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The Jewish state was interested in establishing an agreement with the Arabs in Palestine but all efforts failed because neither was willing to concede on issues of land and immigration. Similarly, efforts to establish rights for the Arab minority were problematized by Zionist goals to increase Jewish immigration and economic dominance. While equal rights were granted on paper, Zionist efforts continued to reduce the Arab minority by increasing the Jewish population and encouraging Jewish economic growth over Arab., The attitude of Zionism toward the issue of the Arabs in Palestine from the beginning of Zionism until the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 has been the [...]

Mormons and Jews established agricultural settlements in western Canada around the turn of the century. Mormon colonization was generally successful, characterized by its great stability. Abandonment of the land by Mormon communities was rare. In contrast, almost all the Jewish settlements failed. Settlers abandoned their land and retreated to the urban centres of the West. A comparative analysis of the two groups suggests that this difference in agricultural stability may not have been a reflection of prior experience, nor was it necessarily attributable to vagaries of the physical environment. Social structures, religious demands, and institutional backing, along with the geographical concentration and interconnectivity of settlements were critical elements in determining success or failure in agriculture colonization. C'est au debut du siecle que les mormons et les Juifs etablirent dans l'Ouest canadien leurs colonies agricoles. La colonisation des Mormons, caracterisee par sa grande stabilite, reussit dans l'ensemble; rares furent les colonies qu'ils abandonnerent. Par contre, presque toutes les colonies juives echouerent; abandonnant leurs terres, les colons se retirement dans les centres urbains de l'Ouest. Une analyse comparative des deux groupes permet de conclure que leur stabilite agricole relative ne fut pas necessairement fonction de leur experience prealable en agriculture; elle ne fut pas non plus attribuable aux seules contraintes geographiques et climatiques. Les structures sociales, les exigences religieuses, l'appui de leurs etablissements en plus de la proximite d'autres colonies et leurs interrelations, tous ces facteurs s'avererent cruicaux pour determiner la reussite ou l'echec de la colonisation agricole.

The paper presents a historical and quatitative analysis of agricultural land transactions between Jews (buyers) and Arabs (sellers) in Patestine at the beginning of the century. Based on data relating to 104 plots (drawm from the archives of the Jewish settlement associations and organizations) and using the hedonic prices approach, it is found that site, relative location, and period of sale explain two-thirds of the variance in price. In addition, the nature of ownership, location in proximity to lands under Jewish ownership, and geopolitical region have substantial effects as well. The last factor is particularly interesting as it relates to nationalistic considerations of land redemption and preparation of a base for a national homeland.

For a number of reasons, a vast increase in scholarly research concerning the history of the Land of Israel during the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth [...]

The following concept paper was prepared by the Joint Working Group on Israeli-Palestinian Relations and edited by Herbert C. Kelman at the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Weatherhead [...]

This 'concept paper' by Joseph Alpher and Khalil Shikaki, was written with the participation of the following members of the Joint Working Group on Israeli-Palestinian Relations: Gabriel Ben-Dor, Ibrahim Dakkak, [...]