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University of Cincinnati UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ The Construction of Druze Ethnicity: Druze in Israel between State Policy and Palestinian Arab Nationalism A Dissertation submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Political Science of the College of Arts and Sciences 2005 by Lina M. Kassem B.A. University of Cincinnati, 1991 M.A. University of Cincinnati, 1998 Committee Chair: Professor Laura Jenkins i ABSTRACT: Eric Hobsbawm argues that recently created nations in the Middle East, such as Israel or Jordan, must be novel. In most instances, these new nations and nationalism that goes along with them have been constructed through what Hobsbawm refers to as “invented traditions.” This thesis will build on Hobsbawm’s concept of “invented traditions,” as well as add one additional but essential national building tool especially in the Middle East, which is the military tradition. These traditions are used by the state of Israel to create a sense of shared identity. These “invented traditions” not only worked to cement together an Israeli Jewish sense of identity, they were also utilized to create a sub national identity for the Druze. The state of Israel, with the cooperation of the Druze elites, has attempted, with some success, to construct through its policies an ethnic identity for the Druze separate from their Arab identity. The policy of the state of Israel was to encourage the Druze to distinguish themselves by facilitating their imagining of a Druze ethnic identity. Israeli and Druze elites fashioned this identity through distinct military, economic, and cultural policies for the Druze. The need for inventing a sub- national identity for the Druze arose from the state’s interest in dividing the Arabs along sectarian lines, in order to facilitate their control. Thus the Druze were no longer just a different sect but also ethnically differentiated from Arabs. This is an example of a classic strategy that has been used by colonial states to subdue native populations, commonly known as “divide and conquer.” What is perhaps unique to the Israeli situation is how the state tried to simultaneously encourage ethnic nationalism as well as civic nationalism among the Druze in Israel. In other words, the state encouraged Druze ethnic nationalism to thwart Palestinian Arab national aspirations, while cultivating Israeli civic nationalism among the Druze, most notably through their military ii service. This case study demonstrates that these two nationalisms are not necessarily mutually exclusive. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Laura Jenkins, my advisor, for her intellectual guidance, encouragement, and most of all, patience. Although I didn’t start out as her student, she graciously agreed to be my advisor and gave her time to carefully read and comment on different versions of the manuscript. Her comments and insights made the final version richer. I thank Joel Wolfe for his valuable feedback on the manuscript. He was instrumental in pushing for greater clarity and coherence. Howard Tolley has been a source of inspiration throughout my academic career, not just a professor but a mentor as well. His guidance over the years has been a constant source of support. His trust in me was crucial in strengthening my resolve to finally complete this project. I would like to thank my friends Hani Awad, Waseem Faidi, Ahmad and Suha Hattab, Linda Abu-Sway, Maher and Dalia Bayyari, Lina Alyan, and Haya Aljareedeh for their constant friendship, love and support through the long span of this work. I am thankful to Nabila Assaf, for all her help and encouragement, which made it possible for me to take the first steps in this project. I would also like to thank my family in the Galilee, my uncles Mahmoud and Ahmad Said in Nahef and cousins Walid and Jihad in Nazareth, who helped me set up the interviews. Many thanks to Maher Zein and Yuechen Zhao for their friendship and for their expert help in making the graphs; they helped me save the work at a scary moment when I thought all was lost. I am also thankful to my cousin Suhail Khleif, for his tireless help in proofreading this manuscript, and most importantly for driving five hours to attend my defense. I would like to v thank members of my family: Hassan, Terri, Salim, Rania, and my sister Rania, for their love and support. I can’t begin to express my gratitude to Amal Amireh, the most skillful and patient editor; without her valuable criticism and support this work wouldn’t have been possible. Finally, my most sincere gratitude goes to my mother, Siham Kassem, and my late father, Mohammad Kassem, for all the sacrifices they made and the unconditional love they gave. To them I dedicate this work. vi PREFACE This dissertation seeks to shed light on the issue of a Druze sub-national imagined community. Specifically it looks at how the state of Israel promoted a Druze identity in collaboration with Druze elites. When dealing with issues of nationalism and identity, several terms need to be defined, especially when they could possibly have more than one meaning. The term Israel or State of Israel is used in this work to mean the post 1948 state of Israel. There are very few satisfactory definitions of the term “Arab.” The term Arab is used in this work to refer to the group of Semitic people with a common Arabic language and culture (other Semitic languages include Hebrew, Aramaic and Amharic.) Arab identity is a combination of linguistic and cultural identity which excludes non-Arabic speaking Muslims such as the Persians and Kurds, and includes non-Muslim Arab speaking Christians. Circassians are non-Arab Muslim people of northwestern Caucasia. After Caucasia ceded to Russia in 1864, Circassians fled to other parts of the Ottoman Empire to escape Russian persecution. Their language is similar to other languages spoken in the Caucus Mountains. Bedouins are Arab nomadic herdsmen who live throughout the Middle East. Most have adopted the Islamic religion, although some practice other religions. They move from one place to another looking for water and pastoral lands so their animals can feed. Traditional cultural traits associated with Arab culture such as clannishness, hospitality, courage, loyalty and generosity are strongly associated with Arab Bedouin roots. Bedouin poetry is regarded by some scholars as key to maintaining traditions, since poets have served as orators and historians, preserving the language, culture and history of their respective tribes. Palestine is defined as a geographical region inhabited by Semitic people, including Christians, Muslims and Jews. It encompasses what is now the state of Israel, along with the vii west bank and Gaza strip. Although a Palestinian national state has never been established, at least not yet, there are those who identify themselves as Palestinians. These are Arabs, including Muslims and Christians, who regard themselves a part of the Palestinian nation. Those exact geographical boundaries are a matter of debate. It is also important to note that while Palestinians identify themselves strongly as Palestinians, they still regard themselves as Arabs. The two identities are not seen as mutually exclusive, but rather different levels of identity. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS: Abstract: ........................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... v Preface.......................................................................................................................................... vii Table Of Contents:....................................................................................................................... ix List of Photographs: .................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables:............................................................................................................................... xi List of Graphs: ............................................................................................................................. xi List of Maps:................................................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction: ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND MAJOR ARGUMENTS................................................................. 1 1.2. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................
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