巴勒斯坦非政府组织:类别与功能

20世纪六十年代以来,巴勒斯坦非政府组织得到很大发展并且日渐成熟.它们不仅在巴勒斯坦的社会和经济发展中扮演重要角色,而且在巴勒斯坦建国.巴民主进程以及巴以和平进程中都发挥着重要作用.在特殊的政治和社会环境下,巴非政府组织面临一系列挑战.但在推动国内政治和解以及巴以和平的进程中,巴非政府组织必须而且也有可能发挥更加积极和重要的作用.     

浅析巴勒斯坦非政府组织

巴以冲突久拖不决,不仅使巴勒斯坦局势风云变幻,同时也使巴勒斯坦非政府组织的生存和发展的环境变得复杂。本文试图从巴勒斯坦非政府组织的产生、作用以及未来的发展趋势等方面展开研究,以期对巴勒斯坦非政府组织有一个比较深刻和全面的认识。     

浅析巴勒斯坦非政府组织

巴以冲突久拖不决,不仅使巴勒斯坦局势风云变幻,同时也使巴勒斯坦非政府组织的生存和发展的环境变得复杂.本文试图从巴勒斯坦非政府组织的产生、作用以及未来的发展趋势等方面展开研究,以期对巴勒斯坦非政府组织有一个比较深刻和全面的认识.     

阿拉法特去世对中东局势的影响

巴勒斯坦领导人阿拉法特走完了自己悲壮的人生旅程，于2004年11月11日在法国巴黎病逝。这位巴勒斯坦人民的领袖驰骋中东政治舞台近半个世纪，不仅领导巴勒斯坦人民进行了艰苦卓绝的反以武装斗争，而且以超凡的勇气开启了巴以和平进程。他的逝世，必将对巴勒斯坦政局、巴以和平进程乃至中东形势产生重大影响。     

阿拉法特去世对中东局势的影响

巴勒斯坦领导人阿拉法特走完了自己悲壮的人生旅程,于2004年11月11日在法国巴黎病逝.这位巴勒斯坦人民的领袖驰骋中东政治舞台近半个世纪,不仅领导巴勒斯坦人民进行了艰苦卓绝的反以武装斗争,而且以超凡的勇气开启了巴以和平进程.他的逝世,必将对巴勒斯坦政局、巴以和平进程乃至中东形势产生重大影响.     

从巴以选举看巴以政局演变

2006年初,巴勒斯坦和以色列相继进行了两场重要的选举。哈马斯出人意料地战胜了法塔赫,在孤立的国际环境中组建了巴勒斯坦新政府。不久,以色列政坛也因沙龙退出利库德集团却又突然卧病而发生强震。持强硬立场的哈马斯和继承沙龙路线的前进党上台,使巴以政局发生重大变化,也使巴以局势和中东和平进程蒙上阴影。巴以内部政治势力的演变在很大程度上决定着决策者在和谈进程中的战略选择。剖析巴以政局巨变的背景,有助于更好地理解近年来巴以谈判陷入困境的原因,进而对巴以局势的走向作出较准确的判断。     

从巴以选举看巴以政局演变

2006年初,巴勒斯坦和以色列相继进行了两场重要的选举.哈马斯出人意料地战胜了法塔赫,在孤立的国际环境中组建了巴勒斯坦新政府.不久,以色列政坛也因沙龙退出利库德集团却又突然卧病而发生强震.持强硬立场的哈马斯和继承沙龙路线的前进党上台,使巴以政局发生重大变化,也使巴以局势和中东和平进程蒙上阴影.巴以内部政治势力的演变在很大程度上决定着决策者在和谈进程中的战略选择.剖析巴以政局巨变的背景,有助于更好地理解近年来巴以谈判陷入困境的原因,进而对巴以局势的走向作出较准确的判断.     

从国际法看巴勒斯坦建国

巴勒斯坦建国问题是巴以冲突中悬而未决的棘手问题,在当前巴以和平进程受挫情况下,它渐渐成为巴以和谈的重要议题,且有可能成为和谈的突破口.本文从国际法角度,结合历史,分析了巴建国问题在法理上具备了哪些条件,缺哪些条件,据此对巴建国前景作个预测.     

从国际法看巴勒斯坦建国

巴勒斯坦建国问题是巴以冲突中悬而未决的棘手问题，在当前巴以和平进程受挫情况下，它渐渐成为巴以和谈的重要议题，且有可能成为和谈的突破口．本文从国际法角度，结合历史，分析了巴建国问题在法理上具备了哪些条件，缺哪些条件，据此对巴建国前景作个预测．     

解决巴以冲突的难点及其相关思考

综观历史和现状，解决巴以冲突的困难有的来自巴以内部，也有来自外部。通过梳理巴以冲突的历史脉络，作者提出了对解决问题的几点思考：希望各方把握大局，有紧迫感；美国真正能在巴以问题上发挥积极作用；双方选择切实可行的方案，付诸实践；巴勒斯坦内部的团结对达成和平协议至关重要。     

THE BRIDLED BRIDE OF PALESTINE: ORIENTALISM,ZIONISM, AND THE TROUBLED URBAN IMAGINATION

Through ethnographic and archival research centered in Jaffa, this article analyzes how the image of the Jewish-Arab mixed city has been represented and (re)produced in the Zionist historical imagination since the establishment of the state of Israel to the present. Vacillating between romantic historicity and political violence, the image of Jaffa poses a political and hermeneutic challenge to the territorial project of urban Judaization, which ultimately failed to define and establish the national-cum-cultural identity of this “New-Old” city. This failure, I argue, results in a persistent pattern of semiotic ambivalence which, from the Jewish-Israeli point of view, positions Jaffa both as a source of identity and longing (in the distant past) as well as a symbol of alterity and enmity (in the recent past)— an object of desire and fear alike. As such, Jaffa and other ethnically mixed towns (including Ramle, Lydda, Haifa, and Acre) occupy a problematic place in Israeli and Palestinian political and cultural imagination. A bi-national borderland in which Arabs and Jews live de facto together, these cities bring to the fore, on the one hand, the paradox of Palestinian citizens in a fundamentally Jewish state, while simultaneously suggesting, by the very spatial and social realization of “mixed-ness,” the potential imaginary of its solution. Unfolding through four distinct historical modalities of urban Orientalism, this article historicizes the highly politicized image of the Jewish-Arab city and the discourse on its future. These discursive formations reconfigured the public space that enabled, paradoxically since the October 2000 events, new political claims for equal citizenship, bi-national cooperation, and Palestinian presence.     

Assessing NGO Empowerment in Housing Development Frameworks: Discourse and Practice in the Philippines

Amid the rise of democratization movements since the 1980s, many governments in developing countries have proactively introduced the ideas of decentralization and devolution into the policy arena. In the pursuit of democratic planning processes where civil society is encouraged to be a part of the formal decision-making system, articles advocating the empowerment of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been included into a series of legislations. This shift was soon reflected in housing development frameworks for the poor, leading to the formulation of a new approach called "enablement." The Philippines' experience for the last two decades follows this line of development. Filipino NGOs are now prescribed as a catalyst to add further dynamism to the improvement of substandard living environments. Empirical findings of this study exemplify that NGO empowerment has been increasingly accelerated by the combination of NGOs' self-endeavors and governments' initiatives. By utilizing the paradigm shift under the enablement approach, NGOs are engaged in the attempt of alliance-formation and network-building to expand their influence. Contrary to ideals, however, NGO empowerment may reveal some adverse effects such as excessive dependency on NGOs and distorted representation by NGOs. Moreover, the professionalization of NGOs is an additional factor which generates hierarchization at the grass-roots level. This study suggests that further research analyze the depth and width to which NGO empowerment has been penetrated in order to precisely capture the processes and consequences resulting in disempowerment.     

Women's NGOs at UN Conferences: The 1992 Rio Conference on the Environment as a Watershed Event

SUMMARY

Before the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Brazil in 1992, the involvement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in UN conferences was limited. NGOs participate in UN conferences in two ways, at a non-governmental forum usually convened simultaneously with an official UN conference, or as accredited observers to the official conference where government delegations meet and make decisions. Only 200 NGOs were granted access to the official portion of the Decade for Women Conference held in Nairobi in 1985, whereas 1,400 organizations were accredited to attend UNCED in Rio in 1992. And while only a small portion, about 5 percent, of those were women-oriented NGOs, they had a significant impact on the outcome. An entire chapter on women and environmental issues was added to the official conference document, and cross-cutting references to women were included throughout the document. This achievement reflects the work of several uniquely placed women, in and outside governments and the United Nations system, working together to build an international network of women and bring their voices to the table. Moreover, the techniques they developed have been used by women at every major UN conference held since 1992.     

Palestinian National Authority's public relations policies relating to Israel: Current attitudes among Palestinian officials and media experts

This study investigates attitudes about Palestinian public relations policies during the Palestinian struggle in the Israeli media war and future challenges that will face the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in public relations planning. This study shows that Palestinian groups have mixed attitudes toward PNA's public relations plans and policies. The media experts tend to see the PNA's efforts as reactive, not pro-active. The experts think that PNA's main concern has been to follow up on daily political events, and thus its approach to public relations has been more of a reaction to Israeli practices rather than a strategic pro-active plan.     

Civil Society in an Age of Environmental Accountability: How Local Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations Reduce U.S. Power Plants’ Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Institutional scholars have argued that in the absence of legislation on the issue of climate change, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can help reduce the amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases being emitted to the environment by disseminating environmental norms. Consistent with this reasoning, they have shown that from the middle of the last century up through the mid‐1990s, nations with more memberships in NGOs have tended to have lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the aggregate. Doubts remain, however, about whether NGOs have reduced emissions in the time since and at the level of individual power plants where the lion's share of carbon pollution is emitted. Using plant‐specific information on CO₂ emissions recently collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, we investigate the effects of local environmental NGOs (ENGOs) on plants’ environmental performance. Consistent with our expectations, we find that local ENGOs not only directly reduce plants’ emissions but indirectly do so by enhancing the effectiveness of subnational climate policies that encourage energy efficiency. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on the decoupling of normative systems, social movements, environmental sociology, and the EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan.     

New Donor Strategies: Implications for NGOs in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

This article examines the changes that have taken place since the mid-2000s in the donor agenda in Kyrgyzstan, and what implications these changes have had for Kyrgyzstani NGOs. It uses two-stage longitudinal research. The findings reveal that donors changed their priorities after the mid-2000s by closing the civil society building programmes and grants they initiated in the 1990s. Donors now prioritize promoting NGOs in advocacy roles for policy reform. Interviewed NGOs reported that donor grants had decreased, aggravating the existing competition for donor funding among NGOs. This article suggests that as a result of these changes NGOs that are organizationally and professionally stronger are in a better position to obtain funding and, thus, continue their work. The research findings also indicate that some NGOs expanded their funding sources between 2008 and 2016.     

NGO Behavior and Development Discourse: Cases From Western India

This paper examines the effects of shifts in development discourse on the behavior of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Drawing upon detailed case histories of two well-established NGOs in western India, it is demonstrated that (1) the case NGOs have been profoundly influenced by discourses prevailing during their initial, formative stages; (2) NGO behavior is subject to changes in global development discourses that are transmitted to them via a range of mechanisms including consultants, conditions of funding, and reporting requirements; and (3) these NGOs have been able to challenge and adapt certain discourses to suit their own needs and circumstances, sometimes even sparking wider structural change.     

The Development of Grassroots Chinese NGOs Following the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008: Three Case Studies,Four Modi Vivendi

Many analysts consider 2008 to have been “NGO year zero” for China, as the relief and reconstruction process following the Wenchuan earthquake witnessed a significant surge in NGO activity. This study traces the development trajectory of three NGOs in Y City over the eight years since the area was severely struck by the Wenchuan earthquake. These NGOs actively assisted in the post-disaster recovery. By the time the reconstruction was complete, they had translated their distinct resources, development plans, and relationships with local government into different approaches to helping the local community. This study proposes an interactive model that captures the nuanced dynamics over time on both sides of the NGO–local government relationships. The model focuses on variations in NGOs’ orientations and bargaining power. This yields a matrix with four elementary types of relationship: “parent-–child,” “mercantile,” “predator–prey,” and alienated relationships. These interaction patterns and their effects are clearly seen in the case studies.