Waging peace in the Holy Land: a qualitative study of Seeds of Peace, 1993-2004

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityThis study focuses on Seeds of Peace, a peace education program whose purpose is to bring together teenagers from conflict regions, train them to be future leaders, and promote conflict resolution, reconciliation, and coexistence. The experiences of the Palestinian, Israeli-Jewish, and Israeli-Palestinian participants at the summer camp, during re-entry, and in subsequent years, particularly during the second intifada, are portrayed using qualitative methods. The study also describes and analyzes the Seeds of Peace program from 1993–2004, highlighting the implementation of the follow-up program in the home region. Theories from the field of social psychology, including social identity theory and the contact hypothesis, and literature on peace education interventions conducted in the context of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, are employed to explain sources of intergroup conflict and models of how they can best be addressed and overcome. Data collection consisted of interviews of participants and staff members, observations of the camp and follow-up program, and written documentation produced by the participants. The participants' journeys were fraught with difficulties, particularly during re-entry and periods of violent conflict. Following the onset of the second intifada, external asymmetric power relations had a greater impact on the functioning of the program and tendencies to revert to previously-held negative attitudes became more pronounced as each group faced increasingly negative messages from their communities regarding the other side. Furthermore, participants grappled with what they referred to as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) dilemma' as Israeli-Jews approached the age of mandatory military service. However, despite these challenges, according to many of the participants interviewed for this study, contact with the ‘enemy’ group promoted greater understanding of the conflict and its various narratives, humanization of the other side, increased self-concept, and enhanced communication and leadership skills. The use of a mixed model with multiple categorization strategies and a follow-up program enhanced positive outcomes. The findings of this study, presented through a narrative format, should provide many insights into designing and implementing peace education programs between teenagers from groups involved in intractable conflict, particularly during a period characterized by acute violence and a lack of top-down peacemaking initiatives

The aesthetics and politics of ‘reading together’ Moroccan novels in Arabic and French

This paper attempts to break down the common practices of reading multilingual Moroccan novels, particularly Moroccan postcolonial novels in Arabic and French. I argue that dominant reading practices are based on binary oppositions marked by a reductionist understanding of language and cultural politics in Morocco. They place the Moroccan novel in Arabic and French in independent traditions with the presupposition that they have no impact on each other, thereby reifying each tradition. They also ignore the similar historical, social and cultural context from which these novels emerge, and tend to reinforce the marginalisation of the Moroccan novel within hegemonic single-language literary systems such as the Francophone or Arabic literary traditions. I advocate ‘reading together’ – or an entangled comparative reading of – postcolonial Moroccan novels in Arabic and French, a reading that privileges the specificity of the literary traditions in Morocco rather than language categorisation, and that considers their mutual historical, cultural, geographical, political, and aesthetic interweaving and implications

Neither participation nor revolution: the strategy of the Moroccan Jamiat al-Adl wal-Ihsan

Scholars and students of Islamist movements are divided over the issue of Islamists' commitment to democracy and a number of studies have attempted to discover the true nature of Islamist parties. This paper rejects this approach and argues that the behaviour of Islamist parties can be better understood through an analysis of the constraints and opportunities that their surrounding environment provides. Specifically, the paper aims at explaining the choice of the Moroccan Jamiat al-Adl wal-Ihsan neither to participate in institutional politics nor to undertake violent actions to transform the regime. This is done through an examination of its relations with the other political actors. The paper argues that Jamiat al-Adl wal-Ihsan's behaviour is as much the product of rational thinking as it is of ideology and provides evidence to support this claim. Such findings are important not only in the Moroccan context, but contribute to a growing literature claiming that Islamist movements should be treated as rational political actors operating under 'environmental' constraints and opportunities

Insécurité à la périphérie : les griefs socio-économiques et le mouvement amazigh au Maroc

Ces dernières années, le mouvement identitaire amazigh ou berbère au Maroc a enregistré d’importants succès. L’agenda revendicatif du mouvement s’est retrouvé au premier plan des manifestations du « Printemps démocratique » en 2011. Insufflé par le « Mouvement du 20 Février », celui-ci a poussé la Monarchie à inscrire la reconnaissance de l’amazighité comme composante de l’identité nationale dans la constitution. Bien que les protestations aient été adroitement contenues, le pays est entré da..

The Impact of Foreign Investor Flows on Emerging Market Local Currency Bonds

Driven by the desire to reduce the currency mismatch associated with\ud foreign-currency borrowing, Emerging Market countries have developed their local\ud currency bond markets over the past decade. As foreign investors have increased\ud their participation in this asset class, some risks remain. This paper analyzes the\ud impact of foreign investment flows on local-currency bond yields of 16 countries\ud from 2006-2011. Results indicate that foreign investor inflows reduce borrowing\ud costs, but outflows are associated with greater volatility during the financial crisis

Change and opportunities in the emerging Mediterranean

Includes Bibliographical References of Part I (pp. 95-100).Seven years ago, the Arab summit conference, hosted by Tunisia's long-serving autocratic president Zayn Al-Abidine Ben Ali, issued a ringing declaration proclaiming Arab leaders' commitment to a comprehensive reform of political life. Democratic practice would be consolidated, they stated, by expanding the role of civil society, widening women's participation in all fields of life, while reinforcing their rights and status and protecting the family and Arab youth. This would be done in conjunction with comprehensive economic and social development that placed a premium on education, social solidarity and combating poverty, while guaranteeing an independent judiciary and the freedom of expression, thought and belief. The declaration, a year after America had occupied Baghdad and toppled the Iraqi Ba`th regime, was an acknowledgement of a stark fact – that collectively and individually, Arab states had become weaker, vis-à-vis both other regional actors and the international political and economic order, and that something fundamental was needed to rectify the situation.peer-reviewe