Policy Analysis

Article by Michelle Pace & René Wildangel Without radical policy change new violence will erupt in 2015 and Gaza will become unlivable. Meanwhile Israel is relieved of any responsibility as an occupying power under international law for the UN’s Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism.

Rumour has it ... the new Perspectives is out! They are only 'hot air' but anyone who has been affected by rumours is familiar with their unhallowed dynamics, and the serious consequences they can entail. Rumours fulfil social functions. They serve as a medium through which unfulfilled hopes or unspecific fears can be voiced. They bond and drive a wedge between people and population groups at the same time. They can destroy reputations, credibility and even lives. Read here twelve experts from the MENA region discussing the topic!

For months, there has been an intense debate about whether Germany should assume greater foreign policy responsibility. Yet when it came to the conflict in Gaza, Germany's politicians have once again slipped into the role of the horrified bystander. 

For a sustainable ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the blockade of Gaza must be lifted. After several failed mediation attempts, the war in Gaza has continued to escalate. Israel has widened its military operations and targeted leaders, rocket bases and tunnels of Hamas and other militant groups, in a bid to destroy their infrastructure and bring them to their knees. Hamas, in turn, has employed the whole of its arsenal to demonstrate steadfastness and improve its own position, both domestically and regionally.

Israel's heavy-handed acts of retaliation against both Hamas and Palestinian civilians are threatening to provoke a new escalation of violence. The Israeli military deployment in the West Bank is the biggest since the end of the second Intifada in 2005. A commentary by Dr. René Wildangel - hbs Palestine- Jordan office director.

Hamas and Fatah have sealed an agreement and a new technocrat government has been formed. Reconciliation remains complicated and needs more players on board than the two major parties. The danger of failure is great. It is for precisely this reason that the US and Europe should actively support this process writes hbs Palestine- Jordan office director René Wildangel.

While the negotiations about the framework agreement facilitated by US Secretary of State John Kerry are still ongoing, Palestinians are debating their political options beyond the talks which many regard as futile. The Heinrich Böll Foundation organized a round table debate entitled “The Kerry Framework – (Any)where to go from here?” aiming to discuss this issue with Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, former negotiator and senior advisor to president Mahmoud Abbas, political analyst, legal advisor, and former PLO spokesperson Diana Buttu, as well as the director of the human rights organization Al Haq, Dr. Shawan Jabarin. 

During a recent visit to Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan I had the opportunity to see part of the reality of the Syrian conflict at first hand, and to experience the unique and constantly evolving urban landscape of Za’atari camp. This landscape has changed dramatically since Dr René Wildangel, director of hbs Palestine/Jordan visited Za’atari in October 2012 just 3 months after it opened (his report can be read here). 

The Palestinians are unsure of how to respond to Kerry's long-anticipated Framework Agreement. Should they agree, refuse, or give an ambivalent reply? Kerry could conceivably be asked to prolong the negotiations in the hope that he could come up with the settlement that has so far eluded him.

Anna Lührmann was part of a short-term election observation mission of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In addition to briefings and debriefings in Amman, she observed polling in Jarash in Jordan’s North. Based on this experience and NDI’s preliminary statement on the election she assesses the democratic quality of last week’s elections for the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation...