Palestine and the Arab State System: Permeability, State Consolidation and the Intifada

In: Canadian journal of political science: CJPS = Revue canadienne de science politique : RCSP, Band 24, Heft 3, S. 595-621

Abstract

The Palestine intifada (uprising), which erupted in Dec 1987, has created political turmoil in a good part of the Arab world, with worldwide repercussions. Among the questions addressed here is how the intifada generated such strong reactions from Arab regimes of such different ideologies & structures. The obvious answer is the symbolic significance of the Palestinian struggle, but that in itelf does not explain the enormity of the impact, & how it has been manifested. Based on a review of the literature, especially concerning the history of the Arab world, reasons for this impact are sought in characteristics of the various Arab states, the interrelation between the development of the modern system of Arab states & the Palestinian issue, & the historical place of Palestine in the Arab world. It is shown that more recently, the Arab states have, at least partially, insulated themselves from the transnational repercussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1 Table. J. W. Stanton