G E N D E R A N D P O L I T I C A L S U P P O R T Gender in a Global/Local World GENDER AND POLITICAL SUPPORT WOMEN AND HAMAS IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES Minna Cowper-Coles ‘Cowper-Coles has written a fascinating and insightful book on the gender gap in Palestinian politics. Cowper-Coles finds that women are more likely to support Hamas and are more conservative on multiple issues. Why is this so? Using impressive quantitative data and origi- nal qualitative interviews, Cowper-Coles argues that the local political economy creates segmented gendered dis/advantages for women and men which in return shapes political loyalties.’ Amaney A. Jamal, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics and Director of the Bobst Center for Peace and Justice at Princeton University, USA ‘As Minna Cowper-Coles writes, research on women and gender in the Middle East has often been seen as unimportant to mainstream political science. Dr. Cowper-Coles makes an impressive addition to scholarly understanding of gendered patterns of political support. With a rich body of interview and survey data, Minna Cowper-Coles highlights the counterintuitive finding that Palestinian women are more likely than men to support HAMAS. Her work further explains why extant theo- ries from the American context are inadequate for explaining the gen- der gap without an understanding of the role that the authoritarian and clientelistic context plays. I recommend this book for scholars and poli- cymakers interested in comparative politics and the Arab world.’ Lindsay J. Benstead, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University, USA ‘This book is the first systematic study of the gendered patterns in political support in Palestine, and offers an essential contribution to the field. Cowper-Coles presents remarkable, surprising, and crucially important findings. Not only is there a gender gap in Palestine, its direc- tion challenges theorizing on the modern gender gap in the existing, largely Western-focused, literature. Why do women tend to support the Islamist Hamas more than men? Cowper-Coles offers answers that would be of great interest to scholars of gender in the Middle East, Islamist movements, and women and politics more broadly across the globe, as well as anyone intrigued by the fascinating tendencies of gen- dered politics in Palestine.’ Lihi Ben Shitrit, Associate Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia, USA Gender and Political Support This book finds and explores a gender gap in political support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories whereby more women than men support Hamas, and more men than women support Fatah. The author then shows how economic interests and religion largely explain this gender gap, and explores how the Israeli occupation, the Israel-Palestine conflict, women’s rights, nationalism, and political repression impact Palestinian political support. She demonstrates how religion interacts with nationalist discourses, which in turn reinforce differential gender roles in Palestine. She also shows how patronage impacts political support in a gen- dered way, with Fatah’s ability to provide employment opportunities being strongly linked to their support base amongst men. The book concludes with an analysis of similar trends in the wider Middle East, with women across the region tending to prefer religious parties, compared with men. While making an important contribution to studies of Palestinian poli- tics, this book also has implications for much broader issues, such as explo- rations of gender and political support beyond the Western context and understanding widespread female support for Islamist parties in the Middle East. It highlights the importance of situating explorations of political support within their wider context so as to understand how particularities of ideologies, economies and social structures might interact in a specific political system. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of gender studies, Middle East studies, and comparative politics. It will also appeal to those with a broader interest in Middle East politics and development. Minna Cowper-Coles is a Research Fellow at the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, UK. She previously taught at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, where she gained her PhD in 2018. Gender in a Global/Local World Series Editors: Jane Parpart, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA, Marianne H. Marchand, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico, and Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel, University of Kassel, Germany Gender in a Global/Local World critically explores the uneven and often contradictory ways in which global processes and local identities come together. Much has been and is being written about globalization and responses to it but rarely from a critical, historical, gendered perspective. Yet, these processes are profoundly gendered albeit in different ways in par- ticular contexts and times. The changes in social, cultural, economic, and political institutions and practices alter the conditions under which women and men make and remake their lives. New spaces have been created - economic, political, social – and previously silent voices are being heard. North-South dichotomies are being undermined as increasing numbers of people and communities are exposed to international processes through migration, travel, and communication, even as marginalization and pov- erty intensify for many in all parts of the world. The series features mono- graphs and collections which explore the tensions in a ‘global/local world’, and includes contributions from all disciplines in recognition that no single approach can capture these complex processes. Recent titles in the series include: Violence against Women in and beyond Conflict The Coloniality of Violence Julia Carolin Sachseder The Politics of Trauma and Integrity Stories of Japanese “Comfort Women” Sachiyo Tsukamoto Women, Migration, and Aging in the Americas Analysing Dependence and Autonomy in Old Age Edited by Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/Gender-in-a-GlobalLocal-World/book-series/GENDERLOCAL Gender and Political Support Women and Hamas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Minna Cowper-Coles First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Minna Cowper-Coles The right of Minna Cowper-Coles to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cowper-Coles, Minna, author. Tit le: Gender and political support: women and Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories/Minna Cowper-Coles. Other titles: Gender in a global/local world. De scription: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2022. | Series: Gender in a global/local world | Includes bibliographical references and index. Id entifiers: LCCN 2022006761 (print) | LCCN 2022006762 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032011448 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032011493 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003177395 (ebook) Su bjects: LCSH: Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmīyah. | Women, Palestinian Arab–Political activity–West Bank. | Women, Palestinian Arab–Political activity–Gaza Strip. | Sex role–Political aspects–West Bank. | Sex role–Political aspects–Gaza Strip. | Women, Palestinian Arab–Economic aspects–West Bank. | Women, Palestinian Arab–Economic aspects–Gaza Strip. Cl assification: LCC HQ1236.5.W45 C69 2022 (print) | LCC HQ1236.5.W45 (ebook) | DDC 305.42095694/2–dc23/eng/20220217 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006761 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006762 ISBN: 978-1-032-01144-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-01149-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-17739-5 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003177395 Typeset in Times New Roman by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgements xiii Glossary of Acronyms and Shortened Terms xvi 1 Introduction: The Gender Gap in Political Support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 1 1.1 The Gender Gap in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 2 1.2 Research Methods 14 1.3 Conclusion and Book Layout 21 2 The Political Context in Palestine 24 2.1 History 24 2.2 Geography 30 2.3 Political Parties and Movements 35 2.4 Conclusion 42 3 Economy and Gender 43 3.1 The Palestinian Economy 44 3.2 Socioeconomic Gender Differences in Palestine and Political Support 61 3.3 Conclusion 76 4 Belief, Ideology and Gender 79 4.1 Gendered Beliefs in the Palestinian Territories 80 4.2 Gendered Beliefs and Political Preferences 112 4.3 Conclusion 121 viii Contents 5 Political Violence and Gender: Occupation, Resistance, and Oppression 125 5.1 Resistance, Negotiations, and Political Support 125 5.2 Oppression 145 5.3 Conclusion 166 6 Explaining the Gender Gap in Political Support 169 6.1 Modelling the Gender Gap 169 6.2 Conclusion 191 7 Beyond Palestine 193 7.1 Regional Similarities and Differences 194 7.2 Gender and Political Support in the Arab World 199 7.3 Conclusion 206 8 Conclusion 208 8.1 Economy 209 8.2 Religion 211 8.3 Feminism 211 8.4 Oppression 212 Interviews 214 Bibliography 218 Index 233 Figures 1.1 To show percentage support for Fatah by gender. 3 1.2 To show percentage support for Hamas by gender. 4 1.3 To show the gender gap in political support between Fatah and Hamas between 1998 and 2016. 6 2.1 Landscape near Taybeh, the West Bank, 19th March 2016. 25 2.2 To show political support in the Occupied Territories 1998–2016. 29 2.3 To show the gender gap in political support between Fatah and Hamas for the West Bank and Gaza between 1998 and 2016. 33 2.4 Showing percentage support for Fatah and Hamas by governorate. 34 2.5 Fatah’s ‘Nationalist Bloc’ flag at Birzeit University student elections, 20th April 2015. 37 2.6 Hamas’s ‘Islamic Bloc’ Parade at Birzeit University student elections, 20th April 2015. 40 3.1 Advertisement for Al-Quds Bank in Ramallah, 27th February 2016. 44 3.2 A women’s collective making snacks in the West Bank, 27th March 2016. 61 3.3 To show gender differences in occupation. 68 3.4 To show family monthly income levels by gender. 70 3.5 To show education levels by gender. 75 4.1 To show religious self-identification by gender. 80 4.2 To show reported prayer frequency by gender. 81 4.3 Part of a mural in Ramallah showing a traditionally dressed Palestinian woman as emerging from, or constituting part of, the Palestinian landscape, 27th February 2016. 93 4.4 To show the placement of men and women on the Gender Equality Scale as percentages. 100 4.5 To show percentage support for ‘leftist’ parties (PFLP, DFLP, and PPP) by gender. 102 4.6 Women in a Hamas parade for student elections at Birzeit University, West Bank, 20th April 2015. 118