From the river to the sea? : honour, identity and politics in historical and contemporary Palestinian rejectionism
Abstract
The present thesis seeks to understand and explain the rhetoric and
behaviour of the rejectionist 'current' within the Palestinian national
movement. It proceeds from the view that extant scholarship, primarily from
within the fields of terrorism and security studies, has profoundly
misunderstood rejectionist speech and behaviour by ignoring the
explanatory capacity of Emic - the research subject's perception - as well as
the influence of the sociocultural milieu within which rejectionism exists.
The thesis proceeds to set up a 'socioculturally sensitive' analytical
framework drawn from social identity theory, a heuristic, non-reductionist
model for understanding group interaction and conflict. Emphasizing
cultural norms and cues identified by anthropologists as salient in the
eastern Mediterranean, the thesis suggests that the social value of honour,
patron-client dynamics and a firmly entrenched group orientation must be
significant elements of a model for understanding rejectionist behaviour.
The main analytical narrative suggests that for reasons derived from
ideology, patron-client relations and group dynamics, what has distinguished
the rejectionists from the mainstream have been a qualitatively different set
of preconditions for, and objectives of diplomatic negotiations. To the main
rejectionist factions the goal of liberating Palestine has always been
inextricably intertwined with the goal of restoring national honour; one
without the other has been impossible and to claim otherwise would mean a
depletion of factional and personal honour. To the rejectionists, there has
never been any question of deviating from the fundamental goals - national
recognition, repatriation, self-determination and independent statehood, not
even for tactical reasons. This 'higher standard' likely derives from their
structurally and politically subordinate position within the national
movement, and the need to creatively enhance their own social status and
appeal.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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