The Dynamics of Coexistence in the Middle East Negotiating Boundaries Between Christians, Muslims, Jews and Samaritans in Palestine

by Droeber, Julia

• ISBN13: 9781780765273
• ISBN10: 1780765274
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780857722980, 9780857734419
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-11-26
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris
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Summary

Palestine is often viewed, from afar, through the frame of insurmountable difference and violent conflict along religious and ethnic lines. Julia Droeber looks beyond this, as she draws out the way in which sameness and difference is constructed and dealt with in the day to day relationships and practices of different religious communities in the West Bank town of Nablus. She follows the reality of coexistence and the constant negotiation of boundaries between Christians, Muslims and one of the last remaining Samaritan communities worldwide, and how these relationships are complicated by an occupier perceived as 'Jewish'.

This is a sensitive and nuanced study of cultural and religious space in a much-contested region. It illustrates how differences are reconciled, accommodated and emphasised, while existing alongside a common sense of belonging. Droeber's findings resonate beyond the town of Nablus, and the West Bank, and into the broader fields of Middle East Studies, Anthropology, Comparative Religion and Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies.

Author Biography

Julia Droeber is a social anthropologist at An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine. She is the author of Dreaming of Change: Young Middle Class Women and Social Transformation in Jordan and has taught at universities in the UK, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and Jordan.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Nablus as a Religious and Cultural Space
2. Boundaries: Negotiated, Embodied, Manipulated
3. Distinction: The Making of 'Selves' and 'Others'
4. Gendered Taboos: Marriage, Hospitality and Dress
5. Networks: Exchange, Relationships and Space
6. Fields: Tracing Shifting Relations