Anatomy of the 1936––39 Revolt: Images of the Body in Political Cartoons of Mandatory Palestine
This article analyzes body images in political cartoons during the 1936––1939 Arab Revolt. By deciphering the visual messages in the political cartoons of two newspapers——the Arabic Filastin and the Hebrew Davar ——the article examines how body representations portray stereotypes of rivals and reveal assumptions about and relations between conflicting parties. Visual imagery maintained its impact by illustrating nationalist attitudes, critiques, and goals. In addition to being referents to a period not well documented in images, cartoons are also potent historical sources for reconstructing a sociopolitical history of Palestine.
The Colonization Perspective in Israeli Sociology: Internal and External Comparisons
Abstract Though the characterization of Zionism as a colonial project is probably as old as the Zionist movement, as a specific scholarly sociological perspective in Israeli academia it was formulated only lately, in the wake of the Six Day War of 1967 This article outlines the contours of this new perspective, its theoretical assumptions and its political implications. It examines the historical circumstances which propelled its emergence, and than discerns two distinct sub-trends in it: Weberian and Marxist Throughout are explored three distinct comparative issues: a comparison of the colonization perspective to other perspectives in Israeli sociology especially the ‘dualist perspective’: a comparison of the case of Israel with other colonization cases. such as the U.S.A.: and a comparison of the two sub-trends in the perspective itself to each other.
The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939
The control of land remains the crucial issue in the Arab-Israel conflict. Kenneth Stein investigates in detail and without polemics how and why Jews acquired land from Arabs in Palestine during the British Mandate, and he reaches conclusions that are challenging and suprising. Stein contends that Zionists were able to purchase the core of a national territory in Palestine during this period for three reasons: they had the single-mindedness of purpose, as well as the capital, to buy the land; the Arabs, economically impoverished, politically fragmented, and socially atomized, were willing to sell the land; and the British were largely ineffective in regulating land sales and protecting Arab tenants. Neither Arab opposition to land sales nor British attempts to regulate them actually limited land acquisition. There were always more Arab offers to sell land than there were Zionist funds. In fact, many sales were made by Arab politicians who publicly opposed Zionism and even led agitation against land acquisition by Jews. Zionists furthered their own ambitions by skillfully using their understanding of the bureaucracy to write laws and to influence key administrative appointments. Further, they knew how to take advantage of social and economic cleavages within Arab society. Based primarily on archival research, The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939 offers an unusually balanced analysis of the social and political history of land sales in Palestine during this critical period. It provides exceptional and essential insight into one of the most troubling conflicts in today's world.