(1949- ) A Jewish Israeli political figure. A long-time member of the Likud party, and considered one of Israel's most right-wing leaders. Netanyahu has served in numerous governmental positions, including Ambassador to the United Nations from 1984-1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1988-1991, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's cabinet from 1990-1991, Minister of Finance from 2003-2005 and Prime Minister from 1996-1999 and 2009 to the present, as of June 2015. During his long political career, he has participated in several peace processes with the Palestinians and Arab states, such as the 1991 Madrid Conference the signing of the 1998 Wye River Memorandum - part of the Oslo Process- with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in 1998, and more recent rounds of peace talks hosted by the United States; however, through most of this time he has rejected the principle of "land for peace." Only in June 2009 did Netanyahu first express support for the idea of a Palestinian state, on conditions that it be demilitarized, and formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He resigned from his position as Finance Minister to protest the 2005 Gaza Disengagement and has often vowed to continue building and expanding Israeli settlements located in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. See "There is no reason to trust Benjamin Netanyahu," Edo Konrad, +972Mag, March 19, 2015.
(1918-1970) President of Egypt from 1954-1970. Nasser came to power following the 1952 Free Officers' Coup in Egypt. As Egyptian President, he oversaw two regional wars with Israel, including the 1956 War in connection to the Suez Canal and the 1967 War, during which Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula, claiming it as a buffer zone. Nasser engaged in military action against the Israeli presence in the Sinai until his acceptance of the US-brokered Rogers Plan in 1970 that promised a return of the Sinai if Egypt ended hostilities with Israel; Israel, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and many Arab countries rejected this plan. Nasser was also well known for his socialist and pan-Arab ideas, his harsh policies toward the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and his support of the PLO. See "Gamal Abdal Nasser," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2008.
(1960 - ) A Lebanese Shi'a cleric, paramilitary leader and politician. He is the current Secretary-General of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shi'a political party with a militant wing. Born in 1960 in Southern Beirut, Nasrallah studied the Qur'an and politics in Iraq before the Saddam Hussein regime expelled him and other Shi'a clerics in 1978. Nasrallah ascended the ranks of Hezbollah after its inception in 1982, and became its leader in 1992 after the Israeli military killed Abbas Moussawi. Nasrallah is credited with the dramatic rise to power of Hezbollah in Lebanon's political and social life in recent years. See "Profile: Hassan Nasrallah," Eben Kaplan, Council on Foreign Relations, August 11 2010.
The Budget Foundations Law, commonly known as the Nakba Law, passed in March 2011. This law penalizes actions that are seen as "rejecting the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state" or "commemorating Independence Day or the day of the establishment of the state as a day of mourning." In essence, the law (which was introduced by the Yisrael Beiteinu party) seeks to target Palestinian citizens of Israel who commemorate al-Nakba, which is Arabic for "the catastrophe" and refers to the uprooting and displacement of up to 800,000 Palestinians during and following the 1948 War. An earlier draft of the law made Nakba commemoration a felony, punishable by a prison sentence, but the version that eventually passed holds instead a financial penalty on government-funded bodies. The law is one of many discriminatory laws that have passed the Knesset or are in different stages of consideration in recent years. See Israel passes controversial funding law," Bethany Bell, BBC, March 23, 2011; and "High Court ruling on Nakba Law Reveals its waning power," Fady Khoury, Jan 7, 2012. See also "Discriminatory Laws," Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
Also known by the Hebrew acronym Mafdal, or in English, by its initials NRP. An Israeli political party formed in 1956. It represents the religious Zionist movement. Mafdal promotes Jewish law in public spheres (education, marriage, etc.) rather than the separation of religion and state. Mafdal is strongly associated with the settler movement, and believes that Israel's borders should be from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The party opposes a Palestinian state and refuses to recognize the Palestinian Authority. In 2008, the party merged with the National Unity and two other parties to create the Jewish Home party, which, after other coalition partners dropped out, essentially turned into a re-named Mafdal. See "As NRP folds to create united front, signs of dissent emerge," Matthew Wagner, The Jerusalem Post, Nov 19, 2008.
Founded in 1999 as a right wing, nationalist Israeli coalition party. It calls for the voluntary expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem the West Bank and Gaza Strip to other Arab countries. In 2008, it merged with Mafdal to form the Jewish Home, but most of its members since left Jewish Home. In recent years, National Union party MKs have expressed support for Israelis who execute vigilante "price tag" attacks, and gave information to right wing extremists about Israeli army activity in the West Bank. See "Second Israeli MK admits to having given settlers information on IDF movements," Jonathan Lis, Haaretz, Jan 8, 2012.
(Negev in Hebrew; Naqab in Arabic.) A desert comprising the southern half of Israel. The biggest city is Beersheva, and there are several Kibbutzim and development towns, which were built in the 1950's to settle the influx of primarily Mizrachi Jewish immigrants coming from Arab countries. There are also a number of Israeli military bases. Approximately 70% of the Negev's current residents are Jewish, while 30% are Bedouin, half of whom live in 45 unrecognized villages and half who live in seven impoverished and over-crowded government-planned towns, which taken together comprise 2% of the land of the Negev/Naqab. See "One last appeal before a Bedouin village in the Negev is demolished and a Jewish town is built in its place," Allison Deger, Mondoweiss, June 1, 2015. See also "Bedouin's plight: 'We want to maintain our traditions. But it's a dream here,'" Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian, Nov 3 2011.
(Hebrew and Arabic for "Oasis of Peace") A village/community in central Israel, located between the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which was intentionally created by Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel. Est. population in 2010: 60 families. Established in 1969 with the goal of engaging in "educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples." The "School for Peace" which conducts workshops and seminars for Jewish and Palestinian youth and adults operates out of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam. See the village's website.
Can refer to the process of creating 'normal' diplomatic and economic relations between the State of Israel and its Arab neighbors. Can also refer (critically) to Palestinians and Israelis (both individuals and groups) who are willing to work with or talk to each other "as if things are normal," and thereby reinforcing the status quo of the occupation. Normalization prior to the creation of a Palestinian state and the end of the occupation is viewed by many Palestinians and their supporters as a betrayal of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. In the context of diplomatic/economic relations, Egypt was the first to normalize relations in 1979 and was expelled from the Arab League for a time; Jordan followed suit in 1994. The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative is the most comprehensive offer of normalization by the Arab world, under the condition of Palestinian statehood and a full end to occupation. See "Arab normalization gestures to Israel," Akram Baker, Bitterlemons-international.org, July 23, 2009. See also "What is normal about normalization," Aziz Abu Sarah, +972mag, Dec 26, 2011; and "Co-existence vs. Co-resistance: A case against normalization," Omar H. Rahman, +972mag, Jan 3, 2012.
(1949- ) A Palestinian political and intellectual figure. Politically, Nusseibeh served in several positions within Fatah including as the Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Jerusalem. Nusseibeh is a professor at Al Quds University and served as its President until March 2014. He is considered a leading Palestinian moderate and has been deeply involved in several peace initiatives, such as the People's Voice Initiative, co-authored with former Israeli Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon 2002. In 2010, Nusseibeh publicly stated that, due to the reality of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he believed a two-state solution to be almost impossible. See Sari Nusseibeh's website.