Identity and Religion in Palestine

In recent years a subtle but steady transformation has been taking place inthe Arab-Israeli conflict. The prominence of Hamas and the process ofIslamization in the West Bank and Gaza are having repercussions on botha local and a regional level, while politics, faith, and nationalism have createda mélange of ideologies.As secularist squares up to Islamist, andHamasand Islamic Jihad vie with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the objectiveof the Palestinian struggle becomes trampled in the haste to drawsupport to either political group. In the midst of this turmoil, Palestiniansecular-nationalists are defying their ideological background and turning toreligion for support, hope, and survival. The Palestinian political identity isin a state of flux, and Islam’s dominant role in Palestinian society can nolonger be ignored or dismissed. The emergence of Loren D. Lybarger’sIdentity and Religion in Palestine is, then, a timely publication, as it providesa perceptive analysis of political identities in the Occupied Territories.Through his debut publication, Lybarger draws on interviews and experiencesgathered during volunteer work with the Mennonite CentralCommittee in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Conducted over aperiod of six years – three in the 1980s in theWest Bank, two in Gaza in theearly 1990s, and one in the West Bank and Gaza from 1999 to 2000 – theauthor breathes life into accounts of the evolving Palestinian political identityby rendering his respondents’ dilemmas, vulnerabilities, hopes, and fearswith startling clarity. By incorporating a plethora of political factions, religiouscommunities, age groups, geographical locations, and socio-economicclasses, he cogently assesses the Palestinian political and religious identity.Equally, his book deepens one’s awareness of the relationship between eventsand the cultural and historical forces that transform the region’s socialmovements and political identities. Over the course of five chapters and anepilogue, Islamism and secular-nationalism are defined both in theory andpractice, thus affording a comprehensive insight into the contemporaryOccupied Territories ...