In recent years, scholars in political science and sociology have become increasingly interested in women’s participation in violent organizations, resistance movements, and revolutions. At the same time, the scholarship on Muslim women in social movements and politics has grown. Yet relatively little work has been done to explain Muslim women’s participation in contexts of political occupation and repression, where human rights violations are particularly egregious. Enter Maria Holt and Haifaa Jawad’s timely and important book. Drawing on firsthand interviews with women in, or women in exile from, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, the authors provide a much-needed examination of the diverse ways in which Muslim women in the Arab world challenge repressive rule.
The book’s overarching message is that women in the Arab world are active resisters despite living in terror. With both compassion and a critical eye, Holt and Jawad highlight the many tensions of living under or in occupation, repression, and war. Women face the challenge of finding safety amid violent attacks by occupying forces. A number of interviewees have lost family members to political violence. Further constraining women’s (and men’s) lives are patriarchal organizations (e.g., political parties) and belief systems (e.g., nationalism). Religion—in this book, Islam—can and does provide a source of strength for many of the interviewees, but the extent of its positive influence varies across countries and over time.
Two chapters set the stage. In Chapter 2, Holt and Jawad give a primer on Islam and women that is helpful for readers who have limited knowledge of the history of this world religion. Chapter 3 connects the book’s central themes to the Arab revolutions of 2011, pointing out that women were active participants. For instance, women protesting the executions of their sons and husbands in Benghazi helped spark the revolution in Libya. Yet consistent with the authors’ central argument, the revolutions had conservative elements within them, and in cases such as Egypt, women were excluded from formal politics shortly after Hosni Mubarak resigned from office.
The major contributions of the book lie in Chapters 4–6, where the authors use interviews to highlight the successes and limitations of women’s resistance in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories. Relatively little scholarship has sought to study women’s roles in resistance movements in these countries, which is necessary for arriving at a broader understanding of the role of women in violent political organizations.
Of the three case studies, Chapter 4 examines a relative success story, the expulsion of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. Focusing on Shiite women’s experiences in Lebanon’s civil war and under Israeli occupation, the authors demonstrate that some women drew on Islam (i.e., the female role models Fatima and Zaynab) to bolster their resistance. Women carried ammunition, blocked off streets to allow men to escape, and hid fighters, under the threat of, or having experienced, torture and the loss of their children.
In Chapter 5, the authors provide perhaps the first scholarly account of Iraqi women who support two resistance movements (the Iraqi National Foundation Congress [INFC] and the Association of Muslim Scholars [AMS]). Holt and Jawad explicitly sought to interview women who saw Iraq as still occupied by the United States and were opposed to the presence of U.S. military bases. Future studies of gender, resistance, and politics in postinvasion Iraq will find this chapter to be invaluable.
Chapter 6 on women’s political participation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip begins with the crucial question: What does resistance mean in contexts of occupation and colonization? The authors challenge the stereotypical view of Palestinian resistance as extremist, violent, and male dominated, and are careful not to sensationalize female suicide bombers. Holt and Jawad demonstrate that women resist occupation by “just getting on with life,” voting for Hamas and running for office, helping fighters, and executing military operations. Yet while women challenge the patriarchal nature of Palestinian nationalism, they also reinforce it.
Engaging with a range of concepts, including nationalism, patriarchy, violence, and religion, scholars can go in different directions after reading this book. In particular, it is critical for political scientists to examine how and why political openings for women close during or after occupation and war. These closures occur at the individual level, which scholars of political behavior, political psychology, and feminist international relations are well positioned to address. Yet it is also important to consider gendered closures at the organizational level: Why are certain political parties or resistance organizations more inclusive of women than are others?
By illuminating women’s agency and the constraints women face in times of revolution, resistance, and occupation, Holt and Jawad make a significant contribution to the scholarship on violent political organizations and women’s participation therein. Women, Islam, and Resistance in the Arab World is an essential book for scholars and students of political resistance, state repression, and gender politics.
