A powerful personal testimony and an urgent call for Israel to change direction, from an unexpected source: the former director of the internal security service, Shin Bet.

Raised on a kibbutz by parents who had fled the Holocaust, Ami Ayalon’s life exemplified the Zionist dream. His commitment to his country propelled a meteoric career, culminating in being named commander of the navy and receiving the Medal of Valour, Israel’s highest military decoration. All the time, he remained a staunch supporter of his country’s policies.

Then he was appointed director of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, and the unexpected happened. Forced to try and understand the lives and motivations of Palestinians for the first time, he gained empathy for ‘the enemy’ and learned that when Israel carries out anti-terrorist operations in a political context of hopelessness, the Palestinian public will support violence, because they have nothing to lose.

He came to understand that his patriotic life had blinded him to the self-defeating nature of policies that have undermined Israel’s civil society while heaping humiliation upon its neighbours. In this deeply personal journey of discovery, Ami Ayalon seeks input and perspectives from Palestinians and Israelis whose experiences differ from his own, and draws radical conclusions about what Israel must do to achieve relative peace and security.

This annual record of political developments in the Middle East is designed as a continuing, up-to-date reference for scholars, researchers and analysts, policy-makers, students and journalists. It examines in detail the rapidly-changing Middle-Eastern scene in all its complexity. This volume covers the eruption of the Gulf crisis and the war that had dramatic effects on all the countries of the Middle East.

This is the fifteenth volume in a series that provides up-to-date summation and evaluation of the rapidly changing events in an exceptionally complex region of the world. This volume covers the period January through December 1991 and offers in-depth analysis of the Gulf War, the U.S.-inspired peace negotiations, the surge of Islamic sentiment in a number of countries, and inter-Arab relations in the wake of the Gulf War. In addition, a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country is provided. This volume covers the year 1991, a watershed period in the Middle East. The Gulf War pitted regional and international forces of unprecedented might against each other in fierce confrontation. Local and global developments, such as the U.S.-led victory over Iraq and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, brought on the struggle for a new order in the region. The relevance of Western political modes for Middle Eastern societies was again raised for examination, highlighting the formidable complexities of such options. One of the local responses to these changes was a surge of Islamic sentiment sometimes militant in nature manifested primarily in Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and among the Palestinians. Spearheaded by the United States, the Middle East peace process entered a more dynamic phase, as a multilateral peace conference in Madrid ushered in a new era of direct Arab-Israeli negotiations. The Arab system was slow to recover from the painful impact of the Gulf War, and inter-Arab relations continued to be characterized more by mutual vindictiveness than by reconciliation. On the whole, this was a year of considerable flux and uncertainty, with some events promising the inauguration of a new course of development for the region and others passing without long-term impact. The period surveyed in this volume, unless otherwise indicated, is from January to December 1991. In order to avoid excessive repetition while achieving a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country individually, extensive cross-references have been used

A number of contributors explore contemporary Middle East countries and look at how and if, they have moved forward. It looks at the rise of religious extremists and the Arab-Israeli peace process, stimulated by the change of government in Israel.

This annual record of political developments in the Middle East is designed as a continuing, up-to-date reference for scholars, researchers and analysts, policy-makers, students and journalists. It examines in detail the rapidly-changing Middle-Eastern scene in all its complexity. This volume covers the eruption of the Gulf crisis and the war that had dramatic effects on all the countries of the Middle East.

This is the fifteenth volume in a series that provides up-to-date summation and evaluation of the rapidly changing events in an exceptionally complex region of the world. This volume covers the period January through December 1991 and offers in-depth analysis of the Gulf War, the U.S.-inspired peace negotiations, the surge of Islamic sentiment in a number of countries, and inter-Arab relations in the wake of the Gulf War. In addition, a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country is provided. This volume covers the year 1991, a watershed period in the Middle East. The Gulf War pitted regional and international forces of unprecedented might against each other in fierce confrontation. Local and global developments, such as the U.S.-led victory over Iraq and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, brought on the struggle for a new order in the region. The relevance of Western political modes for Middle Eastern societies was again raised for examination, highlighting the formidable complexities of such options. One of the local responses to these changes was a surge of Islamic sentiment sometimes militant in nature manifested primarily in Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and among the Palestinians. Spearheaded by the United States, the Middle East peace process entered a more dynamic phase, as a multilateral peace conference in Madrid ushered in a new era of direct Arab-Israeli negotiations. The Arab system was slow to recover from the painful impact of the Gulf War, and inter-Arab relations continued to be characterized more by mutual vindictiveness than by reconciliation. On the whole, this was a year of considerable flux and uncertainty, with some events promising the inauguration of a new course of development for the region and others passing without long-term impact. The period surveyed in this volume, unless otherwise indicated, is from January to December 1991. In order to avoid excessive repetition while achieving a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country individually, extensive cross-references have been used

Newspapers and journalism began in the Middle East in the nineteenth century and evolved during a period of accelerated change which shaped their unique political, social and cultural role. Drawing on a wealth of sources, this study for the first time explores the press as a Middle Eastern institution. It focuses on the circumstances that influences the growth of the Arab press, its own impact on local historical developments, and the long-term effects that early patterns of its emergence have had on later evolution.

Focusing on Near Eastern history in Mamluk and Ottoman times, this book, dedicated to Michael Winter, stresses elements of variety and continuity in the history of the Near East, an area of study which has traditionally attracted little attention from Islamists. Ranging over the period from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, the articles in this book look at the area from Istanbul down through Syria and Palestine to Arabia, the Yemen and the Sudan. The articles demonstrate the great wealth of the materials available, in a wide variety of languages, from archival documents to manuscripts and art works, as well as inscriptions and buildings, police records and divorce documentation. The topics covered are equally as varied and include Dufism, the festival of Nabi Musa, military organisations, doctors, and charity to name but a few.

Focusing on Near Eastern history in Mamluk and Ottoman times, this book, dedicated to Michael Winter, stresses elements of variety and continuity in the history of the Near East, an area of study which has traditionally attracted little attention from Islamists.

Ranging over the period from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, the articles in this book look at the area from Istanbul down through Syria and Palestine to Arabia, the Yemen and the Sudan. The articles demonstrate the great wealth of the materials available, in a wide variety of languages, from archival documents to manuscripts and art works, as well as inscriptions and buildings, police records and divorce documentation. The topics covered are equally as varied and include Dufism, the festival of Nabi Musa, military organisations, doctors, and charity to name but a few.

Middle Eastern society experienced sudden and profound change in the 19th century under the impact of European expansion and influence. But as Western ideas about politics, technology, and culture began to infiltrate Arab society, the old language proved to be an inadequate vehicle for transmitting these alien concepts from abroad. In this study of the rise of modern Arabic, Ayalon examines 19th-century linguistic change in the Eastern Arab world as a mirror of changing Arab perceptions and responses to the West as well as a guide to the emergence of modern Arabic concepts, institutions, and practices. Focusing on the realm of political discourse, Ayalon looks at a wide array of evidence--local chronicles, travel accounts, translations of European writings, Arab political treatises, newspapers and periodicals, and dictionaries--to show how shifts in the color, tone, and meaning of the Arab vocabulary reflected a new socio-political and cultural reality.

In a brief historic moment, printing presses, publishing ventures, a periodical press, circulation networks, and a mass readership came into being all at once in the Middle East, where none had previously existed, with ramifications in every sphere of the community's life. Among other outcomes, this significant change facilitated the cultural and literary movement known as the Arab 'nahda' ('awakening'). Ayalon's book offers both students and scholars a critical inquiry into the formative phase of that shift in Arab societies. This comprehensive analysis explores the advent of printing and publishing; the formation of mass readership; and the creation of distribution channels, the vital and often overlooked nexus linking the former two processes. It considers questions of cultural and religious tradition, social norms and relations, and concepts of education, offering a unique presentation of the emerging print culture in the Middle East.

In a brief historic moment, printing presses, publishing ventures, a periodical press, circulation networks, and a mass readership came into being all at once in the Middle East, where none had previously existed, with ramifications in every sphere of the community's life. Among other outcomes, this significant change facilitated the cultural and literary movement known as the Arab 'nahda' ('awakening'). Ayalon's book offers both students and scholars a critical inquiry into the formative phase of that shift in Arab societies. This comprehensive analysis explores the advent of printing and publishing; the formation of mass readership; and the creation of distribution channels, the vital and often overlooked nexus linking the former two processes. It considers questions of cultural and religious tradition, social norms and relations, and concepts of education, offering a unique presentation of the emerging print culture in the Middle East.

"Superb. . . . Ayalon's work is not a fresh look at an old topic, but is a successful innovative product portraying how and when Palestinians used and read printed texts and the pace with which those texts influenced multiple aspects of Arab society in Palestine. It is masterfully presented." -- Kenneth W. Stein, William E. Schatten Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History and Israeli Studies, Emory University

Prior to the twentieth century, Arab society in Palestine was predominantly illiterate, with most social and political activities conducted through oral communication. There were no printing presses, no book or periodical production, and no written signs in public places. But a groundswell of change rapidly raised the region's literacy rates, a fascinating transformation explored for the first time in Reading Palestine.

Addressing an exciting aspect of Middle Eastern history as well as the power of the printed word itself, Reading Palestine describes how this hurried process intensified the role of literacy in every sphere of community life. Ami Ayalon examines Palestine's development of a modern educational system in conjunction with the emergence of a print industry, libraries and reading clubs, and the impact of print media on urban and rural populations. Drawn from extensive archival sources, official reports, autobiographies, and a rich trove of early Palestinian journalism, Reading Palestine provides crucial insight into the dynamic rise of literacy that revolutionized the way Palestinians navigated turbulent political waters.