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Palestinian Women: Mothers, Martyrs and Agents of Political Change

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Palestinian Women: Mothers, Martyrs and Agents of Political Change University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2011 Palestinian Women: Mothers, Martyrs and Agents of Political Change Rebecca Ann Otis University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, and the Politics and Social Change Commons Recommended Citation Otis, Rebecca Ann, "Palestinian Women: Mothers, Martyrs and Agents of Political Change" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 491. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/491 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Palestinian Women: Mothers, Martyrs and Agents of Political Change __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Rebecca A. Otis June 2011 Advisor: Dr. Martin Rhodes ©Copyright by Rebecca A. Otis 2011 All Rights Reserved Author: Rebecca A. Otis Title: PALESTINIAN WOMEN: MOTHERS, MARTYRS AND AGENTS OF POLITICAL CHANGE Advisor: Dr. Martin Rhodes Degree Date: June 2011 ABSTRACT This dissertation seeks to understand the role of women as political actors in the rise of Islamo-nationalist movement in Palestine. Using a historical and ethnographic approach, it examines the changing opportunity structures available to Palestinian women in the nationalist struggle between 1987 and 2007. It looks into the sites of political engagement of Palestinian women as mothers, organizers and political candidates, suicide bombers, and nonviolent activists with attention paid to the evolution of the Islamist ideology within these four pathways for political participation. The goal of this work is to engage the question of how some Palestinian women who appear to diverge from the commitments of feminist emancipatory visions are active participants in the Islamist transformation of the Palestinian nationalist struggle. In doing so, this dissertation seeks to unveil the evolution of gender relations within the Palestinian nationalist struggle while providing a deeper analysis of the emergence and significance of the Islamist movement in contemporary Palestinian society. It makes an interdisciplinary contribution to existing literature in nationalism and post-colonial studies, social movements, identity politics and feminist political thought in the Middle East. i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the course of my research and writing, I have incurred many debts of gratitude for which I hope to acknowledge, however inadequately. I am grateful for the support of my dissertation committee and wish to thank Martin Rhodes, Nader Hashemi, Alan Gilbert and Islah Jad. My appreciation also goes to Betty Bayer for the gift of her support for my work and professional growth at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. My deepest gratitude goes to my family and family-of-friends. If there is a word beyond gratitude, it is especially reserved for my brother and best friend, Mark Otis. I also wish to thank my colorful cadre of fellow life-walkers: Sarah Amesbury, Katie Rothery, Jessica McBride Wilson, Yvonne Zimmerman, Nicholas Bowen, Allison Friederichs, Amentahru Wahlrab, Amanda Donahoe, Eric Fattor and Raslan Ibrahim whose affection and support have carried me through the many twists and turns of my time as a graduate student. Finally, if not for the continuous love, support and laughter provided by my life partner, CJ Remmo, this project may have seen no end. As the workspace of our dining table is now cleared to make way for many celebrations ahead, I am certain that CJ and I will gather around it and tell many stories to our children. One story that will never be forgotten is the legend of a brave Palestinian woman named Elham and her three children, to whom this work is dedicated. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter Overview 8 CHAPTER ONE: The Problematic and Method 1 Framing the Problematic: History of Women in the 13 Palestinian Nationalist Movement The Problematic 18 Methodology 20 Conclusion 27 CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review 29 Nationalism, Post-Colonial Studies (and Women) 32 Social Movement Studies (and Women) 40 Identity Studies (and Women) 45 Feminist Political Studies in the Middle East 49 Conclusion 54 CHAPTER THREE: Islamization of the Palestinian Struggle 56 Islamism Defined 57 Islamist Politics in the Muslim World 59 Palestinian Islamism 71 The Popularity of Hamas 83 Conclusion 94 CHAPTER FOUR: Political Mothers 96 The Nationalist Weapon of Wombs 101 Political Motherhood, the PLO-UNLU, and the First Intifada 105 Political Motherhood and the Islamist Response 114 Conclusion 125 CHAPTER FIVE: Nationalist Organizers 130 Reflections of Palestinian Women in the First Intifada 132 Palestinian Women’s Organizations of the First Intifada 136 The Disintegration of the Women’s Movement in the 144 Rise of Islamo-Nationalism Significance of the Hamas Hijab Campaign in Gaza 150 Emergence of the Palestinian Women’s Islamist Movement 153 Evolution of Hamas and Its Women 158 Conclusion 166 i v CHAPTER SIX: Violent Activists 170 Suicide Bombing in the Palestinian Struggle 172 Islamist Reaction to Female Suicide Bombers 181 A “Fatal Equality”: Female Voices on Secular Bombing, 195 Female Martyrdom Conclusion 206 CHAPTER SEVEN: Nonviolent Activists 210 Nonviolence and Islam in the Palestinian Context 212 The NGO-ization of the Women’s Movement and 216 the Nonviolence Movement Nonviolent Islamist Female Mediators 224 Budrus: Another Account of Palestinian Women 230 as Nonviolent Activists Conclusion 232 CONCLUSION 236 BIBLIOGRAPHY 249 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure A: Four Cases of Female Political Behavior Examined 21 in this Dissertation Figure B: Four Cases Featured by the Historical Method 23 Figure C: Inductive Synthesis of Ideas 26 Figure D: Four Foundational Pillars of Thought Framing this 30 Dissertation Figure E: Relationship Between the Pillars of the Thought in 31 This Dissertation vi INTRODUCTION The month of September 2007 brought an end to my first long stint as a resident member of the Al-Azzeh refugee camp in Bethlehem. In the countdown of days before I planned a quick trip to the USA to stand in the wedding of a dear friend, I devoted every free moment to spending time with my host family. Like any large and boisterous brood, we often came together for an evening meal, which we ate on the rooftop of the family home. The open space provided a respite from the cramped living quarters of the refugee camp. Along with this, the rooftop always bore the promise of a cool breeze to mitigate the enduring heat of the day. On the final evening before my departure, I sat in my white plastic chair beside the other adults in the family on the rooftop. Per our nightly custom, one of the youngest members of the family asked to climb into the child-sized space in my lap. By this point in my time as an auxiliary member of Palestinian society, a small child in my lap was a regular and welcoming feature of my daily routine. However, in these quiet and gentle moments of human contact, I often wondered if I was the one holding these children of Palestine, or if, in fact, they were the ones holding me. The affection of one child in particular, a little girl named Amal, served as a healthy departure from the daily and extreme stresses of being a participant-observer of political life in the Palestinian West Bank. 1 Three months earlier, in mid-June, the long-strained relations between the West Bank and Gaza Strip—long considered the territories of the future Palestinian state—had come to resemble enemy countries, where the pools of human blood in the streets expressed the opposing political ideologies at play. I was visiting a friend in Ramallah when I first experienced the tremors of this particular political earthquake. Ninety kilometers away, Hamas violently overthrew the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the residents of Ramallah poured into the streets of the city to watch masked men with large guns encircle Manara Square, the city centre, in their string of large SUVs. Swept up in the historic moment as it unfolded around me, the terrifying sight of masked men shooting live rounds of ammunition in the air prompted me to ask a woman in the gathering crowd if Hamas forces had somehow arrived from Gaza to overthrow the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah? No, the woman informed me, these men were the security forces loyal to Fatah and the Palestinian president, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). Upon closer examination, I recognized that each of the gun-toting men was wearing an olive green uniform, even as their faces were covered with black masks. From this, I was able to ascertain that this group of men represented a parade of force for Fatah—a hyper-masculinized peacock ritual of sorts, a demonstration to the members of the Hamas opposition that the Palestinian Authority (and Fatah) remained in control of the West Bank. I interpreted this show of force as the veritable growling and barring of teeth as two male lions might do before engaging in a battle of supremacy over their pride. With this, I was reminded of other forms of masculine expression, such as the hyperbolic threats and muscle-flexing rituals made by icons of the professional wrestling 2 world. The scale and scope of the political ritual taking place that day made me wonder how to say in Arabic, “My gun is bigger than your gun!” In my role as a member of the audience, I played my ancillary part by chanting unfamiliar slogans of political support while being dazzled by the sight of so much bellicose machinery.
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