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Faith-Based Organizations (Fbos) in the Palestinian Territories

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Faith-Based Organizations (Fbos) in the Palestinian Territories Hidden Agents: Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) in the Palestinian Territories Ziyad Zaghrout A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2012 Reading Committee: Mary Kay Gugerty, Chair Leigh Anderson Aseem Prakash Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Public Affairs ©Copyright 2012 Ziyad Zaghrout 1 University of Washington Abstract Hidden Agents: Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) in the Palestinian Territories Ziyad Zaghrout Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Mary Kay Gugerty Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs Recently, there has been a great deal of scholarly and popular interest in the activities of faith- based organizations (FBOs) in the Middle East. In particular, socio-economic services provided by FBOs have generated a heated debate in which advocates and opponents of these organizations have locked heads together in an attempt to advance their own arguments and advocate for policies harboring their views. While there has not been any absolute winner in the debate both camps, to an extent, agree that the service activities of FBOs have an implicit political component as the later seek to influence and modify the societal relations extending among the public, private and the not-for-profit spheres. Understanding the role of FBOs in Islamic societies is further complicated by a relative absence 2 of empirical research or even accessible descriptive data either within a single country or across countries. In an effort to limit this complexity, the research design underlying this dissertation focuses upon one case: the Palestinian Territories (PT). I examine the advocacy behavior of FBOs in the Palestinian territories and how they influence local level social policies. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, I specifically study correlations between several organizational and environmental characteristics and the tendency for FBOs to: (a) form collaborative links with other civil society agents, as well as, governmental agencies and private businesses; and (b) get involved in advocacy-related activities. This research describes, as well, the scope of the FBO sector in the PT and differentiates between direct and indirect advocacy. It further presents two successful case studies to demonstrate how FBOs manage to influence social policies. I argue that FBOs are far from being an apolitical agent with a limited ideological and social agenda. On the contrary, they are active participants in the local policy process and they achieve their objectives through multiple strategies in which collaborative networks with other actors in society and religious framing are considered the most prominent. 3 Acknowledgements Before starting this PhD program, I never fully understood what a tremendous commitment and continuous effort this endeavor would require. The journey took longer than all my initial plans, counter-plans, and worst-case scenarios. Completing this program would not have been possible without the generous support of the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the people involved with the Palestinian Faculty Development Program (PFDP). My academic advisor, Mary Kay Gugerty, was the light that showed me the path towards the end. Without her continuous patience and support, I could have easily lost the way. My research committee members, Leigh Anderson; Assem Paraksh; and Selim Kuru, not only provided influential assistance along the way, but also taught me what it means to be a dedicated teacher. I also must extend a special thanks to all the individuals and organizations that helped me in the field. Their open doors, minds, and schedules have opened my eyes towards several topics and questions without which I could not finished this dissertation. It is almost impossible to make it to the end without the support of friends and colleagues, and I am no exception. I am privileged to be surrounded by an outstanding cohort of PhD students with whom I enjoyed several years of emotional and intellectual nourishment. Last but not least, I want to dedicate this dissertation to my parents and lovely wife who stood by me when I needed support. My absence for the last six years has been especially difficult for my parents, who still reside in Ramallah, West Bank. I hope that my return back home can offer them some peace of mind. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................4 Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Introduction and Description of the Problem ............................................................................... 11 1.2 Research Questions, Hypotheses, and Study Overview ................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Research Hypotheses ................................................................................................................. 15 1.2.2 Study Overview .......................................................................................................................... 15 1.3 Dissertation Outline ...................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter Two: ................................................................................................................................... 22 Islamic Civil Institutions: Background and Historical Development .................................................... 22 2.1 Is there any Civil Society in the Arab World? .................................................................................... 22 2.1.1 More than one Civil Society ....................................................................................................... 23 2.1.2 Islamic Activism as a Parallel Civil Society.................................................................................. 27 2.1.3 FBOs Vs. Secular NGOs ............................................................................................................... 31 2.2 Civil Society from an Islamic Perspective .......................................................................................... 34 2.3 Foreign Aid, Modernization and Islamic Social Activism .................................................................. 42 2.3.1 The Rise of Islamic Social Movements ....................................................................................... 43 2.3.2 The State is fighting back ........................................................................................................... 51 2.4 Islamic Philanthropy in the Arab World ............................................................................................ 54 2.5 Islamic FBOs and the Future Civil Society ......................................................................................... 57 2.5.1 Funding for Religious Organizations .......................................................................................... 58 2.5.2 The role of FBOs in Public Policy ................................................................................................ 59 2.5.3 The Prospect of Political Islam ................................................................................................... 60 2.5.4 The Shape of Future Civil Society ............................................................................................... 62 2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter Three: ................................................................................................................................. 69 Formation and Evolution of Islamic Philanthropy in the Palestinian Territories .................................. 69 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 69 3.2 The Civil Society in the Palestinian Territories .............................................................................. 70 3.2.1 Civil Society under Conflict ........................................................................................................ 70 3.2.2 Private and Religious Philanthropy in the Palestinian Territories ............................................. 77 3.3 Faith-Related Social Institutions in the Palestinian Territories ......................................................... 79 5 3.3.1 A Short Contextualized History of FBOs in the Palestinian Territories ...................................... 79 3.3.2 Traditional Islamic Philanthropy ................................................................................................ 83 3.3.3 The Palestinian Zakat Committees ............................................................................................. 86 3.3.4 Modern Islamic FBOs ................................................................................................................. 88 3.3.5 FBOs and the Ascendancy of Islamic Political Parties ................................................................ 90 3.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 93 Chapter Four: ..................................................................................................................................
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