The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in Middle Eastern satellite television. The corresponding diversification of content and restructuring of media power in the region raise many important questions for research. This dissertation is a case study of Huda TV, an English-language Islamic satellite channel broadcasting from Cairo, Egypt. The author collected participant observation data as an employee of the channel in 2005-2006. The primary research question asks how Huda TV asserts an Islamic presence in the satellite television arena. Many areas of media research, including the broad historical debates on culture and power, contemporary conceptions of hybridity, and the analysis of media institutions in the Middle East, share an overarching secular bias. Consequently, this dissertation plots out relevant bodies of theoretical and empirical research that both inform and constrain the kind of questions that can be asked about Huda TV as a Muslim institution. With a conscious effort to overcome the reductionist secularism of media studies, this work offers empirical data on the manner in which orthodox Sunni Islam operates within the global mediascape--the increasingly integrated, geographically expansive, and globally accessible media environment of which satellite television is one important component. This dissertation first examines the concrete manner in which Huda TV attempts to define Islamic satellite television as a distinct set of content and practices. Next, it turns to the channel's engagement with dominant discourses and bodies of knowledge that may compete with Islam for ultimate authority. Finally, it examines the impact of cultural and political-economic factors on the channel's work. This dissertation offers original insights into the study of contemporary Islam and contributes to significant, enduring questions of media research. / text

The general aim of this research is to examine both the human elements and the facilities associated with Jordanian Pre-Vocational Education(PVE) provision, namely, the design concept, the students, teachers, administrators, PVE workshops, and PVE curriculum. These five components were used to guide the study. The investigation focus on the contribution of these components to the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. For the purpose of the research a variety of data collection methods were employed; a self-completion questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and analysis of documentary material. The items/statements/questions, that have been included cover the key areas which were a subject of investigation and examination. The data collection methods were pre-tested and piloted before use in the field study. The data was collected in-country during the period between September 1996 and January 1997. As with the pilot study, in each school visited, the questionnaires were presented to students, teachers, school heads, and PVE supervisors. The data collected has been treated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Statistical techniques, mainly Mean, Standard Deviation, and One-way ANOV A, were employed to. interpret the study findings, to mount the several comparisons required, and to determine the different relationships. The major findings of the study i~'dicated that policy-makers support the introduction of PVE, seeing it as an important vocational aspect within basic education. However, in general, the degree of effectiveness and efficiency of PVE delivery within Jordanian provision varied from region to region and from one school to another. The study findings highlight that the effectiveness and the efficiency of PVE, within the Jordanian provision, do not just depend upon the adequacy 'and the sufficiency of facilities and equipment, but, more importantly, on the relation between practice and policy intentions~ Furthermore, it can be seen that the findings underlying the study VIn provide some important lessons and strategies for the future of PVE in Jordan, and . also more widely for the countries of the developing world. Thus, this study provides an insight, and it is hoped a contribution to the development of PVE.

Architectural historians have always seen the Islamic city and Islamic house as unsystematic in design and layout. In this work I show that there is a basic spatial symbolism predating, and then adopted by, Islam, based on three major concepts. The first is that there is a residual notion of center as something sacred; secondly that instead of dichotomies or binary oppositions space in Islamic architecture is a continuum and lastly that the center of the center, whether or not it has any visible symbolism, (fountain for example) is an axis mundi, or vertical axis to the heavens. These features are seen not just in urban and housing designs, but also in mosques, madrassas, and garden layouts.

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Nonviolent resistance has been found to be more effective in bringing about societal and political transformation than violent insurgency. Nonviolent resistance as a nonconventional form of engagement in conflict, furthermore attracts more people, encourages diversity in participation, has the moral high ground and has positive longterm effects on a society, in terms of citizenship skills, civilian peace and democratisation. However, a discourse of militarism and violence can be said to dominate the world today. Macropolitical incompatibilities are often confronted with arms and violence, whether by political leaders or civilians. This thesis aspires to challenge this violent discourse, and encourage the move towards nonviolent approaches to confronting and circumventing power and authority, by exploring the mechanisms at work in nonviolent resistance movements, and attain a deeper understanding of which elements of nonviolent resistance movements may be supportive of achieving the aim of the collective action for change. The methodological approach is conducting a qualitative, deductive study within the framework of a structured, focused cross-case comparison of four nonviolent, anti-regime movements in the Middle East and North Africa, which have taken place in the 21st century. The findings reveal the ambiguous and context-dependent nature of most of the elements scrutinised for their operativeness, and yield suggestive tendencies of few - while they offer a nuanced insight into the dynamics within which these elements work in nonviolent conflict. This study explores the phenomenon of nonviolent resistance, provides an understanding of the complexity of the mechanisms and dynamics involved, and suggests the need for further research into nonviolent resistance, to improve the understanding and utilisation of it.

The objective of this thesis is to analyse the British Mandate in Palestine with a view to developing a new understanding of the interconnections and dissonances between the principal agencies. Through a critical examination of British government papers the thesis argues that the moment of the British Mandate in Palestine signalled a new phase in the development of British imperialism constituting a rupture with the colonialist past and the advent of a new type of imperialist relationship. The encounter between this new-imperialism which developed from the end of the nineteenth century and a Palestinian society which was in the process of transformation between a predominantly pre-capitalist agricultural society into a commodity producing capitalist one engendered a conflictual environment dislocating the economic, social and political structures that existed. The Balfour Declaration constituted an agreement between British imperialism and organised Zionism which was the establishment of a symbiotic relationship emerging from the coalescence of two interdependent political goals. The British, intent on preserving their position as an imperial hegemon perceived the occupation of Palestine as a critical component of their strategy and a vital adjunct of their objective of remaining the dominant force in the region of the Near East. The combined aspects of this strategy cannot be reduced to but may be expressed as: a desire to retain untrammelled communications through the Suez Canal with the Empire at large; a pre-occupation with seeking to establish a dominant position in respect of the exploitation and marketisation of oil and the implantation of a colonising surrogate to act as the agency through which its objectives might be mediated. The Zionist objective, to create a National Home for the Jews, constituted a nationalist endeavour premised on the acquisition of an imperialist sponsor. The British course of action through the implementation of the Mandate constituted an intervention which distorted and gravely damaged the evolution of the economic, social and political life of the indigenous Palestinians. The thesis in analysing these events in a new way argues for a fresh appreciation of the origin and character of the British Mandate in Palestine.