Ya Quds! Academic Cultural News Letter, Issue No. 2

Greetings and a warm welcome to the second issue of Ya Quds!. Ya Quds! received many good words of encouragement following the first issue. We thank all those who have expressed their views and shared their suggestions. After all, it is you, our readers, whom we care about, so your comments and suggestions are very important to us. We hope that Ya Quds! will continue to offer valuable information and stimulate productive discussion about the city of Jerusalem. In this issue, as in the first, we did not seek to focus on a particular theme but have rather left it to the individual authors to select themes of interest and importance to them. All the articles are different, yet all are united by the word “Al-Quds.” Ya Quds! is written about and for Jerusalem and its inhabitants, the stories and articles help to deconstruct the complex mystery and charm of this city. What you will find in the following pages is a collection of ten articles, five in Arabic and five in English, written by academics and researchers whose contributions we are honoured to have in Ya Quds! . The five articles in English reflect various perspectives: historical ( The Fatimids in Jerusalem ), social ( The Gypsies of Jerusalem ), political ( Mussala al-Marwani: An unrecognised Palestinian triumph? ; and On the 16th Anniversary of the Camp David Negotiations ), and urban planning ( Urban Spatial Changes during Political Uncertainty ). There are so many topics about Jerusalem on which we have yet to hear, so take hold of your pens and add your voices. We hereby send out a call for articles for the third issue of Ya Quds! . Articles may be in Arabic or English and should not exceed 1200 words. The deadline for submission is December 12, 2016. We look forward to your contributions. The Centre for Jerusalem Studies team is also working hard to prepare for the upcoming conference on Production of Inequalities: Realities and Prospects for Change in Jerusalem, to be held on December 3–5 in Jerusalem and Abu Dis. We take this opportunity to invite all those interested in the topic to join us for this event

Americans on Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Program: A Study of American Public Opinion

These are the results of a poll of the American Public conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes and the Anwar Sadat Chair to better understand American public attitudes on Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Program

Americans on the Middle East: A Study of American Public Opinion

In mid-September 2012, attacks on US diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt—countries going through revolutionary processes that began with the Arab Spring—shocked Americans in the midst of a closely fought presidential campaign. The very different governments of Libya and Egypt, both new and untested, had to formulate responses to the attacks, which immediately fed in to the American political process. These are the results of a poll conducted by the University of Maryland’s Anwar Sadat Chair and the Program on International Policy Attitudes to learn what have been the American public’s first impressions of these events, and how attitudes on other issues in the region may have changed

The American public and the Arab awakening: a study of American public opinion

Released in conjunction with the U.S.-Islamic World Forum.An overwhelming majority of Americans think that it would be positive for the United States if the Middle East were to become more democratic, and a solid majority would favor this happening even if it resulted in the country being more likely to oppose U.S. policies. These are some of the findings of a new poll conducted by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. The poll of 802 Americans was fielded April 1-5 by Knowledge Networks.Circle Foundation, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development (University of Maryland

The American Public on the 9/11 Decade: A Study of American Public Opinion

Six in ten Americans believe that that the U.S. weakened its economy by overspending in its responses to the 9/11 attacks. In particular, respondents felt this was especially true of the U.S. mission in Iraq. Two out of three Americans perceive that over the decade since 9/11, U.S. power and influence in the world has declined. This view is highly correlated with the belief that the U.S. overspent in its post-9/11 response efforts -- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are some of the findings of a new poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland. The poll of 957 Americans was fielded August 19-25, 2011, by Knowledge Networks.Circle Foundation, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development (University of Maryland

Biden Aims to Contain Violence in Israel/Palestine. His Policy May Be Stoking It Instead

Biden’s recent attempts at deescalation do not challenge or overturn decades of America enabling Israel’s violent occupation of Palestine. Instead, Biden has continued to systematically dismantle any non-violent avenues for Palestinian resistance while strengthening the militant Israeli far right