The sixth issue of Over the Net reviews a number of trends that in recent months have been at the center of the discourse in the Arab world. It first addresses the “Marches of Return,” a series of events that took place adjacent to the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel over a period of approximately six weeks, between March 30 (Land Day) and May 15 (the Nakba). These events are examined here on three levels of the public discourse in Gaza: survival, ideology, and narrative. The second topic is the recent elections in...
Israel successfully prevented Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from infiltrating the border into its territory during the Palestinian “Great March of Return” and the protest against relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem. However, from the cognitive perspective, Israel suffered a “strategic failure,” which resonated in the juxtaposition of photographs displayed on most of the broadcasting networks around the world —from one side, dozens of fatalities on the Gazan border and, on the other, the inauguration of the American Embassy in...
The idea of the “March of Return,” which was initiated by civil organizations in the Gaza Strip seeking once more to direct the attention of the international community to the suffering of the local population by means of mass demonstrations along the border, was hijacked by Hamas. Hamas pushed aside the organizers of the project and in effect took over the production and direction of the events. For its part, Israel is capable of accommodating a hostile entity living beside it, as long as this entity is restrained, deterred, and...
The waves of terror in Jerusalem in recent years have disproved two false assumptions that have long guided Israeli governments. The first is that it is possible to maintain the status quo in the city, including on the Temple Mount. The second false assumption is that Jerusalem is a united city. This line of thinking is at odds with the reality in the east of the city, especially the neighborhoods and villages where for 51 years, neglect has reigned supreme and few Israeli Jews ever enter. Even now, Israeli control there is limited,...
In comparison to previous years, the 2018 Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) was somewhat smaller in scope, and calmer in the level of energies it generated among both protagonists and antagonists. Still, it would be unwise to dismiss the IAW phenomenon as insignificant. In addition to the repercussions of the cumulative effect of efforts to delegitimize Israel in general, and efforts to equate Israel with apartheid during IAW in particular, the growing number of Jewish students who support and even instigate passionate campaigning against...
The relations of the state and the Jewish majority with the Arab-Palestinian society directly concern Israel’s national security. Like the Commission of Inquiry into the Clashes between Security Forces and Israeli Citizens in October 2000 (Or Commission), so too, the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, deems the advancement and integration of Arab society in the social and economic life of the state—on the basis of full and equal citizenship—as an interest of utmost national importance to Israel’s social, economic, and moral...
The “March of Return” events have brought out the masses. It seems that since the first intifada the Palestinian arena has not witnessed such widespread mass participation as evident in the recent protests along the Gaza Strip border. At the same time, it is doubtful whether the crowds can deliver the same achievements they furnished in the first intifada. This is due to public suspicions regarding the intentions of both Fatah and Hamas, the absence of international and Arab support so far, and the deterrent element of...
Following the “March of Return” events led by Hamas on two turbulent Fridays at the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, both sides declared victory. And in the case of such a blatantly asymmetric conflict between parties with opposing aims, both sides can indeed claim victory, precisely because they are conducting parallel maneuvers. Israel operates largely on a physical dimension (protecting its sovereign territory), while Hamas works mainly on the cognitive-political level. In a world of images, intensive...
The Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is heavily engaged in preparations for a the “Great March of Return,” scheduled for May 14, 2018, when thousands of Gaza’s Palestinians will march toward the security fence and position themselves in tent cities along the Israeli border. The event is intended to highlight the Palestinian refugee issue and connect it to the plight of those living the Gaza Strip, while positioning Hamas as the leader of the national struggle and a worthy alternative to Fatah. Although the move aims for cognitive...
Qatar’s support for Hamas and its investment in the Gaza Strip, though based more on pragmatism than on ideological identification, suit its foreign policy, which supports political Islam and aims to increase Doha’s influence in the Middle East. Qatar’s support for Hamas and political Islam, along with what to the Egyptian regime is subversive behavior, casts a shadow over its relations with Egypt. Against this background, Israel finds itself on the horns of a dilemma, because in addition to the interest it shares with...
Depicted at 2018 Munich Security Conference is a challenging view of the global security environment, marked by a dangerous combination of worsening trends regarding the world’s climate, economy, and society; weakening strategic architectures; challenging technologies; and volatile crisis areas, led by North Korea and Syria. The Palestinian issue was marginalized, given its low influence on Middle East problems in general. Indeed, the Middle East is a secondary focus of attention for the international community, currently occupied...
The Palestinian refugee issue has been seen for some seventy years as a principal obstacle to a resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. However, the expanding numbers of refugees from the Middle East and Africa today challenge the uniqueness of the Palestinian situation. In fact, the issue of Palestinian refugees is perceived more as the reflection of an ongoing lapse by Arab countries, Israel, and the international community, which have been unable to separate the solution to this problem from the greater...
