Habilitationsschrift--Graz. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-181) and index.

This thesis examines nationalism and colonialism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asks the questions: What is the relationship between these ideologies and "national narratives" constructed of collective historical memory? How do these ideologies produce recognizable, sexualized, national bodies? What are the defining characteristics of these national bodies and how do they perform roles from the national narratives? These questions are addressed through a discussion of the role of masculinity in modern Zionism and the state of Israel, in particular how it relates to the land of Palestine and the Palestinian "other". This thesis also addresses anti-colonial resistance movements in Palestine and argues that performative nationalism produces a fetishized commodity that can me labeled "militancy". This militancy is found institutionalized in the popular culture of everything from poetry to political posters. Finally, Palestinian female suicide bombers, like women nationalists before them, do little to challenge how specific nationalist acts of resistance are defined by patriarchal nationalists and sexualized within a "gendered space of militancy".

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.)

Cette étude présente des éléments de compréhension du processus de transformation de la zone de Ramallah en Palestine après 1993, suite aux accords d'Oslo. L'introduction souligne l'énoncé du problème, les principaux objectifs de l'étude et l'importance de la méthodologie. L'étude est divisée en deux parties, contenant chacune trois chapitres. La première partie donne une brève description de l'évolution chronologique du peuple palestinien et des enjeux socioéconomiques urbains, ainsi qu’une analyse en profondeur de la zone d'étude avec un focus sur le rôle de l'occupation israélienne qui a contribué à la démarcation de la zone palestinienne.La deuxième partie analyse les facteurs qui ont affecté le processus de migration interne et la croissance urbaine. L'étude tente ensuite d'enquêter sur les principaux changements intervenus dans le modèle urbain à travers différents modèles.L'étude a permis de constater que la zone de Ramallah a été témoin au cours des deux dernières décennies, d’un processus de transformation urbaine ; elle coïncide avec des transformations en termes sociaux, économiques et politiques. En outre, l'avènement de l'Autorité palestinienne dans les années 1990 à Ramallah est un point important pour les Palestiniens du point de vue de leur territoire, avec également des répercussions néfastes sur le modèle urbain et sur le paysage. Cette thèse révèle un mécanisme de « leapfrog », une accélération dans le processus de croissance urbaine et l'expansion pour faire face à ces changements et à l'émergence de demandes urbaines en raison de la migration interne. / This study presents an attempt to understand the process of transformation in Ramallah area of Palestine after 1993 due to the Oslo accord. The Introduction highlights the problem statement, the main aims of the study and its importance; also, the methodology has bee nfollowed. While the study contain two parts, each part have three chapters.Part one contains a brief description of the chronological development of the Palestinian urban and socio economic scene, in addition; in-depth analysis for the study area focusing on the role of the Israeli occupation that was contributed in demarcating the Palestinian scene.Otherwise, part two has analyses the drivers that have affected in the process of internal migration and urban growth. Then, the study tried to investigate the main changes that had occurred in the urban pattern through number of urban model.The study found that Ramallah area, during the past two decades, had witnessed an urban transformation process; coincide with the difference transformation in social, economic and political terms.Further more, the advent the Palestinian Authority in 1990s to Ramallah area gives the opportunity to be as an attractive point for the Palestinians over the Palestinian territory. In addition, affected adversely on the urban pattern and landscape.This thesis concludes that has revealed a leapfrog and acceleration in the process of urban growth and expansion in order to cope with and responded to the emergence of urban demands due to the internal migration.

The Middle East conflicts between Palestine and Israel are long-term, ongoing and wide-ranging. Kicking All Odds is an observational documentary that explores women football players from Palestine – both Christian and Muslim girls – who play together and forge a team despite all the hardships they face.

This thesis provides the findings of an explanatory case study that utilized elements of ethnographic research to discover effective evangelistic methods being practiced among Palestinian Muslims in the West Bank. With the assistance of gatekeepers, twenty-four former Muslims were asked to explain how they were evangelized, with a particular focus on evangelistic methodology, the barriers to faith the respondents encountered, solutions to those barriers, and motivations to consider conversion. This qualitative study follows the research model of Thom Rainer (2001) by asking those who have actually converted to describe the things that were helpful in the process of their coming to faith. For a theoretical framework it utilizes a nuance of McKnight’s (2002) theory of conversion with an emphasis on crisis providing an intersection of the natural and supernatural for the purpose of conversion. This thesis investigates examples of effective evangelism within the context of the West Bank, giving thorough consideration to Palestinian Nationalism and Islam as overarching cultural influences. It considers fruitful practices being practiced globally among Muslims, comparing those with what was found being practiced in the West Bank. The advocates represented in this report were primarily Palestinians born and raised in the West Bank, with the exception of three messianic Jewish Israelis and an American missionary. Additionally, they were evangelicals who generally utilized a contextually sensitive, traditional mission approach rather than an Insider model. The end result is a knowledge base that can be helpful for future evangelism of Muslims in the West Bank or other similar contexts. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

There are many negative consequences related to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The phenomenon of the settler's violence is one of them. The aim of the thesis is to explain the conditionality of the violence and to put it into context with Israeli political scene. A quantitative analysis is made to examine the relationship between Israeli far-right parties' electoral gains and the incidence of violence against Palestinians residents of the West Bank. Also, spatial analysis is made to measure the level of clustering of the incidents. To articulate the theoretical assumptions, the theory of social cleavages was used. In line with the assumptions, the results suggest that in Jewish settlements on the West Bank, there is statistically significant connection between Israeli far-right parties' electoral gains and the number of the violent incidents. The strongest correlation is proven between the incidents and the electoral gains of the parties influenced by Kahanism, a militant racist ideology. There is a weaker correlation between the incidence of violence and the electoral gains of the parties representing Religious Zionism, an ideology that combines religion and nationalism. The spatial distribution of the incidents was irregular. There was a clustering of high values in several areas,...

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