| Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs

Have the Palestinians Abandoned a Negotiated Settlement?

September 6, 2001

Tremendous intellectual energies have recently been expended in trying to ascertain why PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat refused President Clinton's proposals for Israeli concessions at Camp David and in subsequent negotiations.

Occupied Territories or Disputed Territories?

September 2, 2001

Last month's Palestinian draft resolution at the UN Security Council again described the West Bank and Gaza Strip as "occupied Palestinian territories." References to Israel's "foreign occupation" also appear in the Durban Draft Declaration of the UN World Conference Against Racism. This language was not just chosen for rhetorical purposes but in order to invoke specific legal claims: For example, Palestinian insistence on using the term "occupied territories" is usually connected to the assertion that they fall under the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention. Yet, Palestinian spokesmen also speak about Israeli military action in Area A as an infringement on Palestinian sovereignty: If Israel "invaded Palestinian territories," then they cannot be regarded as "occupied"; however, if the territories are defined as "occupied," Israel cannot be "invading" them.

Russian Policy Toward the Middle East Under Yeltsin and Putin

September 2, 2001 | Dr. Robert O. Freedman

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its main successor state, Russia, emerged in a greatly weakened geopolitical position. Complicating Russia's problems was a politically weak and often physically sick President Boris Yeltsin. Concerned about its "soft underbelly" in Transcaucasia and Central Asia, regions that were threatened by radical Islam, Moscow focused its Middle East efforts on Turkey and Iran, both of which had a considerable amount of influence in the two regions.

Journalistic License: Professional Standards in the Print Media’s Coverage of Israel

August 15, 2001 | Jeffrey Helmreich

The Failure of UN Forces in Srebrenica

July 15, 2001 | Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld

“Aid for Peace” — An Exhausted Paradigm?

June 15, 2001 | Saul Singer

Anti-Semitism Revived: The Impact of the Intifada on Muslim Immigrant Groups in Western Democracies

June 1, 2001 | Raphael Israeli

Untenable Linkages: Tying a Cessation of Palestinian Violence to an Israeli Settlement Freeze

May 15, 2001 | Amb. Dore Gold

CIVILIZATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, AND NATIONAL EXPLANATIONS FOR ETHNIC REBELLION IN THE POST-COLD WAR MIDDLE EAST

April 11, 2001 | Jonathan Fox

Failure of Perception and Self-Deception: Israel’s Quest for Peace in the Context of Related Historical Cases

March 15, 2001 | Joel Fishman

Apocalyptic Fears Now; Unforseen Risks Tomorrow: Israel’s Poorly Predicted Future

March 1, 2001 | Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld

The Conflict Between Israel and the Palestinians: A Rational Analysis

February 15, 2001 | Professor Yakir Plessner

Jerusalem in International Diplomacy: The 2000 Camp David Summit, the Clinton Plan, and Their Aftermath

February 1, 2001 | Amb. Dore Gold

The Israel Swing Factor: How the American Jewish Vote Influences U.S. Elections

January 15, 2001 | Jeffrey Helmreich

“The Poor in Your Own City Shall Have Precedence”: A Neo-Zionist Critique of the Katzir-Qaadan Decision

January 1, 2001 | Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg

Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

Peace Process