Education and Empowerment: Lessons and History of the Christian Education Network in Israel and Palestine

Beginning in the 1850s, Christian missionary organizations established schools in Ottoman Palestine. A variety of networks developed over the years, principally those of the Anglicans and Catholics. Initially, these schools provided an education emphasizing European Christian values and subjects. Over time, however, a slow process of indigenization occurred. The first fruits of this process are illustrated by young leaders like Emil Tume and Tewfik Tubi who were prominent in the political opposition in Israel's first years of statehood. Another generation produced such notables as author Raja Shehadeh and Hanan Ashwari. In today's Israel and the Palestinian territories, the best schools, from a standpoint of matriculation, are Christian private schools that are open to all communities. Through this history, the article examines the development of a Christian school network and the political activism, involvement, and empowerment they engendered. It also provides a case study of the Rosary Sisters' school system.     

Israel–Syria: The Elusive Peace*

For 20 years, as of 1991, multiple rounds of negotiations took place between Syria and Israel. These negotiations revolved around the entire gamut of problems separating the two countries: borders, recognition, finality of the conflict, normalization, security arrangements, the Israeli civilian population in the disputed territory, water, Lebanon, the Palestinian issue, Iran, and terrorism. Israeli Prime Ministers, Syrian presidents, foreign ministers, and senior generals from both sides participated in the talks, and third parties such as the United States and Turkey were also involved. Yet peace was not achieved, although not for a lack of effort. This article tries to shed light on some of the reasons for this continuing failure.     

Public Policy Issues and Campaign Strategies: Examining Rationality and the Role of Social Media in a Legislative Election Within a Middle Eastern Context

While most studies from western countries emphasize rationality in electoral behavior, the present study proposes that rationality is also a driver of candidates’ behavior in a non‐Western context. The purpose of the present study is to map campaign content as well as campaign strategies of 214 candidates in the 2015 United Arab Emirates legislative elections. The qualitative analysis showed rational consideration drove the selection of both campaign strategies and public policy positions. Candidates decided to include patriotism and social and economic policy issues in their campaigns to attract votes. In addition, while candidates utilized social meda in their campaigns hoping to maximize their voter outreach, doing so was not necessarily decisive in garnering more votes. Thus, juxtaposed with social meda channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, and GooglePlus, traditional campaigning strategies remained very potent.