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The Lesly Lempert Collection : documentation from Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza during the First Intifada (1987)

 Collection
Identifier: 6774

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Documentation from Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights Groups during the First Intifada (1987). Series 1 contains sporadic, but often substantial, periodical holdings (chiefly English) from Palestinian Arab groups such as al-Haq, American and Israeli civil-liberties groups (e.g., B'Tselem) and several Israeli-Palestinian collaborative entities. Series 2 contains miscellaneous organizational and personal correspondence.

Dates

  • 1987-2011.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material chiefly in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Lesly Lempert, an American citizen with ongoing connections to the Jewish community in Ithaca, New York and to several American-based organizations working on human rights in the Israeli-administered territories, collected a number of publications relating to Palestinian Arab concerns and human-rights issues during the term of the First Intifada. The time range is generally, with several exceptions, from about 1987 to about 1994, i.e. the duration of the Intifada and its political and humanitarian consequences. The material in this collection was compiled chiefly during Lesly Lempert's twelve-year tenure as Executive Director of the American-Israeli Civil Liberties Coalition.

Extent

9 cubic feet.

Abstract

Documentation from Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights Groups during the First Intifada (1987).

Separated Materials

Books associated with the Lempert Collection have been integrated into the book collections of the Cornell University Library.

Physical Description

Correspondence, Printed Materials, Publications

General

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
Nora Allen Fredrika Loew
Date completed:
July 2011
EAD encoding:
RMC Staff, July 2011
Date modified:
Marcie Farwell, May 2018

General

HISTORICAL NOTEIn December 1987, the First Intifada erupted into a full-scale, multi-year, essentially nationalist uprising against two decades of Israeli occupation and administration of the West Bank (Judaea-Samaria) and the Gaza Strip. The uprising had multiple causes, including desperate living conditions among Palestinian Arabs, a pervasive sense of situational inferiority among these inhabitants, ineffective Arab political and military action and a number of Israeli political misperceptions and tactical errors. (For a methodical discussion of the genesis of the First Intifada, see Shalev, Aryeh. “Intifada.” Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed., vol. 9: 827-837 (electronic version accessible through the Cornell on-line catalogue, http://catalog.library.cornell.edu). The uprising included a large number of riots, characterized by stone-throwing and the use of petrol bombs; and other acts of violence, including attacks on public transit. Palestinian Arab violence, sometimes homicidal, against both the Israel Defense Force and Israeli civilians occurred. The Israeli response was at least initially defective and uneven in tactical terms and thus produced more Palestinian Arab casualties than it might have otherwise. There were also “more instances of excesses by IDF soldiers,” according to Aryeh Shalev in the article cited, than there had been during past disturbances.

Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by Nora Allen Fredrika Loew
Date
July 2011
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)