. Wheeler

8. The Open Society and Its Enemies: Changing Public Discourse in Israel Leah Rosen and Ruth Amir

9. Literature as a Response to Paradox: On Reading A.B. Yehoshua’sA Journey to the End of the Millennium Stephen Schecter

Peace Process

10. Anthologizing the Peace Process Mira Sucharov

11. Power-Relations, Recognition, and Dialogue: The Dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Amal A. Jamal

12. Economics as a Security Tool in an Era of “Peace” in the Middle East Maen F. Nsour

Israel Studies Around the World

13. Changing Italian Perspectives on Israel Antonio Donno

14. Israel Turns Fifty: New Books Published in Germany Angelika Timm

15. Israel in Chinese Scholarship Xu Xin

Notes on the Contributors and Editors

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Introduction

he relatively young field of “Israel Studies” continues to thrive. T The essays gathered in this volume showcase sixty-five recent books (more than half of them published in languages other than English) on a wide range of topics relating to Israel. In the tradition of the preceding five volumes in theBooks on Israelseries, this col- lection is interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing contributions from social science and the humanities. Each chapter goes beyond the limits of the standard review “essay” to use selected works as starting-points for original examinations of the state of scholarship within various fields dealing with Israel. At the same time, the con- tributors explore recent changes in Israeli society and politics as revealed through their respective fields of expertise. Volume 6 includes several distinctive features, reflecting the changing interests among Israel Studies researchers and writers. One is the scholarly “trialogue” that opens the volume. A reassess- ment of Israel’s policies leading to the 1956 Sinai/Suez War, this tri- partite exchange takes the debates involving the “new historians” onto new ground. A second innovation is the inclusion of essays specifically devoted to recent publications dealing with political, social, and educational changes among Arab citizens of Israel. Another novel feature is the closing series of essays offering per- spectives on Israel Studies from around the world. Many of the essays in volume 6 are themselves explicitly inter- disciplinary, and readers will note that the volume is not divided, as in the past, into sections on literature, politics, history, or other tra- ditional disciplines. Rather, many essays offer multiple approaches to pressing issues in both academia and in Israeli society in general. So, for instance, Rachel Feldhay Brenner’s essay on the Holocaust and the post-Holocaust generation encompasses history, literature, and psychology, while Ruth Amir and Leah Rosen’s essay on multi- culturalism deals with law, anthropology, sociology, history and phi- losophy. In similar fashion, David Newman discusses space and ter- ritory by combining questions of geography, sociology, and political science. These are but a few examples. The multifaceted essays col-

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Introduction

lected in this volume offer not only interdisciplinary breadth but also reflect, and contribute to, an exciting integration of scholarly approaches in the field of Israel Studies. Scholarship about Israel is no stranger to controversy, criticism, and self-criticism, and this volume explores and fully reflects many current issues of contention in Israeli academic circles and society at large. Volume 6 ofBooks on Israelgrapples, inter alia, with the complex problems of multiculturalism in the Jewish State, inequal- ities in the political and economic status of Arab and Jewish citi- zens, the relationship between the state and Jewish religious iden- tity, the best path to peace, and the impact of newly available archival material on the treatment of Israeli history. Thanks to the variety of perspectives adopted by the volume’s contributors, read- ers will not find dull dogma or predictable uniformity, but will rather get an authentic taste of the lively clash of ideas and visions that increasingly characterizes the field. Whether this is a sign of the robust state of Israel Studies or an unhealthy penchant for self-excoriation is itself a question in dispute. The persistence of a post-Zionist perspective among many of the essays reflects the dom- ination of Israel Studies in the 1990s by a wave of scholars ques- tioning the ideological and cultural foundations of Zionism. Evidence of a scholarly backlash had already begun as this collec- tion was being prepared for publication. The editors of the next volume ofBooks on Israelwill no doubt want to explore the emer- gent stream of work that challenges the current dominant school of “post-Zionist” analysis. Whatever the merits of the post-Zionist and anti-post-Zionist arguments, the essays in this volume reflect the fact that some of the sharpest criticism of Israeli society and politics comes from within Israel—at the very time, paradoxically, when writers in Germany, Italy, and China seem to be abandoning many inherited anti-Israel positions in favor of a more nuanced and sym- pathetic understanding of the country and its people. Since the preparation of this book, Israel and the Palestinians have become locked in another round of sustained violence, with the “Madrid/Oslo” peace process in tatters. Clearly, these new events have significant social, political, economic and cultural implications that no academic writing can safely prophesy; yet, our understand- ing of Israel in both calm and troubled times is enhanced with the benefit of the background provided by the academic contributions gathered together here.

Introduction

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We, the editors, have endeavored to produce a volume that con- veys an accurate overview of the issues and the scholarship in the arena of Israel Studies at the end of the 1990s and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In editing individual submissions, we have sought to help each author articulate his or her own views, regardless of our personal visions of how we would like to see the field or Israeli society develop. The opinions of the contributors are their own. Our mandate, as editors, has been to accurately convey the vigorous discussions that mark, and contribute to, the evolving field of Israel Studies.