Book reviews

Selwyn Ilan Troen and Benjamin Pinkus, eds., Organizing Rescue: National Jewish Solidarity in the Modern Period, London, Frank Cass, 1992, pp. xi, 424.

Idith Zertal, From Catastrophe to Power: Jewish Illegal Immigration to Palestine 1945–1948 (Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Am Oved Publishers, 1996. 674 pp.; notes; bibliography; index.

Yoav Gelber, Jewish‐Transjordanian Relations, 1921–48, London: Frank Cass, 1997. 320 pp., glossary, sources and bibliography, index.

Moshe Shemesh, The Palestinian Entity, 1959–1974; Arab Politics and the PLO, Second (Revised) Edition, London: Frank Cass, 1996. xxiii, 433pp., bibliography, index.

Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, ed., Zwischen Moral und Realpolitik: Deutsch‐israelisch Bezeihungen 1945–1965: Eine Doku‐mentensammlung. Gelingen: Bleicher Verlag, 1997. 687 pp.

Angelika Timm, Jewish Claims Against East Germany: Moral Obligations and Pragmatic Policy. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1997, xi + 291pp.     

Rethinking responses towards group-homes: inclusionary legislation,supportive municipal attitudes,and place-based opposition

Little research has been devoted to uncontested human services facilities, nor to the legal frameworks siting proposals are situated in. To address these, this paper examines group-homes that operated in Jerusalem, Israel, between 2002 and 2012, identifies and explores a range of responses group-homes encounter. Results point to only low levels of opposition alongside a relatively equal distribution of group-homes across all areas of the city, including affluent neighbourhoods. Interviews with key stakeholders suggest that these results have been the outcome of a combination of inclusionary national legislation, supportive municipal attitudes and actions, and a proactive approach adopted by service-providers. Through focusing on existing group-homes we find that the characteristics of opposition depend, in part, on the stage of the group-home’s life cycle in which it occurs. Specifically, opposition occurring in the pre- and upon-siting stages resemble typical NIMBY opposition while those occurring post-siting are more place-based. These results point to the importance of examining opposition within the context of inclusionary legislation, municipal attitudes and place-based responses.     

Fatherhood in Labour Zionist Children's Literature: Space,Masculinity and Hegemony in Mandate Palestine

This article analyses the connection between gender and fatherhood in Labour Zionist children's literature during the formative years of the Zionist project which preceded the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Contrary to most similar social movements in the interwar period, Labour Zionism was leading a settler-colonial project with the imperative to expand the Jewish presence throughout the country, making the category of space particularly relevant to the success of its hegemonic project. This article contributes to the understanding of the role of gender in the process of Zionist settlement and colonisation, and at the same time calls for more attention to the entanglement of gender and masculinity with space in the study of colonial history.