Middle Eastern Minorities and the Arab Spring: Identity and Community in the Twenty-First Century (Modern Muslim World)

Middle Eastern Minorities and the Arab Spring: Identity and Community in the Twenty-First Century examines eleven minority groups in the early years of the so-called Arab Spring. Wide-ranging in scope, minorities of diverse religious and ethno-linguistic backgrounds are included from North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. Each has experienced the Arab Spring differently and uniquely depending upon their context. Of particular concern to the international team of scholars involved in this volume, is the interaction and reaction of minorities to the protest movements across the Arab World that called for greater democratic rights and end to respective autocratic regimes. While some minorities participated in the Arab Spring, others were wary of instability and the unintended effects of regime change – notably the rise of violent Islamism. The full effects of the Arab Spring will not be known for years to come, but for the minorities of the Middle East, the immediate future seems certainly tenuous at best. Ethnic And Linguistic Minorities In The Middle East And The Arab Spring -- Re-considering Minorities' Position In The Middle East : The Kurdish Case In Syria / Eva Savelsberg And Jordi Tejel -- The Amazigh In Post-revolution Libya : A Century Of Struggle / Todd M. Thompson And Youcef Bouandel -- The Armenian Christian Minority In Greater Syria -- And The Arab Spring / Darina Saliba Abi Chedid -- Religious Minorities In The Middle East And The Arab Spring -- Adapting To Shifting Ground : The Alawites Of The Northern Levant / Leon T. Goldsmith -- The Druze And The Arab Spring / Lubna Tarabey -- Syrian Ismailis And The Arab Spring : Seasons Of Death And White Carnations / Otared Haidar -- The Christians Of Syria And The Arab Spring / Habib C. Malik -- Middle Eastern Minorities And The Arab Spring -- The Christians Of Lebanon And The Arab Spring / Michael Abi Semaan And Tony E. Nasrallah -- The Easy Enemy : The Shia And Sectarianism In The Arab States Of The Gulf And Yemen During The Arab Spring / Jessie Moritz -- Other Minorities In The Middle East And The Arab Spring -- Palestinians At Home And In The Diasporas And The Arab Spring / Bernard Sabella -- A Spring Abroad : Exploring The Case Of Tunisian Diasporas In Europe / Claire Demesmay, Sabine Russ-sattar, Katrin Sold TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 PREFACE 7 CONTRIBUTORS 9 INTRODUCTION 11 PART I: ETHNIC AND LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ARAB SPRING 27 Chapter 1. Re-Considering Minorities’ Position in the Middle East: The Kurdish Case in Syria 27 Chapter 2. The Amazigh in post-Revolution Libya: A Century of Struggle 55 Chapter 3. The Armenian Christian Minority in Greater Syria and the Arab Spring 89 PART II: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ARAB SPRING 111 Chapter 4. Adapting to Shifting Ground: The Alawites of the Northern Levant 111 Chapter 5. The Druze and the Arab Spring 139 Chapter 6. Syrian Ismailis and the Arab Spring: Seasons of Death and White Carnations 157 Chapter 7. The Christians of Syria and the Arab Spring 185 Chapter 8. The Christians of Lebanon and the Arab Spring 213 Chapter 9. The Easy Enemy: The Shia and Sectarianism in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen during the Arab Spring 237 PART III: OTHER MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ARAB SPRING 271 Chapter 10. Palestinians at Home and in the Diasporas and the Arab Spring 271 Chapter 11. A Spring Abroad: Exploring the Case of Tunisian Diasporas in Europe 287 CONCLUSION 317 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 319 INDEX 337