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Palestine and the Arab State System: Permeability, State Consolidation and the Intifada*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Rex Brynen
Rex Brynen
Affiliation:
McGill University
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Abstract

This article examines the sensitivity of Arab states to the political and ideological repercussions of the Palestine issue by focussing upon Egypt, Syria and Jordan. It suggests that the policies of Arab regimes towards the Palestine issue have been substantially shaped by historical patterns of state formation, and by the gradual consolidation of the Arab state system. This has served to “harden” the Arab territorial state, creating conditions under which Arab states are increasingly (if only partially) insulated from the transnational effects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Résumé

Cet article examine la sensibilité des États arabes face aux répercussions politiques et idéologiques de la question palestinienne; l'accent est mis sur l'Egypte, la Syrie et la Jordanie. On y suggère que les politiques des régimes arabes envers la question palestinienne ont été substantiellement façonnées par d'historiques tendances de formation étatique, et par la graduelle consolidation du système d'États arabes. Ceci a « endurci » l'État territorial arabe, créant des conditions selon lesquelles les états arabes sont de plus en plus (bien que partiellement) à l'abri des effets transnationaux du conflit israélo-palestinien.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 595 - 621
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1991

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References

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48 Although noting that “we are in a state of war, which, for scores of years, has forced us and is forcing on us the application of the emergency law,” President al-Asad also went on to call for legal reforms—thus implicitly confirming the extent to which the “hardening” of the Arab state system has rendered the Palestine issue an increasingly less effective means of legitimizing authoritarian state policies (Damascus Television Service, March 8, 1990 [FBIS]).

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51 According to one 1986 survey, more than 93 per cent of Palestinians in the occupied territories viewed the PLO as their sole legitimate representative; less than 1 per cent looked to King Husayn (Shadid, Mohammed and Seltzer, Rick, “Political Attitudes of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” Middle East Journal 42 [1987], 16–31Google Scholar; see also Sahliyeh, Emile, In Search of Leadership: West Bank Politics since 1967 [Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1988]Google Scholar).

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57 The continued permeability of Jordan, and the radicalizing effect there of the intifada played at least a partial role in the electoral victories of the Muslim Brotherhood in the November 1989 parliamentary elections. Similarly, periodic violent protests have continued to erupt in the Kingdom, notably in December 1989 (on the second anniversary of the uprising), May 14, 1990 (on the anniversary of Israel's establishment) and again on May 22 (following shootings in Israel and the occupied territories). Twodemonstrators were killed by Jordanian security forces during the latter.

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