Journal of Palestine Studies

Journal of Palestine Studies
Title	Journal of Palestine Studies
Discipline	Middle Eastern studies; Palestinian studies; Israel–Palestine conflict
Publisher	Institute for Palestine Studies; University of California Press (current distributor)
Established	1971
Frequency	Quarterly
Editor	Rashid Khalidi (editor-at-large)
ISSN	0377-919X

Journal of Palestine Studies is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the study of Palestine, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and related political, social, cultural, and historical dimensions of the modern Middle East. Founded in 1971 by the Institute for Palestine Studies amid the aftermath of the Six-Day War and the 1967 Arab–Israeli War's long shadow, the journal has published scholarship, primary documents, reviews, and commentary by and about scholars, activists, and policymakers engaged with Palestinian nationalism, Zionism, and regional diplomacy such as the Oslo Accords and the Camp David Accords.

History

The journal was initiated by the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut following the displacement associated with the 1967 Arab–Israeli War and the Six-Day War, drawing contributors from institutions like American University of Beirut, Birzeit University, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Over the 1970s and 1980s it published contemporaneous analysis of events including the Yom Kippur War, the rise of PLO leadership under Yasser Arafat, and the Lebanese civil milieu around the Sabra and Shatila massacre and the 1982 Lebanon War. During the 1990s the journal covered the diplomatic shifts marked by the Madrid Conference of 1991, the Oslo Accords, and the political transformations in Jordan and Egypt following Anwar Sadat's presidency. In the 2000s and 2010s its pages addressed the Second Intifada, the movement around Hamas, the Gaza Strip conflicts such as Operation Cast Lead and Operation Protective Edge, and the diplomatic implications of the Arab Spring and the Abraham Accords.

Scope and Content

The journal's remit spans historical archives, contemporary policy analysis, cultural studies, and legal and human rights documentation related to the Palestinian people, the State of Israel, and regional actors such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey. It regularly publishes primary documents like letters, treaties, and leaked memoranda tied to events including the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate for Palestine, and the UN Partition Plan for Palestine (1947). The journal features articles on urban history such as Jerusalem and Jaffa, refugee studies referencing Nakba, land tenure debates tied to West Bank settlements, and analyses of security incidents such as the First Intifada and Second Intifada. Cultural and intellectual history pieces have examined figures and works including Edward Said, Mahmoud Darwish, Ghassan Kanafani, Michel Foucault's influence on region studies, and artistic movements in cities like Ramallah and Haifa.

Publication and Editorial Information

Published quarterly by the Institute for Palestine Studies with distribution partnerships with academic presses and university libraries, the journal accepts submissions from scholars affiliated with universities including Columbia University, Princeton University, Oxford University, SOAS University of London, and regional centers such as Al-Quds University. Editorial leadership has included prominent scholars and editors drawn from networks around institutions like Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley, with editorial boards featuring specialists in international law from bodies such as the International Court of Justice and historians of the Ottoman Empire and British Empire. Each issue typically combines peer-reviewed articles, book reviews covering titles from publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Routledge, and curated documentary sections.

Reception and Impact

The journal has been cited in scholarship on Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and Middle Eastern studies and referenced in policy debates involving the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States Department of State. Its archives have been used by researchers studying landmark events like the Camp David Accords (1978), the Madrid Conference (1991), and subsequent peace initiatives. Reviews in outlets and citations in works by scholars such as Benny Morris, Ilan Pappé, Rashid Khalidi, Avi Shlaim, and Norman Finkelstein reflect the journal's role in scholarly controversies over narrative, historiography, and archival interpretation. Libraries at institutions including Library of Congress, British Library, and major research centers maintain subscriptions and microfilm collections, while the journal’s documentary sections have informed legal and human rights reports by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Indexing and Accessibility

Indexed in academic databases and catalogues used by scholars in fields connected to the journal's focus—repositories linked to JSTOR, Project MUSE, and major university library systems—the journal is accessible through institutional subscriptions at universities like Stanford University and Yale University. Back issues serve as a resource in special collections related to the Nakba and archives of the PLO and are often cited in bibliographies for theses supervised at research centers such as the Middle East Institute and the Wilson Center.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Over its decades-long run the journal has published influential articles and special issues on topics including the historiography of the Nakba, settler-colonial frameworks addressing Israeli settlements, legal analyses of the 1967 borders, and compilations devoted to the works of figures like Edward Said and Mahmoud Darwish. Special issues have centered on events such as the Oslo Accords, the Second Intifada, the humanitarian crises in Gaza, and diasporic studies involving Palestinian communities in Chile, Lebanon, and the United States, often incorporating archival documents, eyewitness testimony, and critical commentary from leading scholars and practitioners.

Category:Middle Eastern studies journals Category:Academic journals established in 1971