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.

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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Financial dependency and a trend in donor-driven gender equality and women’s empowerment projects in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) have undoubtedly had an effect on the way in which NGOs are working and evolving: often projects are designed to fulfill donor requirements – and thereby policies - instead of creating an agenda which is politically and socially “home grown”. This paper analyses the USAID gender policy paper (as an example of foreign donor policy) and interviews conducted with legal, programme and gender experts in the oPt, exploring the challenges and gaps between policy and practice. The research uses qualitative research methods to analyze USAID discourse - exploring concepts such as representation, ideology and power - and general assumptions and perspectives towards women’s equality and empowerment in the Opt versus how this translates into practice.

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.

Israël est l’un des pays développés les plus féconds dans le monde et maintient un taux de fécondité stable depuis 1995. Il a échappé à la chute spectaculaire de la fécondité qui a été observée dans la plupart des pays occidentaux. Le taux de fécondité était de 2,96 enfants par femme en 2009 (Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2010, tableau 3.14). Le maintien d’une si forte fécondité pourrait être dû à l’immigration et à la “guerre démographique” qui sévit entre les différentes communautés vivant dans le pays (Sardon, 2006). Toutefois, on observe une différence significative entre les niveaux de fécondité des juifs d’Israël et de Cisjordanie depuis plusieurs années. Les études qui portent sur la fécondité en Israël sont faites au niveau national, ce qui ne fournit aucune explication sur cette différence. Pour ces raisons, l’étude de la fécondité en Israël mérite une attention particulière. Ce projet vise à identifier les différents facteurs qui ont une incidence sur la fécondité des femmes juives vivant en Israël et en Cisjordanie. Il contribuera à une meilleure compréhension des comportements liés à la fécondité de la population juive de la Cisjordanie et peut fournir des indices sur les mécanismes complexes qui régissent les relations entre Juifs et Arabes dans les territoires occupés. Grâce aux données recueillies dans l’Enquête sociale générale de 2004 d’Israël,des analyses descriptives et explicatives ont été produites. Dans un premier temps, les facteurs qui ont un impact sur la fécondité dans chaque région ont été déterminés et par la suite, une analyse de l’importance de ces facteur sur la fécondité a été produite. Le nombre d’enfants nés de femmes âgées de 20 à 55 ans constitue la variable d’intérêt et les variables explicatives retenues sont les suivantes: religiosité, éducation, revenu familial mensuel, statut d’emploi, pays d’origine, âge et état matrimonial. Cette étude a montré que les femmes juives qui résident en Cisjordanie ont un nombre prévu d’enfants de 13% supérieur à celui des femmes juives qui résident en Israël lorsque l’on contrôle toutes les variables. Il est notamment montré que la religion joue un rôle important dans l’explication de la forte fécondité des femmes juives dans les deux régions, mais son impact est plus important en Israël. L’éducation joue également un rôle important dans la réduction du nombre prévu d’enfants, en particulier en Cisjordanie. Tous ces facteurs contribuent à expliquer les différents niveaux de fécondité dans les deux régions, mais l’étude montre que ces facteurs ne permettent pas une explication exhaustive de la forte fécondité en Israël et en Cisjordanie. D’autres forces qui ne sont pas mesurables doivent avoir une incidence sur la fécondité telles que le nationalisme ou la laïcisation, par exemple. / Israel is one of the most fertile developed countries in the world and has had a stable fertility rate since 1995. The country avoided the dramatic fall in fertility that has been observed in most Western countries. The fertility rate was of 2.96 children per woman in 2009 (Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2010, table 3.14). Maintaining such a high fertility level could be due to immigration and the “demographic war” between the different communities living in the country (Sardon, 2006). However, a significant difference between the levels of fertility of the jewish population of Israel and the West Bank has been observed for several years. In the literature, studies of fertility in Israel are conducted at a national level, which neither reveals nor explains the difference. Accordingly, Israel’s high fertility deserves a particular attention. This project aims to identify the different factors that affect the fertility of Jewish women living in Israel and in the West Bank. It will contribute to a better understanding of the fertility behavior of the Jewish population of the West Bank and may shed light on the complex mechanisms that govern the relations between Jews and Arabs in the Occupied Territories. With data collected in the General Social Survey of Israel of 2004, descriptive and explanatory analyses were produced. In the first part, factors influencing fertility in each region have been determined and an analysis of the importance of each factor on fertility was conducted in the second part. The outcome of interest is the number of children ever born to women aged 20 to 55 and the independent variables are: religiosity, education, monthly family income, employment status, country of origin, age and marital status. This study showed that Jewish women residing in the West Bank have an expected number of children 13% higher than their counterparts residing in Israel. It is also shown that the intensity of religious interest plays an important role in explaining the high fertility of Jewish women in both regions but its impact is more important in Israel. Education also plays an important role in reducing the expected number of children, especially in the West Bank. All of these factors contribute to explaining the different fertility levels in the two regions but the study shows that these factors do not provide an exhaustive explanation of higher fertility in the West Bank. There must be other forces that have an impact on fertility but which are not measurable such as nationalism or secularization, for example.