The untold story of the Golan Heights : occupation, colonization and Jawlani resistance

Human rights abuses and violations in Saudi Arabia attract international condemnation. But within the country, an Islamic civil rights movement, ‘HASM’, has called for change. While its members have received international human rights awards, the Saudi authorities have persecuted and imprisoned them. This book is the first to study human rights in the kingdom from the perspective of these prominent Saudi civil rights activists, uncovering the actual ideas that motivate their activism. Based on analysis of the group’s texts, the book highlights that HASM neither supports an overthrow of the government, of which they are accused, nor are they “liberal” advocates of universal human rights. Their complex thought is a contribution to contemporary Islamic discourse because they make a case for ‘peaceful civil jihad’ through the protection of citizens’ basic rights, but within a rigid, Salafist interpretation of social affairs that imposes heavy limits on politics, human rights and democracy. Furthermore, HASM’s texts use war rhetoric and anti-Semitic language, with different arguments and words for domestic or international audiences. The most comprehensive text on this Islamic civil rights movement, the book employs detailed discourse analysis and includes sources from HASM texts in both Arabic and English. Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Contributors Acknowledgements Note on text/translation Abbreviations and acronyms Chapter 1: Introduction: Representing the occupied Jawlan/Golan Section I: Everyday colonization Chapter 2: The politics of lifeworld colonization in the occupied Golan Reflection 1: The 1982 Great Strike: Cementing Jawlani national identity through confrontation The National Document: By the Syrian citizens in the occupied Golan Heights Section II: The politics of the governed Chapter 3: Mapping the politics of the governed among the Jawlanis: A semiotic approach Reflection 2: The occupied Syrian Jawlan and Birzeit University: A story of solidarity Reflection 3: The occupied Syrian Jawlan after 2011: The constant and variable Complementarity Section III: The politics of Jawlani art Chapter 4: Sculptures in Jawlani public spaces: Reflections on the work of identity Reflection 4: The identity question for Jawlani artists Reflection 5: The role of literature and folk music in resisting Israelification of the Jawlan Tranquility Section IV: The politics of Jawlani youth and education Chapter 5: Israeli education policies as a tool for the ethnic manipulation of the Arab Druze Reflection 6: How to counter-map the Jawlani lands: Visualizing memory, place and identity Reflection 7: The concept of ‘Jawlani youth’: Between colonial policies and society As For Me Section V: A Jawlani political ecology Chapter 6: Being in place: On the Jawlan formation and the agroecological history of highlands Reflection 8: From Jabal al-Shaykh to Mount Hermon ski resort Untitled poem Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Jawlan as counter-geography Dawn Notes References Index "In 1967 Israel occupied the western section of Syria's Golan Heights, expelling 130,000 residents and leaving only a few thousand Arab inhabitants clustered in several villages. Sometimes characterised as the 'forgotten occupation', the western Golan Heights have been transformed by Israeli colonisation, including the appropriation of land and water resources, economic development and extensive military use. This landmark volume is the first academic study in English of Arab politics and culture in the occupied Golan Heights. It focuses on an indigenous community, known as the Jawlanis, and their experience of everyday colonisation and resistance to settler colonisation. Chapters cover how governance is carried out in the Golan, from Israel's use of the education system and collective memory, to its development of large-scale wind turbines which are now a symbol of Israeli encroachment. To illustrate the ways in which the current regime of Israeli rule has been contested, there are chapters on the six-month strike of 1982, youth mobilisation in the occupied Golan, Palestinian solidarity movements, and the creation of Jawlani art and writing as an act of resistance. Rich in ethnographic detail and with chapters from diverse disciplines, the book is unique in bringing together Jawlani, Palestinian and UK researchers. The innovative format - with shorter 'reflections' from young Arab researchers, activists and lawyers that respond to more traditional academic chapters - establishes a bold new 'de-colonial' approach."-- Provided by publisher

In 1967 Israel occupied the western section of Syria's Golan Heights, expelling 130, 000 residents and leaving only a few thousand Arab inhabitants clustered in several villages. Sometimes characterised as the 'forgotten occupation', the western Golan Heights have been transformed by Israeli colonisation, including the appropriation of land and water resources, economic development and extensive military use. This landmark volume is the first academic study in English of Arab politics and culture in the occupied Golan Heights. It focuses on an indigenous community, known as the Jawlanis, and their experience of everyday colonisation and resistance to settler colonisation. Chapters cover how governance is carried out in the Golan, from Israel's use of the education system and collective memory, to its development of large-scale wind turbines which are now a symbol of Israeli encroachment. To illustrate the ways in which the current regime of Israeli rule has been contested, there are chapters on the six-month strike of 1982, youth mobilisation in the occupied Golan, Palestinian solidarity movements, and the creation of Jawlani art and writing as an act of resistance. Rich in ethnographic detail and with chapters from diverse disciplines, the book is unique in bringing together Jawlani, Palestinian and UK researchers. The innovative format - with shorter 'reflections' from young Arab researchers, activists and lawyers that respond to more traditional academic chapters - establishes a bold new 'de-colonial' approach.