Palestinian NGOs in Israel

Palestinian NGOs in Israel PDF

Author: Shany Payes

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2005-01-28

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 085771550X

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One in every six Israeli citizens is a Palestinian Arab. While much has been written about the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, the struggle for political rights by Palestinian citizens of Israel remains largely unexplored. Shany Payes offers a fresh look at this struggle through analysis of the increasingly growing sector of Palestinian non-governmental organisations. Charting the political history of these associations over the last quarter of a century and running right up to developments during the recent Intifada, she analyses the political repression of Palestinian civil society by the Israeli state and attempts by Palestinian NGOs in Israel to build a civil society in the face of such oppression. 'Palestinian NGOs' is required reading for all those interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict, minority rights and civil society. A lively and orginal contribution to a field in which there is already much interest but where few works of any substance have been produce. I enjoyed the work immensely, and would certainly recommend it warmly both to students and to those with a lively interest in things Palestinian - Philip Robins, St Antony's College, Oxford Provides a fresh insight into political repression of Palestinian civil society by the Israeli state and attempts by Palestinian NGOs to build a civil society in the face of such oppression...The result is a unique piece of work which other academics would be hard pressed to emulate - Gerard Clarke, Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales Swansea

Palestinian Civil Society

Palestinian Civil Society PDF

Author: Benoit Challand

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2008-12-02

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1134020333

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Palestinian Civil Society examines the development of civil society in the Arab Middle East and the impact of western donors, with particular reference to the Palestinian case. Looking at the evolution of Palestinian civil society organizations from sociological, historical, legal, and institutional perspectives, the book sheds light on the involvement of donors in Palestine, and the effect that aid has had on Palestinian civil society at a social, political and ideological level. Drawing on Arabic texts, political theory and a detailed survey of donors and local organizations, this book challenges culturalist views that there cannot be a ‘vibrant civil society’ in the Arab world and examines the issues of depoliticization of civil society, the rise of the Islamist sector, and the gradual defeat of the left in the Occupied Territories. The author looks at how the interaction between donors and NGOs is not only centred on a western model of civil society, but also evolves around institutional mechanisms and disciplinary discourses, affecting the ability of local NGOs to adapt to the institutional requirements set by international donors. Accessible to non-specialists, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, Middle Eastern studies and development studies.

New Social Movements and Democracy in Palestine

New Social Movements and Democracy in Palestine PDF

Author: Dina Craissati

Publisher: Lit Verlag

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13:

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The book presents a framework for discerning democratic processes in contemporary societies by highlighting the relevance of new social movements (NSMs) analysis towards a different understanding of the relation between democracy and civil society. On hand of the Palestinian case, the study catches alternative democratic processes through an improved comprehension of what is now indiscriminately called NGOs, by featuring a new kind of social actor, close to what one could call NSM, and by demonstrating how it potentially contributes to a new democratic culture and to policy change.

Reconstructing the Civic

Reconstructing the Civic PDF

Author: Amal Jamal

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2020-08-01

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 1438478739

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Reconstructing the Civic examines the civic activism of the homeland Palestinian minority in Israel. Employing a multi-methodological and empirically rich approach, Amal Jamal blends historical description with interviews of Palestinian elites drawn from a diverse range of civil society groups such as NGOs, youth movements, and religious organizations. He also critiques the failure of Western/liberal scholarship to account for the experience of minority civil society organizations in illiberal social and political contexts, largely because this literature assumes there is an inherent relationship between civil society and democracy. Jamal places an important spotlight on the complex interplay between liberal and illiberal trends in the emergence, organization, and transformation of Palestinian civil society in Israel as well as the need to introduce an alternative ethical model that aims to reconstruct ethnic states in universal civic terms.

Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza

Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza PDF

Author: Sara Roy

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013-11-10

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 069115967X

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A revealing look at Islamic social institutions in Gaza and the West Bank Many in the United States and Israel believe that Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization, and that its social sector serves merely to recruit new supporters for its violent agenda. Based on Sara Roy's extensive fieldwork in the Gaza Strip and West Bank during the critical period of the Oslo peace process, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza shows how the social service activities sponsored by the Islamist group emphasized not political violence but rather community development and civic restoration. Roy demonstrates how Islamic social institutions in Gaza and the West Bank advocated a moderate approach to change that valued order and stability, not disorder and instability; were less dogmatically Islamic than is often assumed; and served people who had a range of political outlooks and no history of acting collectively in support of radical Islam. These institutions attempted to create civic communities, not religious congregations. They reflected a deep commitment to stimulate a social, cultural, and moral renewal of the Muslim community, one couched not only—or even primarily—in religious terms. Vividly illustrating Hamas's unrecognized potential for moderation, accommodation, and change, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza also traces critical developments in Hamas's social and political sectors through the Second Intifada to today, and offers an assessment of the current, more adverse situation in the occupied territories. The Oslo period held great promise that has since been squandered. This book argues for more enlightened policies by the United States and Israel, ones that reflect Hamas's proven record of nonviolent community building.

Barriers to Democracy

Barriers to Democracy PDF

Author: Amaney A. Jamal

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-07-26

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0691140995

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Democracy-building efforts from the early 1990s on have funneled billions of dollars into nongovernmental organizations across the developing world, with the U.S. administration of George W. Bush leading the charge since 2001. But are many such "civil society" initiatives fatally flawed? Focusing on the Palestinian West Bank and the Arab world, Barriers to Democracy mounts a powerful challenge to the core tenet of civil society initiatives: namely, that public participation in private associations necessarily yields the sort of civic engagement that, in turn, sustains effective democratic institutions. Such assertions tend to rely on evidence from states that are democratic to begin with. Here, Amaney Jamal investigates the role of civic associations in promoting democratic attitudes and behavioral patterns in contexts that are less than democratic. Jamal argues that, in state-centralized environments, associations can just as easily promote civic qualities vital to authoritarian citizenship--such as support for the regime in power. Thus, any assessment of the influence of associational life on civic life must take into account political contexts, including the relationships among associations, their leaders, and political institutions. Barriers to Democracy both builds on and critiques the multifaceted literature that has emerged since the mid-1990s on associational life and civil society. By critically examining associational life in the West Bank during the height of the Oslo Peace Process (1993-99), and extending her findings to Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, Jamal provides vital new insights into a timely issue.

Delivering Aid Without Government

Delivering Aid Without Government PDF

Author: Tamer Qarmout

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-10

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 3319496611

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In a fragile and conflict-ridden context such as the Gaza Strip, where the de facto Hamas government faces isolation and lacks international recognition, the provision of aid and development schemes challenges donors and CSOs delivering services to Palestinians. This volume examines how international donors influenced the reconstruction and recovery policy agenda as well as its implementation. Moreover, as a result of the no-contact policy, recovery and reconstruction schemes were delivered with limited involvement from the de facto Hamas government, raising questions about the efficacy of the “governance without government” concept. This book examines the dynamics and the impact of international donors’ financing of Civil Society Organizations that were involved in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. It expands on the existing analysis of transnational aid actors’ influence found in the public policy literature while contributing to our understanding of the concrete, and more specific, impact of international donors’ financing on the livelihoods of the Palestinian people.