In the historical narrative of Iraq, oil is often considered the most formative aspect of the nation’s development. Water has received less consideration for what has been and remains its critically important influence. Water’s historical importance in Iraq runs deep. In the 20th century, it was crucial to the making of the modern politics, to shaping social relations, and to the country’s environmental relations. Along with the effects of its two major rivers, it water scarcity also shaped many of the fears and anxieties of modern Iraqis. Focusing on the late Ottoman and early colonial period, this research seeks to evaluate the extent to which water, and its absence, has played a role in shaping Iraq. This research will specifically examine Ottoman and colonial laws regarding water management, as well as the relationship of water with health and medicine. To this end, this paper will draw extensively from missionary journals and colonial and Ottoman archives, including those related to law, environmental management, and medical record. In context of disease and sanitation, colonial and Ottoman sources come into dialogue regarding questions of science, medicine, and public health. By focusing on colonial and Ottoman law, I will examine how water has been used a means of control and governance, especially within the colonial framework. Water management was not left to Iraqis to establish; rather, it was another extension of colonial dominance that created a demand for British technology and expertise. By providing this hyrdopolitical and environmental account of Iraq’s history, this paper stands to explore the relationships between empire, colonialism, technology, and law.

In this paper, I examine the reproduction of national discourse in Egypt in the years following the defeat in the 1967 war with Israel through the tensions between the state's demand for “purposeful culture, which the state encouraged as a mean to overcome the national crisis, and the "trivial" culture, which dominated the cultural scene at that time. I analyze two satirical movies, al-‘Ataba Gazaz (1969) [The doorstep is Grass] and Safah al-Nisa’ (1970) [The Women’s Assassin] and situate them within their historical context of collective trauma. I explore the significance of satire in Egyptian political discourse in comparison to the official high discourse reflected in that time’s Egyptian intellectual debates. Both movies, as well as many others produced at that time, center on one (or more) “anti-hero,” a poor clumsy man, who suddenly finds himself in charge of a “special” mission to restore national pride. The disoriented anti-hero experiences a traumatic experience that interrupts him from fulfilling his desire. Through a series of reenactments and repetition of the traumatic experience, the anti-hero’s fantasy finally gets fulfilled. My paper engages with the limited available scholarship on Nasserism – the term usually used to refer to Nasser’s project as ideology – and tries to understand the dynamics through which this ideology functioned pre- and post-1967. My analysis will show how the two movies express collective feelings of anxiety, disorientation, and questioning of the 12 years of Nasserist anti-colonial project while seemingly still adhering to the nationalist call for reforms. Through analyzing these movies and the cultural debates at that time, I argue that these movies expose the shortcomings of the Nasserist populist project and reflect state’s anxiety and preoccupation to sustain its popularity and stability.

Sexual violence is endemic. These problems are more pronounced in developing regions like the Middle East, where women face not only the threat of violence but also communal pressures to stay silent. Societal organizations have battled back through educational initiatives that disrupt hegemonic, patriarchal norms – framing assault and rape as permissible acts. Such work is being undertaken now in Turkey where civic groups face an uphill struggle due to conservative resistance that misappropriates cultural and religious values to justify gender inequality. This leads to an obvious but unanswered question: when do educational initiatives succeed in reducing sexual violence? This project intends to answers this question. Conducted under the guidance of Dr. Sean Yom of Temple University’s political science department and through research grants from the Office of Vice-Provost, I am traveling to Turkey to evaluate the educational process of civic advocacy. Through information sharing with activists, teachers, aggressors, and victims in Istanbul and outlying rural areas, I am testing two hypotheses. First, educational initiatives are more successful in urban rather than rural areas due to structure and demography: cities and towns not only have a greater density of civic activists but also smaller households that incubate less conservative values. Second, educational initiatives are more successful when they require men to encounter real victims of sexual violence, because confronting the emotional and human consequences of criminal behavior can deter future acts of violence.

Once considered taboo, tattoos are now a fairly common practice in America and other westernized cultures. However, this practice is strictly forbidden in Judaism and the Old Testament, which was later adopted into Christianity and Islam. The origin of the debate (and opposition to it) is a verse from Leviticus that says “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord” (Vayikra 19:28). The arguments for tattoos in Christianity are as diverse as the sects within it. As with the Torah, while the word tattoo is not specifically mentioned, many passages in the Christian Bible are interpreted against getting one. The often-quoted verse against this practice is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that reads “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Muslims take after their Abrahamic counterparts, and they too consider tattoos to be haram (forbidden). As with the previous two religions, tattooing is a procedure that causes unnecessary pain and suffering to the receiver, at the same time tainting Allah’s creation; it is often compared with consuming riba or usury (Imam Bukhaari 5032). However, as younger generations develop their own ideals and norms of what is acceptable in society, many times the line is blurred as to what is considered acceptable or sinful in relation to their religion. This paper will examine the origins of the taboo against “cutting” or “making” of the flesh, what is considered a tattoo, and who is punished: the doer or the receiver?

Palestinian civil society organizations in Israel adopt two main, distinct approaches for articulating demands for equality for the Palestinian minority: the citizenship approach and the indigeneity approach. The citizenship approach demands civic equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, justifying demands through citizenship claims and advocating for limited policy reform. The indigeneity approach, however, derives legitimacy for demands by employing ethnic rhetoric and asserting the status of the Palestinian minority as an indigenous community, seeking collective minority rights and recognition through extensive structural transformations. The argument that is advanced in this study is that the state may tolerate demands for equality that are constructed upon equal citizenship claims, but it acts in a defensive manner toward claims for national minority rights and recognition. This is because the first approach conforms to existing boundaries of political discourse that is deemed legitimate and does not challenge paradigms of ethnic domination, while the second demands ethnic minority recognition and challenges the very ethnocratic nature of the state that marginalizes the Palestinian minority. The study engages extensive literature on ethnocratic states (Yiftachel, 2000 & 2006), ethnic civil society (Haklai, 2011), Palestinian civil society activism in Israel (Payes, 2005; Jamal, 2011), and further scholarship on civil society, ethnic democracies, ethnic minorities and the Palestinian minority in Israel. Empirically, the project examines Sikkuy as an organization following the citizenship discourse, and Adalah as one following the indigeneity approach. I review Sikkuy’s participation in the Committee for Social and Economic Change, and other equality projects, to study its approach and the state response to its demands through reviewing government decisions following Sikkuy’s demands. For Adalah, I review court decisions in which the organization served as the main petitioner against certain state policies, particularly in issues of land and housing. Reviewing these primary sources will enable me to investigate the approach of the two organizations and alternate state responses toward their demands, thus allowing me to examine the effectiveness of different modes of activism and alternate dynamics of state-society interaction, and their impact on improving the civic status of the Palestinian minority.

This paper compares Tunisian women’s rights and political involvement before and after the Arab Spring. I begin by examining the history of women’s rights in Tunisia, by looking at historical legislation and journal and news articles. I then use current news coverage to examine the effects of more recent legislation and elections. I then look at women’s involvement during the Arab Spring, and finally at the ways the recent democratic election have affected and included women. Long a leader in the Arab world in terms of women’s issues, democracy has provided new challenges and opportunities for Tunisia. During the first round of elections, Islamists, as represented by the Ennahda Party, were very popular, which led to fears of negative effects on women’s rights and political participation. The new government’s ability to create a constitution via compromise that women’s rights activists and the leading Islamists agree on can provide an example for other countries in the region. I conclude that democracy in Tunisia need not come at the expense of women, despite the initial popularity of Islamists. In the last election, the Islamists peacefully stepped down in favor of a secularist party. This highlights both the moderation of the Islamist party in question, and the ability of the Tunisian people to influence politics via the democratic process. Tunisia is a rare fledgling democracy in a region that seems to be ever more violent and undemocratic, and is therefore worthy of closer examination.

This paper examines the daily impacts of water inaccessibility and contamination on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza, widely deemed a water crisis. By focusing on 1992 (one year prior to the start of the Oslo process) to the present, I evaluate why the Joint Water Committee—the water management body created under Article 40 of the Oslo Accords II in 1995 and designed to temporarily function for five years—is failing to meet its mandate to provide equitable and safe water access for both Palestinians and Israelis. The Israeli Occupation facilitates what scholar Mark Zeitoun calls “hydro-hegemony” or “hydrological apartheid”—the Israeli state exploits its position as the Occupying Power in order to dominate Palestinian water resources, violating international water law. Diversion of West Bank water to settlements leaves 50,000 people with the minimum water levels recommended by the World Health Organization for “short-term survival in an emergency situation.” Only 25% of Gazans currently have daily access to running water, and Gaza’s sole aquifer will be damaged beyond repair by 2020 as climate change increases drought in the Strip. This paper fills a critical gap in the study of the Occupation by providing an up-to-date analysis of the Occupation specifically through the lens of water access. Building on the work of scholars such as Eyal Weizman, Neve Gordon, Sara Roy, and Jan Selby, this paper presents the most viable methods to mitigate looming water catastrophe, while ensuring these interim solutions are complementary to ending the Occupation—ultimately the sustainable resolution to the water crisis. The paper draws on my ethnographic interviews with West Bank civilians (East Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron), and my interviews with JWC, UNRWA, Palestinian Water Authority, and Israeli Water Commission representatives in January 2015 and summer 2015.

This paper examines philosophical elements found in Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya ulum al-din). This work is the most read Islamic text in the Muslim world after the Quran and the hadith, but scholars have often regarded it as an unphilosophical work. Al-Ghazali has been considered as an opponent of philosophy who vehemently attacked it in the Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa). I argue, however, that the Revival contains a significant amount of philosophical elements, especially those that are in line with the Aristotelian tradition. In his recent book, the First Islamic Reviver, Kenneth Garden claims that the Revival is more philosophical than it has been assumed, and I advance his project through providing more details of the Revival’s philosophical elements. In doing so, I compare al-Ghazali with Aristotle and demonstrate where the former continues to use philosophical reasoning. Al-Ghazali’s discussion on the importance of knowledge in the pursuit of happiness is, for example, modeled after the ethical theory of Aristotle found in Nicomachean Ethics; both argue that a good life requires knowledge. The connection between the knowledge of God and human perfection that al-Ghazali makes is also derived from Aristotle’s discussion on the divine in Nicomachean Ethics as well as Metaphysics although it needs to be pointed out that the meaning of the divine for Aristotle is different from that of God for al-Ghazali. The main books of the Revival that I use in this paper are Book 1, the Book of Knowledge (Kitab al-Ilm) and Book 21, the Marvels of the Heart (Kitab sharh ajaib al-qalb).

Through examining the Houthi movement of Yemen using the social movement theory analysis approach I will investigate the identity, beliefs, and background of the Houthi’s of Yemen as a social movement. This approach will provide the opportunity to apply historical analysis to see into the roots of the Yemeni Houthi movement and the historical factors that lead to the group’s creation and popularity and offer perspective on the probable direction of a Houthi lead Yemeni government in the future. Beginning with the formation of an armed movement ten years ago this Shia group has been fighting government forces in the north of Yemen and the recent occupation of the Yemeni capital Sana by this group undoubtedly reshapes the power structure in Yemen or the foreseeable future. The rebels capitalized on widespread disillusionment with the previous government of Yemen that was viewed by the majority of the populous as ineffective and corrupt. The Houthi's have solidified their position of power following government violence against protesters leading to many deaths and strengthening support for the rebels. The recent flight of President Hadi in the face of Houthi advances and the launching of a Saudi lead air campaign targeting the Houthis has further complicated the situation in Yemen. The question I will explore further is the long-term viability of the group as a social movement and as a political power when considering identify, beliefs, and background of the group as a whole and the different regional and tribal factions that form the Houthi movement.

This thesis explores the history and memory of the Black Panther Party’s Algerian exile. Despite the fact that Algerians and Americans both frequently invoke the transnational connection between the Black Panther Party and post-revolutionary Algeria in service of other purposes, few historical studies have sought out to document the lives of the exiles and their relationship with Algeria, state and society. The overall image that emerges from Algerian historiography is positive; Algerians recognized commonalities between themselves and the Black Panther Party in terms of experiences and ideology and therefore provided support. Archival documents suggest the opposite: that the time members of the Black Panther Party spent in Algiers was wrought with tension and hostility between them and their Algerian hosts. This thesis compares archival sources with American and Algerian oral histories and contrasts American and Algerian social memory on the topic. This contrast serves the argument that Algerians and Americans remember this piece of history superficially, highlighting components and ignoring others to ensure fit in larger historiographical narrative. This study, part of a growing body of research on contemporary transnational history, uses largely untapped archival sources to contribute to understanding of American and Algerian history.