Gender and Political Support : Women and Hamas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

"This book explores the gender gap in political support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories whereby more women than men support Hamas (a party portrayed by the Western media as repressive of women's rights), and more men than women support Fatah. The author shows how economic interests and religion largely explain this gender gap, and explores how the Israeli occupation, the Israel-Palestine conflict, women's rights, nationalism, and political repression interact with Palestinian political support. She demonstrates how religion interacts with nationalist discourses, which in turn reinforce different gender roles in Palestine. She also shows how patronage impacts political support in a gendered way, with Fatah's ability to provide employment opportunities being strongly linked to their support base amongst men. The book concludes with an analysis of similar trends in the wider Middle East, with women across the region tending to prefer religious parties, compared with men. While making an important contribution to studies of Palestinian politics, this book also has implications for much broader issues, such as explorations of gender and political support beyond the Western context and understanding widespread female support for Islamist parties in the Middle East. It highlights the importance of exploring questions of political support within political context so as to understand the warping effects of nationalism and the nuances of social gender divisions. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of gender studies, Middle East studies, and comparative politics. It will also appeal to those with a broader interest in Middle East politics and development"-- Provided by publisher. This book explores the gender gap in political support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories whereby more women than men support Hamas (a party portrayed by the Western media as repressive of women's rights), and more men than women support Fatah. Cover 1 Endorsements 2 Half Title 4 Series Page 5 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 12 Acknowledgements 14 Glossary of Acronyms and Shortened Terms 17 1. Introduction: The Gender Gap in Political Support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 18 1.1. The Gender Gap in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 19 1.2. Research Methods 31 1.3. Conclusion and Book Layout 38 2. The Political Context in Palestine 41 2.1. History 41 2.2. Geography 47 2.3. Political Parties and Movements 52 2.4. Conclusion 59 3. Economy and Gender 60 3.1. The Palestinian Economy 61 3.2. Socioeconomic Gender Differences in Palestine and Political Support 78 3.3. Conclusion 93 4. Belief, Ideology and Gender 96 4.1. Gendered Beliefs in the Palestinian Territories 97 4.2. Gendered Beliefs and Political Preferences 129 4.3. Conclusion 138 5. Political Violence and Gender: Occupation, Resistance, and Oppression 142 5.1. Resistance, Negotiations, and Political Support 142 5.2. Oppression 162 5.3. Conclusion 183 6. Explaining the Gender Gap in Political Support 186 6.1. Modelling the Gender Gap 186 6.2. Conclusion 208 7. Beyond Palestine 210 7.1. Regional Similarities and Differences 211 7.2. Gender and Political Support in the Arab World 216 7.3. Conclusion 223 8. Conclusion 225 8.1. Economy 226 8.2. Religion 228 8.3. Feminism 228 8.4. Oppression 229 Interviews 231 Bibliography 235 Index 250 Gender;,Political;,Politics;,Palestine;,Israel;,Palestinian;,Women;,Hamas;,Fatah;,Occupied,Palestinian,Territories;,Oppression;,Arab;,Economy;,Religion;,Feminism;,Nationalist;,Middle,East;,Nationalism;,Islamist Gender,Political,Politics,Palestine,Israel,Palestinian,Women,Hamas,Fatah,Occupied Palestinian Territories,Oppression,Arab,Economy,Religion,Feminism,Nationalist,Middle East,Nationalism,Islamist This book finds and explores a gender gap in political support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories whereby more women than men support Hamas, and more men than women support Fatah. The author then shows how economic interests and religion largely explain this gender gap, and explores how the Israeli occupation, the Israel-Palestine conflict, women’s rights, nationalism, and political repression impact Palestinian political support. She demonstrates how religion interacts with nationalist discourses, which in turn reinforce differential gender roles in Palestine. She also shows how patronage impacts political support in a gendered way, with Fatah’s ability to provide employment opportunities being strongly linked to their support base amongst men. The book concludes with an analysis of similar trends in the wider Middle East, with women across the region tending to prefer religious parties, compared with men. While making an important contribution to studies of Palestinian politics, this book also has implications for much broader issues, such as explorations of gender and political support beyond the Western context and understanding widespread female support for Islamist parties in the Middle East. It highlights the importance of situating explorations of political support within their wider context so as to understand how particularities of ideologies, economies and social structures might interact in a specific political system. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of gender studies, Middle East studies, and comparative politics. It will also appeal to those with a broader interest in Middle East politics and development.