Author: Alexander McNabb
Paperback: 265 pages
Publisher: Alexander McNabb
ISBN-13: 978-1466465718

Review by Samira Quraishy

Jordan, described as a new "emerging market" with "high human development", is a forward thinking, predominantly Muslim state. It has signed an array of treaties and is the beneficiary of millions of dollars of foreign aid, as well as military equipment. It finds itself at the heart of the ongoing Middle East conflict, as a handful of Palestinians and Israelis continue to negotiate and play with the lives of millions.

This month, Israel's effort to entrench its legalised discrimination and exploitation of Palestinians is highlighted through two separate Israeli Supreme Court rulings; the first upholds the 'Citizenship & Entry Law' which essentially prohibits Palestinian from the occupied territories married to those with Israeli citizenship from enjoying a normal family life, while the second allows the continued exploitation of Palestinian natural resources by Israeli companies citing 'facts on the ground' as justification. Meanwhile, Israel stepped up its campaign against Palestinian lawmakers and the British government raises its voice in defence of Palestinian children.

This month, Harriet Sherwood, together with fellow colleagues at the Guardian wrote a special report and produced a number of short documentaries highlighting the predicament of Palestinian children in Israeli jails. Human rights organizations including B'Tselem and Defence for Children International (Palestine Section) raised serious concerns over the arbitrary arrest and detention of Palestinian children. In the Guardian's documentary, Palestinian minors spoke of solitary confinement in "Cell 36". The film also shows footage of a 14 year old boy being interrogated in the middle of the night, and in the absence of any parent, guardian or lawyer.

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EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

Wadah Khanfar, the former Director General of Al-Jazeera, was the guest speaker for the Middle East Monitor's first public event of 2012. The topic he was invited to speak on was "Securing the Arab Revolutions: Opportunities and Dangers", and who better to talk about such an issue than him? Named as one of the most 'Powerful People in the World' by Forbes Magazine and ranked number one by Fast Company's "Most Creative People" list in 2011, Khanfar is leading the way among his contemporaries in every respect. He has been lauded as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (Davos) and was recognised as the 3rd most influential Arab in the world by Arabian Business as well as one of the most influential Muslims in the world (Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre). He certainly did not disappoint and he delivered a passionate and motivational talk to a packed audience at the Brunei Gallery in SOAS about the current and future status of the Arab World. Expertly chaired by Mehdi Hasan - senior political editor for the New Statesman - the evening was both informative and inspiring.

Reflections on the Meaning of Palestine
Author(s): Alain Gresh
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Autumn 2011), pp. 67-81
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.67

Dr. Alain Gresh is deputy-director and editor-in-chief of the French monthly, "Le Monde diplomatique" and a specialist on the Middle East. He has authored of a number of books including "The PLO, The Struggle Within"; "An A to Z to the Middle East" co-authored with Dominique Vidal; and "L'Islam en questions" co-authored with Françoise Germain-Robin and Tariq Ramadan.

The end of 2011 sees US Republican candidates use pro-Israel rhetoric to win support, Israel withholds essential tax revenues as punitive measure for Palestinian UNESCO bid, Palestinian Christians continue in their struggle for their historic religious rights, Fatah and Hamas take another small step towards recognition and more...

Israeli settlements continue to expand unabated, threatening to cut Bethlehem off "from its historic twin, Jerusalem".

Though the Archbishop of Canterbury declined mention the plight of his co-religionists in the Occupied West Bank parish of Beit Jala who are "preparing for a legal battle to protect their land and homes from further expropriation by Israel", Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster not only offered a special prayer for the people of Bethlehem, but urged his congregation to pull the wool from over their eyes. "See more clearly all those things which disfigure our world," he said, "We too live in a land of deep shadow", that shadow "falls particularly heavily on the town of Bethlehem tonight."

Author: Mabroka al-Werfalli
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Ithaca Press (2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0-86372-372-8 (Hardback)

Reviewed by Zulaikha Abdullah

This is Dr Mabrouka al-Werfalli's timely offering for readers to gain a better understanding of Libya's complex political, social and economic milieu in the wake of the 2011 revolution. The detailed findings of this empirical work are corroborated by Libya's mass uprising and the bloody ensuing battle to wrest power from a regime popularly perceived as bereft of the moral and political legitimacy to rule. As a lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at Libya's Garyounis University over the last two decades, Dr al-Werfalli was well-placed to analyse and discern the sources of Libya's shift towards the political discontent, resentment and alienation which led to the ousting of the Gaddafi junta. Al-Werfalli brings the full weight of her knowledge and experience to bear in this book which could have been read as a presentiment of events that were to come.

MEMO Summary

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) is an international people's tribunal set up with the intention of seeking justice for the Palestinian people where governments and international institutions have failed to do so. By raising global levels of awareness it is hoped to put pressure on decision-makers to look at the facts surrounding Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Following two successful sessions in Barcelona and London, the third session was held in Cape Town. The tribunal considered the question, "Are Israel's practices against the Palestinian people in breach of the prohibition on Apartheid under International Law?"