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This paper introduces a Jewish Arab dialogue model of national encounters which has been developed at Tel Hai College in Upper Galilee in Israel. These planned encounters, which have taken place for eight consecutive years within the framework of a course entitled 'A Jewish-Arab dialogue - action research' are recognized as part of the bachelor degree requirement within the Department of Education. Group meetings designed to build mutual acquaintance and understanding between Jews and Arabs have been taking place for several decades in various locations, including Israeli academia. This model is unique as it consciously directs its participants towards activism in the institution where it is located. Conceived as a process of reflexive identity study and research, jointly examining power structures, the course has aimed for extended, on-campus dialogue between Arabs and Jews, studying, and attempting to reduce the college reality of structural inequities between these groups, thus effecting actual social-political change on campus. In this paper we will describe this encounter model by outlining its characteristics - its objectives and facilitation methods - in comparison with recognized models, demonstrating how by challenging established structures of interventions, we created a different model which has mobilized participants into changing their immediate environment and consequently their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to further explore the potential for Palestinian oral history to be used as a source for understanding the past. It examines existing directions in this field and highlights new approaches based on a discussion of an oral history project conducted by the author of this paper - a Jewish Israeli - in the Upper Galilee between the years 2006 and 2011. The article sharply illustrates the necessity and the urgency of recording Palestinian oral history with regard to the period that preceded the 1948 war, especially where written sources are lacking. It demonstrates the richness of oral history among Palestinians in Israel and exemplifies its ability to capture a vivid picture of a segment of Palestinian rural life before the Nakba. Methodologically, the article emphasizes the significance of cross-checking non-dependent oral sources as well as cross-checking oral sources against written testimonies as a means of striving for the truth and as a useful way of examining the reliability of oral sources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with an ecotourism site - the Agmon Lake in Israel. The main aim of the research is to conduct market analysis based on geographical, demographic and psychographic characteristics of visitors and non-visitors in order to draw some conclusions on the nature of ecotourism with respect to supply, demand and planning, and their interrelationship. The methodology included interviews with 961 visitors to the Agmon Lake about their personal characteristics, activities at the site and attitudes toward the site. Their answers were also compared with those of 254 tourists who did not visit the Agmon Lake during their visit to the area but rather visited other mass tourist sites. The analysis of the results of each group surveyed, as well as the correlation between the groups, enables the classification of visitors and to distinguish them from the 'non-visitors' (those who come to this region of Galilee but choose not to visit the site itself). It was found that the differences between nature-based tourists, ecotourists and special tourist niches (such as bird-watchers) are narrowing and that it is becoming hard to differentiate between the different market segments. It is also suggested that the identified de-segmentation exists not only on the demand side (e.g. the tourists) but also on the supply side (the sites themselves). Thus, the Agmon Lake could be considered as a 'soft' ecotourism site according to its characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was always clear that for practical reasons any new region-based study of the Roman and Byzantine periods in north-western Jordan would have to rely on existing evidence from archaeological surveys and excavations. The concentration of previous archaeological survey work in parts of the region of West Irbid in Jordan, and especially the surveys made by N. Glueck in the 1940s and S. Mittmann in the 1960s, made this area especially attractive for archaeologists. In this paper, the aim was to analyze the results of the West Irbid survey, particularly of the Roman and Byzantine periods, made during September 2005. The information gathered was of great help, enabling the classifi cation of sites into groups according to the nature of occupation, and analyzing the discovered architectural remains to provide a broader context for interpretation of the nature of Roman and Byzantine settlements in the surveyed region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Israel's development of industrial zones in the peripheral Galilee region is a major element of its national planning policy. The paper examines the economic impact of three of these industrial zones-Carmiel, Tefen, and Ma'alot- on Arabs and Jews in the region. Data on key employment and input and output indicators were collected through a survey of all firms in the three estates. In 1989 economic benefits generated by the three industrial zones were disproportionately enjoyed by the Jewish sector, thereby reinforcing patterns of interethnic economic gaps and minority dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]