In this paper, I analyze and give a critical examination of some basic issues of religious pluralism by reference to the mystical philosophy of Muhyi al-Din Ibn al ‘Arabī, who thought that various religious beliefs are to be considered as an outcome of different forms of the divine manifestation. In so doing, in order to show the relevance of Ibn al ‘Arabī’s thought to the contemporary debate of religious pluralism—in the philosophy of religion in particular—I first give a brief description of John Hick’s religious pluralism. Then I examine Ibn al ‘Arabī’s thinking on the issue and attempt to display the philosophical as well as theological problems it raises. I conclude that Ibn al ‘Arabī’s approach fails to address the problems facing religious pluralism inasmuch as it falls into the trap of a relativism which trivializes philosophical and religious truths-claims and also the ontological commitment of the traditional religious beliefs.

Illegal hunting (trapping) and trading of wild parrots such as Cacatua moluccensis (protected species listed in CITES Appendix I), Lorius domicella (protected species listed in CITES Appendix II), and Eos bornea (unprotected species) are important money-earning activities for some villagers of mountain area in central Seram, Eastern Indonesia. In this paper I attempt to examine the economic role and importance of the wild parrots for local people.

Based on the field research carried out in a remote mountain village located at Manusela valley, the major source of income for rural households is seasonal migrant work as harvester of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) in southern coastal area during the harvest time from September to November. The income from the migrant work, however, is unstable because of the fluctuation in production and price of clove. The dependency of local people on wild parrots is enhanced during times of hardship originated from the fall in this major income. In this sense, it could be said that wild parrots are a supplemental remedial source of income.

On the basis of the capture data over the past few years, most of trappers conducted parrot trapping sporadically and the amount of catch per household was very low. Thus, parrot trapping could be regarded as non-intensive money-earning activities oriented to “need satisfaction” (in many cases, to gaining some cash to buy daily necessities) rather than intensive money-earning activities to maximize profit.

The research findings above mentioned indicate that some measures and efforts to stabilize the fluctuation of income stemmed from seasonal migrant work and to create alternative source of income as a substitution have possibility to decrease reliance on wild parrots.

In 2002, the state government of Kerala, India, launched an organic agriculture policy initiative with the document Jaivakeralam: The Context and Need for a “Sustainable Agricultural Development Policy” for the State of Kerala, a policy statement promoting organic agriculture as a sustainable alternative for Kerala in the post-Green Revolution era. During the beginning of the organic agriculture movement in the 1960s and 1970s in Europe and Japan, organic farming represented antimodern agriculture. The movement explored environmentally friendly farming, as well as alternative, face-to-face local markets. Organic farming in Kerala, however, is basically export-oriented and pro-market. Nevertheless, it aims to support marginalized and small farmers, employing a package of subsidies and price guarantees. Therefore, this paper explores how the antimodern aspects of the organic agriculture movement were combined with a pro-market “alternative,” investigates the policy process that made organic agriculture a priority in Kerala., and illuminates the stresses and negotiation of agricultural policy-making in contemporary India.

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.

This paper aims to clarify how the Islamic Da‘wa Party came to embrace Iraqi nationalism that was compatible with Islamic doctrins by examining its struggle and accommodation to the political changes in domestic, regional, and international dimensions from its establishment in 1957 to the mid-1990s.

Historical documents of the Da‘wa Party showed that it had three significant turning points: firstly, it shifted from a reformist Islamic organization to a revolutionary movement in the mid-1970s because of the complex influences of oppression, restriction by regulation, and segmentation of the leadership; secondly, it had to evacuate from Iraq to Iran after the Iranian revolution 1979 because of severe oppression by the Ba‘thist regime; thirdly, it distanced itself from the Iranian authority in the late 1980s.

These historical contexts paved the way to its emphasis of Iraqi nationalism in confronting international politics in the 1990s. In the diaspora leadership, the party had few resources; hence it had to maneuver between other forces by persisting in its independent stance. It was these complex factors that led the party to stress Iraqi nationalism while maintaining Islamic doctrine.

The Da‘wa Party remained flexible enough to accommodate the multitude of dimensions of political change. This reflects the compatibility of Islamism and Iraqi nationalism within the party itself. Furthermore, it implies the inappropriateness of a dichotomous understanding of Islamism and nationalism in analyzing the Da‘wa Party.

Iwama Haruka

Akiko Ueda. Culture and Modernisation: From the Perspectives of Young People in Bhutan. Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2006, 368p.

Inoue Mayuko

MGANGA: A Story of Witch Doctors in Zanzibar, East Africa

Katayama Yumiko

Eating from the Same Bowl

Takeyasu Hiromi

What Awareness Brings to Us: A Story of an Indonesian Woman