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The ideology of jihad as propounded by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine (H&dotbelow;amas) is the subject of this thesis. It examines what this organization specifically means by jihad. To properly ascertain this meaning, the ideology of jihad from two different time periods has been examined. In the first period, the "classical" age, the ideology of several jurists concerning jihad is introduced. It can be seen that during this period jihad was applicable to both the expansion and protection of Islamic social/political hegemony. In the second, or modern period, the interpretations of jihad by four thinkers commonly known as "Islamic revivalists" are presented. The definitions of jihad in this era were mostly responses of defending and liberating land from colonialism and imperialism; however, in some cases it was also understood as a means to implement the shari'a in Muslim societies. The jihad of H&dotbelow;amas can, for its part, be seen as an amalgam of these ideologies, in that it is largely connected to liberating the land of Palestine from Israeli rule, establishing an Islamic state, and continuing to assist in struggles in other areas beyond the borders of Palestine.

My thesis focuses on modern Palestine and the role of nationalism and fundamentalism in the construction of Palestinian national identity. H&dotbelow;amas provides a case study of Islamic fundamentalism in Palestine. The movement developed during the late 1980's as a reaction to the failures of the secular project. H&dotbelow;amas is a reflection of a region-wide phenomenon. It is not solely a reaction to modernity. Rather, H&dotbelow;amas is the result of specific condition that led to the politicization of Islam after the Intifad&dotbelow;a . Today the nationalist PLO and H&dotbelow;amas struggle to define Palestinian identity and to shape the emerging Palestinian state. / Palestinian national identity like that of other modern nations has been constructed. Nation-building or identity construction in Palestine can be divided into four historical stages. Each stage is characterized by overlapping and competing identities: Ottoman, Arab, religious, local and kinship. These identities are not mutually exclusive and often a combination of identities became prominent historically depending on the internal and external forces pressuring society. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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From 2002 to 2006, ten Palestinian women committed suicide attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel, resulting in more fatalities and wounded noncombatants on average than attacks by male perpetrators. Rather than examining individual women’s motivations to become a suicide bomber, this research endeavor seeks to shift focus from this prevailing analytical approach to a sociological analysis of how militant organizations frame female participation to the public. Social movement perspectives and an extension of Erving Goffman’s work on frame analysis theoretically inform an examination of media produced by the two non-secular militant organizations of Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad. Organizations attempt to mitigate the “broken frame” introduced by female incorporation into an overwhelmingly male enterprise by strategically creating new frames that exalt and reinterpret extant social norms. Organizations frame female perpetrators as un-feminine individuals prior to their actions but, through the act of martyrdom, frame them as feminized symbols of the threat posed to Palestinian society, and its gender order, by Israeli military presence in the occupied territories. Martyrdom is framed, physically and symbolically, as a transformative experience. An application of frame analysis to violent social movements offers researchers the opportunity to understand how groups attempt to garner support and advance their interests within their populations and abroad. / text

The purpose of the study was to contribute to the overall understanding of terrorist organizations' use of the Internet and to increase researchers' knowledge of Web site effectiveness. The methodological approach was evaluation of the perceived credibility of Web sites based on existing criteria derived from information users. The Web sites of four terrorist organizations were assessed: two secular nationalist groups, the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers); and two religious nationalist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. The findings of this analysis showed differences in perceived credibility factors among terrorist organizations' Web sites and positive levels of perceived credibility for the Web sites. These findings indicate the potential for positive impressions of the organizations' Web sites by information users, which would help empower the organizations with the capacity to reach their objectives. By using Web sites, these groups can effectively increase their support base through disseminating information, improving recruiting, and attracting monetary contributions, and can establish themselves as legitimate components of society.