Asian and African Area Studies
Online ISSN : 2188-9104
Print ISSN : 1346-2466
ISSN-L : 1346-2466
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Problems and Resistance for Palestinian Society in the Old City of Jerusalem under Israeli Occupation: A Case Study of Commercial Streets
Hiromi TOBINA
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2008 Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 214-237

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Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe how Israeli non-military occupation policies cause problems among Palestinians and how the Palestinians tackle these problems through a case study of Palestinian merchants in the Old City of Jerusalem. Many studies of Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance have focused on their military aspect. On the other hand, researches on East Jerusalem have generally examined Israeli occupation policies, particularly the policy of “Judaization,” and their impacts on “the Final Status” negotiation in the future, apart from the context of the occupation and the resistance.

Making use of fieldwork conducted in East Jerusalem by the author, this article will describe the following:

1. Judaization of Jerusalem has been promoted not only by making the population balance desirable for Jewish Israelis and undesirable for the Palestinians, and confiscating as much land belonging to the Palestinians as possible for Jewish citizens, but also by eliminating “non-Jewish” social, historical, economic, and cultural factors.

2. The problems of living under occupation are deeply connected to the daily lives of the Palestinians, such as tax problems and settlement activities by Jewish Israelis. These problems are caused by the legal and administrative systems of the occupier.

3. The reactions of the Palestinians to the problems are also expressed within the occupier’s legal and administrative systems. However, the Palestinians are not subordinate who just obey the occupier’s systems. They re-interpret and utilize the occupier’s legal and administrative systems in order to survive the occupation and keep living in East Jerusalem.

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© 2008 Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University
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