Religious Nationalism Meets Gender Politics in Israel and Palestine
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University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-2006 "Man, I feel like a woman": Religious nationalism meets gender politics in Israel and Palestine. Shayna Zamkanei University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Zamkanei, Shayna, ""Man, I feel like a woman": Religious nationalism meets gender politics in Israel and Palestine." (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7063. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7063 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. “Man , I Feel Like a Woman ”: Religious N ationalism Meets Gender Politics in Israel and Palestine by Shayna Zamkanei A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research through Political Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2006 © 2006 Shayna Zamkanei Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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ABSTRACT The study of fundamentalist religious-nationalist movements in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has often diminished women’s political participation and deemed it a force that causes or hastens moderation. Contrary to this claim, women’s involvement in Gush Emunim and Hamas occurred after their respective groups’ moderation, and demonstrated strong ideological commitment to their movements’ original tenets. As both groups became institutionalized, they were forced to moderate their stances toward their expansionist territorial goals. These concessions restricted the political and military freedoms of the leaderships. Criticizing the men’s political ineffectiveness, exemplary women assumed more prominent positions within their movements by advocating actions that were in line with their movements’ founding principles. Initially lacking the support of their male counterparts, these women, unconstrained by their movements’ institutionalization, forced the formal leadership of Gush Emunim and Hamas to accept their new roles in the quests for settlement expansion and military jihad respectively. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements tend to be dry, So why not be poetic and wry? For the people who helped, As I whined and I whelped, For that I am grateful, but why? For her patience and eye, Martha Lee My follies she indeed helped me see, No doubt it was trying, To withhold all the sighing, From a student as obsessive as me. For his crazy idea, Doctor Tom, Who thought political science the bomb, He made me ditch France, And take a big chance, Spending the year cooped up with my mom. I must admit my fears about Reem, As strange and bizarre they may seem, I knew she would care, Lest she find me unfair, But she didn’t let out any steam. The Middle East class with Prof Bell, Was as enriching for us as all hell, By balancing sides, And working our hides, He made it a really great sell. My thanks to my mom and my dad, For all the love and support to be had, Although I confess, While I digress, I’m no poet, which they won’t find bad. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Women and Pacifism................................................................................2 Past Approaches to Women's Issues in the Midde East ........................7 Religion, Fundamentalism and Women ................................................. 8 Feminism: A Problematic Term ............................................................12 A Paradoxical Critique of Gender Discourse ...................................... 22 II. GUSH EMUNIM AND THE SETTLEMENT ENTERPRISE Membership and Ideology .....................................................................27 Land Settlement and Redemption ......................................................... 32 The Rejection of Western Values ......................................................... 34 External Political Involvement and Support .........................................36 Settlement Success and Political Lobbying ..........................................40 Political and Policy Impact ....................................................................44 The Decline in Influence and Commitment ......................................... 47 The Jewish Underground .......................................................................52 Militancy and Violence .......................................................................... 54 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 57 III. RACHELIM: THE MOURNING-AFTER’ SETTLEMENT Gush Emunim's Gender Ideology ......................................................... 61 Rachelim's Establishment ......................................................................70 HaKol HaNashi or the Feminine Voice ................................................78 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 84 IV. HAMAS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR MANDATORY PALESTINE History of the Muslim Brotherhood..................................................... 87 Ideology of Hamas................................................................................. 90 Pre-Declaration of Principles .................................................................94 Post-Declaration of Principles .............................................................. 96 Political Participation ............................................................................. 98 Restrained Violence ..............................................................................103 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Possibility of a Ceasefire with Israel...........................................107 Conclusion .............................................................................................112 V. CHALLENGING ’TRADITION,’ REINFORCING RELIGION: THE WOMEN OF HAMAS Hamas's Gender Ideology .................................................................... 114 Female Suicide Bombers and Jihad .....................................................120 Participation in National Elections ......................................................137