Suchergebnisse

The current study sought to explore how Palestinian refugee women (PRW) perceive their identity and how it can be employed as a tool of reconciliation. Specifically, the research explored the political identity of Palestinian refugee women to understand how it influences their reconciliation process. Palestinians are a group of the Arab population who previously occupied the territory now owned by the Israeli State and were forced to flee and live as refugees after the 1948 conflict. The UNRWA was formed in 1949 to assist individuals displaced from the 1948 conflict who were mostly Palestinians. The research objective was explored by analyzing Palestinians cultural and psychosocial perspectives. Due to the complex nature of the study, a mixed research method was used in which both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. The data was collected over three years, with the researcher engaging with Palestinian non- refugee women living in Hussan village as well as Palestinian refugee women from Dhiesheh camp. In the first part of the study, existing literature on the topic is extensively analyzed to define key terminologies such as the definition of Palestinian refugees as well as reconciliation to place into context the cultural and traditional viewpoints. The UNRWA defines Palestinian refugees as persons or descendants of people who lived in Palestine between June 1st 1946 to 15th May 1948 and who lost their means of livelihoods and homes due to the 1948 conflict and hence, eligible for UNRWA services.In the second part of the study, the findings from interviews conducted as well as quantitative data gathered from questionnaires are presented. Quantitative data in this study were gathered from 200 participants, involving 100 Palestinian women who were refugees and lived in Dhiesheh refugee camp and another group of 100 Palestinian women who lived in Hussan village. Women recruited in the two groups all resided in the Bethlehem-West Bank-Palestine region.

The current study sought to explore how Palestinian refugee women (PRW) perceive their identity and how it can be employed as a tool of reconciliation. Specifically, the research explored the political identity of Palestinian refugee women to understand how it influences their reconciliation process. Palestinians are a group of the Arab population who previously occupied the territory now owned by the Israeli State and were forced to flee and live as refugees after the 1948 conflict. The UNRWA was formed in 1949 to assist individuals displaced from the 1948 conflict who were mostly Palestinians. The research objective was explored by analyzing Palestinians cultural and psychosocial perspectives. Due to the complex nature of the study, a mixed research method was used in which both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. The data was collected over three years, with the researcher engaging with Palestinian non- refugee women living in Hussan village as well as Palestinian refugee women from Dhiesheh camp. In the first part of the study, existing literature on the topic is extensively analyzed to define key terminologies such as the definition of Palestinian refugees as well as reconciliation to place into context the cultural and traditional viewpoints. The UNRWA defines Palestinian refugees as persons or descendants of people who lived in Palestine between June 1st 1946 to 15th May 1948 and who lost their means of livelihoods and homes due to the 1948 conflict and hence, eligible for UNRWA services.In the second part of the study, the findings from interviews conducted as well as quantitative data gathered from questionnaires are presented. Quantitative data in this study were gathered from 200 participants, involving 100 Palestinian women who were refugees and lived in Dhiesheh refugee camp and another group of 100 Palestinian women who lived in Hussan village. Women recruited in the two groups all resided in the Bethlehem-West Bank-Palestine region.

Reviewing both the claims and various definitions of Jewish and Palestinian nationhood, the author assesses the prospects for a two-state solution to the pivotal issue of Middle Eastern policies. (DÜI-Sdt)

It is generally accepted by the community that nations have obligations to protect refugees. This tradition has long roots in Western thought spanning across centuries of political and religious oppression despite its various shortcomings. The origins of the legal and moral obligations towards refugees is beyond the scope of this paper. It suffices to point out that helping refugees is a valance issue. Like promoting peace and cleaning up the environment, helping refugees has primarily advocates. However, there is frequent and at times bitter disagreement as to how one should approach this issue in practice. Among the most disputed issues are (1) hammering out a definition of a 'refugee', (2) determining who defines and implements this definition, (3) halting the flow of refugees, and (4) creating an international regime to effectively deal with refugees. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss various definitions of what is a refugee as a precondition of both, political analysis and political action. The controversy of defining a refugee is deeply entangled with the sovereignty of individual nations. The paper concludes by offering an alternative perspective for analyzing the current international refugee crisis.

Deutsche Erstausgabe

"Bei den palästinensischen Parlamentswahlen am 25. Januar 2006 feierte die Hamas einen spektakulären Wahlsieg. Welche Faktoren gaben den Ausschlag, dass entgegen allen Wahlprognosen die islamistische Hamas bei ihrer ersten Teilnahme bei nationalen Wahlen in Palästina mit 74 von 132 Sitzen die absolute Mehrheit der Mandate errang? Welche Rolle spielten hierbei interne und externe Faktoren? Das Wahlergebnis war primär ein Resultat innenpolitischer Präferenzen der palästinensischen Gesellschaft. Die Wahl für die Hamas kam dabei in erster Linie einer Absage an die Politik der Fatah gleich, während die Überzeugung für das Programm der Hamas eine vergleichsweise nachgeordnete Rolle spielte. Die Hamas hat die Wahlen vor allem deshalb gewonnen, weil es ihr gelang, sich als glaubhafte Alternative zur weitgehend reformresistenten und mit Vetternwirtschaft regierenden Fatah zu präsentieren, die überdies seit über fünf Jahren keine Verhandlungserfolge mit Israel vorzuweisen hat. Neben der Fatah haben indirekt Israel und auch westliche Akteure wie die USA und die EU unfreiwillige Wahlkampfhilfe für die Hamas geleistet. Die Aussicht, dass der seit Jahren siechende Friedensprozess wieder belebt und der Nahostkonflikt in absehbarer Zeit in Form einer von allen Seiten akzeptierten, friedlichen Koexistenz zweier Staaten beendet werden könnte, ist in weitere Ferne gerückt." (Autorenreferat)

Refugee research is hardly institutionalised as a field of research in Germany but is widely established internationally. Despite various debates about methodology in and implications of refugee research, a comprehensive discussion about its foundational challenges is still missing. This paper first outlines refugee research as a research field and briefly illustrates its history and its object of research. It is argued that refugee research is an element of migration studies historically and thematically, yet constitutes its own field of research due to its specific focus on refugees' rights and protection. This is followed by a discussion of central challenges that research projects in this field find themselves confronted with. Firstly, the definition of "refugee" is contested and, therefore, the object of research depends on disciplines, thematic approaches, and context, making efforts to define terminology a fixture of refugee research. This makes interdisciplinary cooperation, which requires clarity about different approaches and common research frameworks, particularly difficult in a research field where such cooperation is so crucial. Transparency is also important in regards to refugee research's relevance for practice, which is aimed at reducing suffering on the one hand and requires independence from terms and goals of practice on the other. Considering the specific vulnerability of refugees, research has to employ particularly high ethical standards of methodology and be extremely sensitive to the political implications of its research outcomes. Due to these challenges, refugee research must implement continuous reflections about its foundations in order to do justice to its subject.

"For the first time refugee and migrant protests have developed into a social movement in Germany. The refugee movement is also part of a transnational network, which has developed during and in accordance with the current protest cycle started by the Arab Spring. Broad mobilizations spring from this movement but have not yet let to substantial changes due to the post-crisis restructuring of the EU with 'margin' and 'central' countries. While the neoliberal restructuring in the global south is causing the 'production of migration' to Speed up, also the '99 percent' in the global north are concerned. The migrant and refugee movement is challenging the base of this neoliberal agenda as it aims at the functioning of deterrence, control and deprivation in the global south and north." (author's abstract)

Der Beitrag legt klar, wie unterschiedlich in Israel (öffentliche Meinung und politische Gruppen) die Beziehungen zu den Arabern gesehen werden, wobei auf 4 Problemkreise eingegangen wird: die Einstellung zu den arabischen Ländern insgesamt, zu den von Israel besetzten Gebieten, zu den demographischen Problemen des Landes (arabische Bevölkerungsexplosion) und zu den Möglichkeiten, eine Lösung des Nahostkonflikts herbeizuführen. (DÜI-Ott)

Zusammenfassung der Ansichten und Standpunkte der Araber in ihrem Konflikt mit Israel. Charakterisierung der unterschiedlichen arabischen Haltungen zur Lösung des Konflikts. (DÜI-Ott)