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Gender and Nation Building in the Middle East

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Gender and Nation Building in the Middle East Elise G. Young is a Middle East historian and Professor in the History Department at Westfield State University. She has conducted research in Palestine, Israel, and Jordan, and has written extensively on women and modern nation-state building in those regions. She is the author of Keepers of the History: Women and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, an innovative feminist historiog- raphy of the war over Palestine. GENDER AND NATION BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE EAST The Political Economy of Health from Mandate Palestine to Refugee Camps in Jordan ElisE G. YounG Published in 2012 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © 2012 Elise G. Young The right of Elise G. Young to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Library of Modern Middle East Studies 114 ISBN 978 1 84885 481 9 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements x Preface 1 History as Spiritual Science and Medicine 1 Awakening 4 Palestine in Geo-Political Perspective 5 When History Is Sung By Griot(te), It Is a Medicine 7 1 Introduction 10 Approach and Methodology: ‘Knowledge’ in the Era of the Modern Nation-state 13 Feminist Epistemology and Modernization Theory: Transmission of Knowledges 22 Epistemology and Oral History Methodology 25 Feminist Theory and Middle East Studies 29 Research Summary 31 State of the Field: Research on Jordan 34 Chapter Outline 35 2 Imperialism and Health: Political Implications of Malaria Eradication Campaigns in Palestine and Transjordan, 1919–1939 47 An Imperial Pursuit: Malaria Eradication and Land Reclamation 47 Race, Gender, Class Politics of Malaria Eradication 50 The Political Economy of Health and Rehabilitation 54 vi Gender and nation BuildinG in the Middle east Mighty Reactions and Anti-Malaria Measures: A Testing Ground 61 Long-Term Effects 66 Conclusions: Disease Control and/or the Imposition of Imperial Politics? 69 3 Between Daya and Doctor: A Formidable Abyss? 77 Dangerous Hags and Sanitized Hovels: Midwifery and Modernity 79 Reorganization/Regulation/Specialization 85 A Formidable Journey: Midwives in Refugee Camps in Jordan 96 Conclusions: Doctors Training Dayat or Dayat Training Doctors? 105 4 ‘The Camp of Return’ – Health and Palestinian Women Refugees in Jordan, 1950–1995 109 Refugee or Freedom Fighter? Identity Politics and Health in Exile 111 The Political Economy of Refugee Health 121 Women Talk About Health: Al – Ghurbah – The Disaster 127 From Jabal al-Hussein Camp to the Ministry: Poverty/ Reproductive Health/Resistance 133 Conclusions: The Necessity for Cooperation Among Women Worldwide 146 Notes 149 Additional Resources 163 Bibliography 168 Index 186 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Areas of Palestine Under the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. Map. Dartmouth College: Government 46: Middle East Maps. http:// www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/pal-sykes-picot. gif (accessed September 28, 2010). 39 Figure 2 Middle East. Map. NationMaster. http://www. nationmaster. 40 Figure 3 Administrative Map: Jordan. Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. http://www. jordanembassyus.org/new/aboutjordan/map. shtml (accessed September 30, 2010). 41 Figure 4 Jordan Economic Activity Map. from the CIA Atlas of the Middle East 1993, available at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_ east/jordan_land.jpg (accessed October 3, 2010). 42 Figure 5 Jordan Political Map. Map. Maps of the World. http://www.mapsofworld.com/jordan/jordan- political-map.html (accessed September 30, 2010). 43 Figure 6 Palestinian Mandate of the San Remo Conference, 1920 – 1922. Map. Dartmouth College: Government 46: Middle East Maps. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/ pal-mandate-sremo-1922.gif (accessed September 27, 2010). 44 viii Gender and nation BuildinG in the Middle east Figure 7 Palestine and Transjordan After 1922. Map. Dartmouth College: Government 46 – Middle East Maps. http://www.dartmouth. edu/~gov46/pal-transjrdn-1922.gif (accessed September 28, 2010). 45 Figure 8 Palestine 1946: District and District Centers During the Mandate Period. Map. Palestine Remembered. http://www. palestineremembered.com/Acre/Maps/ Story583.html (accessed September 30, 2010). 46 Figure 9 ‘Palestinians Fleeing Gaza 1948.’ 1948. Unknown. Body on the Line: The Ongoing Nakbas. http://bodyontheline.files.wordpress. com/2009/05/palestinian-flight-ghaza-1948.jpg (accessed October 1, 2010). 71 Figure 10 BADIL. ‘al-Hussein Refugee Camp.’ 2010. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. http://www. badil.org/en/photo-gallery/category/15-al- husein (accessed October 1, 2010). 72 Figure 11 ‘Zenko Houses in Baqa’a Camp 2008 – Jordan.’ 2010. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Redidency and Refugee Rights. http://www.badil.org/en/photo-gallery/ category/17-baqaa (accessed October 1, 2010). 72 Figure 12 ‘Overcrowded Baqa’a refugee camp houses – Jordan.’ 2010. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. http:// www.badil.org/en/photo-gallery/category/17- baqaa (accessed October 1, 2010). 72 Figure 13 ‘Baqa’a Camp Health Center – Jordan.’ 2010. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. http://www. badil.org/en/photo-gallery/category/17-baqaa (accessed October 1, 2010). 73 list of illustrations ix Figure 14 ‘Palestinian Refugees in Al-Hussein’s Camp – Jordan.’ 2010. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. http://www.badil.org/en/photo-gallery/ category/15-al-husein (accessed October 1, 2010). 74 Figure 15 ‘Baqa’a refugee camp in Jordan 1970s.’ Nehmeh, G. UNRWA Archives. UNRWA Refugees Conditions – Jordan. http://www. unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=555 (accessed October 1, 2010). 74 Figure 16 ‘Woman and Child in Neirab refugee camp, Syria.’ UNRWA Photo Galleries: Camp Life . http://www.unrwa.org/photogallery.php?cat_ id=50 (accessed October 1, 2010). From the UNRWA web site photo caption: ‘The camp community suffers from high unemployment and poverty. The strain of this has led to a high divorce rate.’ All Rights Reserved. 75 Figure 17 ‘Meeting between Israeli and Palestinian midwives.’ Midwives for Peace. August 21, 2009. Madre: Pressroom: http:// www.madre.org/images/uploads/ images/1251411642_ProjectUpdate_Palestine_ MidwivesforPeace2009-08_1.JPG (accessed October 1, 2010). 76 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR) for a USIA/ACOR Fellowship, January–May 1995, in Amman, Jordan. Special thanks to all of the staff at ACOR. Thanks to the Jordan Staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for providing the initial tours of Jabal al Hussein and Baqa’a Refugee Camps. I am indebted to Chaya Shalom, Yumna Abu Hassan, Dr. Salwa Najjab-Khatib and Dr. Rita Giacaman, without whose dedica- tion and guidance this project could not have been carried out. Many thanks for their warm friendship and hospitality. Special thanks to Hala Hani Abu-Hijeh, Halla Salem, Ruth Tell, Raeda Al Zuabi, Firas Daraiseh, Umm Mohammad, Dr. Zeid Hamzeh, Ruba Kana’an, Hajj Anisa Shokar, Dr. Kamal Salibi, women of Jabal al-Hussein and Baqa’a refugee camps, and the Jordanian Women’s Union, Amman, Jordan, for interviews, for providing me with the opportunity to conduct my research, and for sharing their wisdom. A year as a Research Associate at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1995–96, provided an office space and community for writing and presenting this research. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Mary C. Wilson, Dr. Yvonne Y. Haddad, Dr. Janice G. Raymond, and Dr. Joyce Berkman for guidance and support throughout the years of this project, and without whom this work could not have been completed. Thank you to Dr. Elaine Hagopian and Dr. Manal Hamzeh for their generous sharing of wisdom and time. Special thanks to Margaret Holt, Janet Heindal, Joe Forbes, Jenine Mailand, Shanta Rao, acknowledgments xi Dianne Johnson, Anita Weigel, Michael Holroyde, Arkie and George Markham, Dr. Meyer Weinberg, Dr. Karen Pfeifer, Dr. Leila Ahmed, Dr. Ahmad Dallal, and Dr. Max Pepper. Gratitude and thanks to Maurice and Sylvia Young, and to Dr. Enid B. Young and Dr. Ilene T. Lipari, for their unconditional love, generosity, and unwavering support and inspiration throughout the years during which this project was conceived and carried out, and beyond. Appreciation to the late Salvatore L. Lipari, Quaker and Principal for many years of Great Neck South Middle School, for his encouragement and for his dedication to world peace. Thanks to Paki Wieland, Frances Crowe, Claudia Lefko, Joel Dansky, Dr. Marty Nathan and, Dr. Elliot Fratkin, for their coura- geous work on behalf of the peoples of the regions addressed. Thanks to Diana Malin for providing the perfect writing space and for her on-going interest in this work. Gratitude to Lynn Fine for on-going wisdom on the path, and insights and comments on subject matter and text, Buddhist teacher in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. Deep appreciation to Morning Light Sangha for their practice, service, and dedication to social justice globally. Ingrid Jardat Gassner, Director of the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinians provided invaluable assistance, as did Jaber Suleiman of AIDOUN, Dr.
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