Socioeconomic Mobility and Political Participation Via Naturalization
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The Kurds of Lebanon: Socioeconomic Mobility and Political Participation via Naturalization Guita G. Hourani November 2011 The Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) Notre Dame University-Louaizé (NDU), Lebanon LERC Research Paper Series 1/2011 ISBN 978-9953-0-2096-9; ISSN 2221-3333 Guita Hourani 2 The Kurds of Lebanon: Socioeconomic Mobility and Political Participation via Naturalization Guita G. Hourani November 2011 The Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) Notre Dame University-Louaizé (NDU), Lebanon LERC Research Paper Series 1/2011 ISBN 978-9953-0-2096-9; ISSN 2221-3333 Guita Hourani 3 © Copyright 2011, Guita Hourani All rights reserved. This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. This text may not be stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] and/or [email protected]. If cited or quoted, reference should be made as follows: Guita Hourani, The Kurds of Lebanon: Socioeconomic Mobility and Political Participation Via Naturalization, Research Paper Series/LERC No. 1/2011[[ISBN 978-9953-0-2096-9; ISSN 2221- 3333], Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC), Notre Dame University (NDU), Lebanon, 2011, URL http://www.ndu.edu.lb/lerc/researchpaperseries/thekurdsoflebanon.pdf. Disclaimer Opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect views of the Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC), Notre Dame University-Louaizé (NDU) Lebanon. The author and the study team that worked on this study have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this report is reliable, but make no guarantee of accuracy or completeness and do not accept any liability for any inexactness. Copy right © Guita Hourani All rights reserved ISBN 978-9953-0-2096-9; ISSN 2221-3333 The Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) Notre Dame University-Louaizé (NDU) P. O. Box 72, Zouk Mikayel Lebanon Tel. (961)9-208992, or 9-218950 ext 2262. Fax. (961)9-224517 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.ndu.edu.lb/lerc/researchpaperseries/thekurdsoflebanon.pdf Guita Hourani 4 Acknowledgments I wish firstly to acknowledge a donor agency that wishes to remain anonymous for financing the fieldwork of this study. In addition, I should like to thank Mr. Urs Watter for his support, encouragement, and understanding. And finally, I owe a large debt of gratitude to Dr. Ibrahim Sirkeci, author of The Environment of Insecurity in Turkey and the Emigration of Turkish Kurds to Germany, for helping me find my backers for this project. By awarding me the Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship (CELF) at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University in New York, USA, the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) gave me an opportunity for which I will remain eternally grateful, especially as this allowed me to discuss this research with a number of professors who were generous with their time and insights, including Drs. Kristi Andersen, Jamie Winders and Julia Ganson. Credit is due to professors, researchers and institutions in many countries around the world, who kindly proffered advice or shared information with me. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Jordi Tejel, author of Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. Furthermore, I owe a debt of gratitude to Economic Mobility Project of Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. Thanks are due to each member of the study team, to Dr. Thomas Scheffler, Dr. Deniz Gökalp, Dr. Mona Rahme, and Dr. Shadi Rhame (ABD), for commenting on earlier versions of this report and to Mr. Roger Gathman for editing and Mr. Kenneth Mortimer for copy editing the manuscript and Dr. Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous for continued encouragement. I also wish to thank all the organizations and persons who have facilitated our work, particularly those who took the time to answer our in-depth questionnaire. However, my deepest appreciation goes first and foremost to the respondents and the interviewees whose cooperation was fundamental to this study. We thank them in the name of the team for sharing some of their lives, trials and aspirations with us. In my name and the name of the team, we express genuine hope that our research findings will point the way towards improvements in their lives. Guita Hourani 5 Study Team Author, Grant Recipient and Project Director Guita G. Hourani Project Management Basma Abdul Khalek, Assistant Project Director Suzanne Menhem, Field Survey Coordinator Surveyors Team Suzanne Menhem Sara el Mokdad Michele Fenianos Najah Menhem Nadine Abdel Khalek Nader El Khaki Bilal Nasser El Dine Nasser El Moghrabi Marwa Zeitouni Samara Youssef Interview Team Guita Hourani Rudyard Kazan Melkar El Khoury Sara el Mokdad Research Team Rudyard Kazan Michele Fenianos Rudy Sassine Basma Abdel Khalek Statistical Sample and Data Analysis Guita Hourani Basma Abdul Khalek Data Programming and Validation Basma Abdul Khalek Editor Roger Gathman Copy Editor Kenneth Mortimer Guita Hourani 6 Collecting, Archiving, Indexing, and Retrieving Research Material Liliane Haddad Elie Nabhan Elias Sfeir Graphic Design and Layout Yvette Ohanian Nicolas Haddad Sahar Nassar Michele Fenianos Electronic Research Infrastructure The Lebanese Emigration Archive and Data Base (LEAD) of the Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) Guita Hourani 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 12 SECTION I- THE KURDS IN THE CONTEXT OF EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY ........... 15 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Nationalization .......................................................................................................................... 19 1.3 The Kurds under Atatürk .......................................................................................................... 19 1.4 Who are the Kurds? ................................................................................................................... 21 1.5 Religious and Linguistic Diversity ........................................................................................... 22 SECTION II- THE KURDS OF LEBANON .................................................................................... 23 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.2 The Kurds and Lebanon ........................................................................................................... 25 2.3 Population and Settlement in Lebanon .................................................................................... 29 2.4 Composition of the Kurds in Lebanon ..................................................................................... 30 2.5 Linguistic Diversity in Lebanon ................................................................................................ 31 2.6 Social Composition ................................................................................................................... 32 2.7 Early Political and Cultural Activities ...................................................................................... 33 2.8 The Kurds during the Nation-Building Process and Afterwards ............................................ 34 2.9 Citizenship in Lebanon ............................................................................................................ 35 2.10 The Naturalization Law of Lebanon ........................................................................................ 36 2.11 The 1994 Naturalization Decree ............................................................................................... 37 SECTION III- NATURALIZATION AND SUBJECTIVE SOCIAL STATUS (SSS) ...................... 42 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 42 SECTION IV- METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 46 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 46 Guita Hourani 8 4.1.1 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 46 4.1.1.1 Methods .................................................................................................................... 49 4.1.1.1.1 Sample ................................................................................................................. 49 4.1.1.1.2 Questionnaire ....................................................................................................... 51 4.1.1.1.3 Biographical and In-Depth Interviews ............................................................... 53 4.1.1.1.4 Data Management ............................................................................................... 53 4.1.1.1.4.1 Quantitative data .........................................................................................