Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050008
Itzchak Weismann
could be brought to bear on some of the questions he raises (especially on his discussion of death) and reminds us of the long way we still have to go in fully integrating the Geniza into the study of medieval Muslim communities. Also surprisingly absent—given the close connection between Egypt and Syro-Palestine under the Fatimids—is any mention of the works of Josef Meri and Joel Kraemer on multiple religious communal pilgrimages in medieval Egypt. Two of the pieces, by Johannes Pahlitzsch and Lorenz Korn, provide detailed discussions of the fate of religious institutions of different kinds after the recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin. Pahlitzsch's larger question of the extent to which Latin religious institutions were transformed into Muslim institutions focuses on the example of the Khanqah as-Salahiyya. Readers will welcome his edition and translation of the waqfiyya of the Khanqah. Korn's careful and detailed discussion of Saladin's architectural activity includes an especially interesting comparison of the character of Saladin's patronage in Cairo, Damascus, and Jerusalem. Yehoshua Frenkel hypothesizes in his chapter that awqafYad a growing role in the public sphere of Mamluk Jerusalem. Where Korn indicates a decreasing importance attached to the city's sanctity after Saladin, Frenkel's chapter makes the case for a robust involvement by the Mamluks in the city, which he attributes to the sacred position of Jerusalem in the Mamluk world view. One wonders how this compares with the Mamluk view of the haramayn. Joseph Drory's contribution also deals with the Mamluk period, but in his case, with Jerusalemites who were living in Egypt. This piece does, in fact, deal with governance—but in Cairo, not Jerusalem. Drory's three anecdotes certainly provide evidence that Jerusalem produced some capable scholars—but they do not, in themselves, support the case for rehabilitating Jerusalem from its backwater status. The final entry in the volume is Mohammad Ghosheh's meticulous discussion of Jerusalem's walls and gates under Sultan Suleyman. Readers will find here a detailed account of the history of the walls from the Ayyubid period onwards, along with photographs of relevant documents and a number of maps. He demonstrates convincingly that even major aspects of Jerusalem's urban history must be reconsidered in the light of the legal documents he has studied. The volume as a whole raises the same expectation that we will see much of the conventional wisdom regarding Jerusalem's premodern history called into question as scholars continue to exploit new and little studied documentary material. Paula Sanders Rice University
{"title":"Sufi Visionary of Ottoman Damascus: ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi, 1641-1731 , by Elizabeth Sirriyeh. New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. 172 pages, endnotes, bibliography, index. US$105.00 (Cloth) ISBN 0-415-34165-5","authors":"Itzchak Weismann","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050008","url":null,"abstract":"could be brought to bear on some of the questions he raises (especially on his discussion of death) and reminds us of the long way we still have to go in fully integrating the Geniza into the study of medieval Muslim communities. Also surprisingly absent—given the close connection between Egypt and Syro-Palestine under the Fatimids—is any mention of the works of Josef Meri and Joel Kraemer on multiple religious communal pilgrimages in medieval Egypt. Two of the pieces, by Johannes Pahlitzsch and Lorenz Korn, provide detailed discussions of the fate of religious institutions of different kinds after the recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin. Pahlitzsch's larger question of the extent to which Latin religious institutions were transformed into Muslim institutions focuses on the example of the Khanqah as-Salahiyya. Readers will welcome his edition and translation of the waqfiyya of the Khanqah. Korn's careful and detailed discussion of Saladin's architectural activity includes an especially interesting comparison of the character of Saladin's patronage in Cairo, Damascus, and Jerusalem. Yehoshua Frenkel hypothesizes in his chapter that awqafYad a growing role in the public sphere of Mamluk Jerusalem. Where Korn indicates a decreasing importance attached to the city's sanctity after Saladin, Frenkel's chapter makes the case for a robust involvement by the Mamluks in the city, which he attributes to the sacred position of Jerusalem in the Mamluk world view. One wonders how this compares with the Mamluk view of the haramayn. Joseph Drory's contribution also deals with the Mamluk period, but in his case, with Jerusalemites who were living in Egypt. This piece does, in fact, deal with governance—but in Cairo, not Jerusalem. Drory's three anecdotes certainly provide evidence that Jerusalem produced some capable scholars—but they do not, in themselves, support the case for rehabilitating Jerusalem from its backwater status. The final entry in the volume is Mohammad Ghosheh's meticulous discussion of Jerusalem's walls and gates under Sultan Suleyman. Readers will find here a detailed account of the history of the walls from the Ayyubid period onwards, along with photographs of relevant documents and a number of maps. He demonstrates convincingly that even major aspects of Jerusalem's urban history must be reconsidered in the light of the legal documents he has studied. The volume as a whole raises the same expectation that we will see much of the conventional wisdom regarding Jerusalem's premodern history called into question as scholars continue to exploit new and little studied documentary material. Paula Sanders Rice University","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"248 - 250"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050070
James Grehan
it true that Ottoman territories were entirely sealed from the outside world. In fact, Faroqhi argues that Ottoman border regions were porous and that diplomats, pilgrims, and merchants from different nations were allowed into Ottoman territories with relative ease. By the late eighteenth century, several commercial and industrial centers in the Empire, such as Izmir and Aleppo, had been incorporated into the European world economy, although before 1800 this incorporation was still at its initial stages. On a different level, the book also makes clear that it is difficult to speak in terms of unequivocal "rules" about Ottoman administrative choices or to reduce imperial policies into a set of strictly observed traditions, especially in regards to how the border regions of the Empire were governed. Faroqhi convincingly demonstrates that the decision whether to attach a border region directly to the imperial center or to allow it to be governed by local dynasties was based on a number of variables, including the precise location of the region, its proximity to the major rivals of the Empire, its commercial significance and tax base, and its religious and political importance for the center. Thus, Dubrovnik, for example, was governed quite differently from the Hijaz or the Caucasus. Faroqhi goes as far as to argue, pace Inalcik, that one may hardly speak of a model of the way in which different regions were progressively incorporated into the Empire. Some borderland regions had indeed come under the direct rule of the center after being governed indirectly by local notables. Others (Kurdistan, for example), were never integrated completely. And there exist regions (Greater Syria, Egypt, North Africa), which after experiencing a process of imperial centralization, reverted to indirect rule by local elites. It is precisely this complexity in the administrative structure and governmental policies of the Empire that makes it difficult to make general assertions about how the Ottomans ruled, how they treated their subjects, or how they perceived domestic and foreign "other(s)." Faroqhi frequently makes perceptive and important observations on foreign prisoners, slaves, and pilgrims in Ottoman territories (and, to a more limited degree, on Ottomans in foreign lands). Overall, this is a very useful and highly illuminating book for readers at all levels of familiarity with Ottoman history. The author's impressive knowledge about very different phases and aspects of Ottoman civilization is evident throughout. Moreover, her interpretations are careful and measured. Certain topics (for example Ottoman-Iranian relations) receive relatively less attention in the discussion, but this is not due to the author's oversight but the general lack of primary and secondary sources about them. Bogac Ergene University of Vermont
{"title":"Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire, (2nd edition) by Suraiya Faroqhi. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005. 368 pages, illustrations, maps, bibliography, index. US$24.50 (Paper) ISBN 1-85043-760-2","authors":"James Grehan","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050070","url":null,"abstract":"it true that Ottoman territories were entirely sealed from the outside world. In fact, Faroqhi argues that Ottoman border regions were porous and that diplomats, pilgrims, and merchants from different nations were allowed into Ottoman territories with relative ease. By the late eighteenth century, several commercial and industrial centers in the Empire, such as Izmir and Aleppo, had been incorporated into the European world economy, although before 1800 this incorporation was still at its initial stages. On a different level, the book also makes clear that it is difficult to speak in terms of unequivocal \"rules\" about Ottoman administrative choices or to reduce imperial policies into a set of strictly observed traditions, especially in regards to how the border regions of the Empire were governed. Faroqhi convincingly demonstrates that the decision whether to attach a border region directly to the imperial center or to allow it to be governed by local dynasties was based on a number of variables, including the precise location of the region, its proximity to the major rivals of the Empire, its commercial significance and tax base, and its religious and political importance for the center. Thus, Dubrovnik, for example, was governed quite differently from the Hijaz or the Caucasus. Faroqhi goes as far as to argue, pace Inalcik, that one may hardly speak of a model of the way in which different regions were progressively incorporated into the Empire. Some borderland regions had indeed come under the direct rule of the center after being governed indirectly by local notables. Others (Kurdistan, for example), were never integrated completely. And there exist regions (Greater Syria, Egypt, North Africa), which after experiencing a process of imperial centralization, reverted to indirect rule by local elites. It is precisely this complexity in the administrative structure and governmental policies of the Empire that makes it difficult to make general assertions about how the Ottomans ruled, how they treated their subjects, or how they perceived domestic and foreign \"other(s).\" Faroqhi frequently makes perceptive and important observations on foreign prisoners, slaves, and pilgrims in Ottoman territories (and, to a more limited degree, on Ottomans in foreign lands). Overall, this is a very useful and highly illuminating book for readers at all levels of familiarity with Ottoman history. The author's impressive knowledge about very different phases and aspects of Ottoman civilization is evident throughout. Moreover, her interpretations are careful and measured. Certain topics (for example Ottoman-Iranian relations) receive relatively less attention in the discussion, but this is not due to the author's oversight but the general lack of primary and secondary sources about them. Bogac Ergene University of Vermont","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"260 - 262"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050070","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050082
O. Shakry
{"title":"The Nation and its “New” Women: The Palestinian Women’s Movement, 1920-1948, by Ellen L. Fleischmann. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. 335 pages, endnotes, appendices, bibliography, index. US$29.95 (Paper) ISBN 0-520-23790-0","authors":"O. Shakry","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050082","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"262-263"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050082","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S002631840005029X
I. Kalin
{"title":"The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy , edited by Qureshi Emran and Sells Michael. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. 416 pages, index. US$24.50 (Paper) ISBN 0-231-12667-0","authors":"I. Kalin","doi":"10.1017/S002631840005029X","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S002631840005029X","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"9 42 1","pages":"294 - 295"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S002631840005029X","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56777166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400049853
F. M. Donner
{"title":"Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World , by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.","authors":"F. M. Donner","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400049853","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400049853","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"207 1","pages":"197 - 199"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400049853","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56774473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400049920
E. Birnbaum
continuity that has not been abandoned by the fishermen of the Northern Gulf and Oman right up to the present day" (p. 173), despite the "fragmentation" and the "acceleration" processes implemented by the West. Agius's contribution is important as he succeeds in portraying this part of the world before the discovery of oil; the patterns of life, the social conditions, the multiplicities of trade and cultural interactions among different maritime communities: so divided but so similar at the same time. Beatrice Nicolini Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan
{"title":"Üniversitelerde Eski Türk Edebiyatı Çalışmaları: Tezler, Yayınlar, Haberler. Toplu Sayı, 1990-2005 . [(Bibliography of) Studies on Old Turkish Literature: Theses, Publications, News. Cumulative, 1990-2005] by Hatіce Aynur. Istanbul: n.p. 2005. 738 pages, 5 indices. YTL71.58 (Paper) ISBN 13002007","authors":"E. Birnbaum","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400049920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400049920","url":null,"abstract":"continuity that has not been abandoned by the fishermen of the Northern Gulf and Oman right up to the present day\" (p. 173), despite the \"fragmentation\" and the \"acceleration\" processes implemented by the West. Agius's contribution is important as he succeeds in portraying this part of the world before the discovery of oil; the patterns of life, the social conditions, the multiplicities of trade and cultural interactions among different maritime communities: so divided but so similar at the same time. Beatrice Nicolini Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"236 - 237"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400049920","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400049932
Yael S. Aronoff
{"title":"Israel on the Couch: The Psychology of the Peace Process , by Ofer Grosbard. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003. 195 pages, index. US$21.95 (Paper) ISBN 0-7914-5606-4","authors":"Yael S. Aronoff","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400049932","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400049932","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"237 - 239"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400049932","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050033
Yücel Yanıkdağ
{"title":"Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire, by Gábor Ágoston. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 277 pages, 20 illustrations, 4 maps, 31 tables, appendix, index. US$75.00 (Cloth) ISBN 0-521-84313-8","authors":"Yücel Yanıkdağ","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050033","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"56 1","pages":"255 - 256"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050033","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56775461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050306
Elayne E. Greenberg
{"title":"Spirits of Palestine: Gender, Society, and Stories of the Jinn , by Celia E. Rothenberg. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004. 148 pages, index. US$22.95 (Paper) ISBN 0-7391-0643-0","authors":"Elayne E. Greenberg","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050306","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"295 - 296"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050306","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56777225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.1017/S0026318400050318
Elayne E. Greenberg
and lived in the late 1920s. While Granqvist wrote perhaps the most important books to date about Palestinian village life during the British Mandate period, Rothenberg has followed in her footsteps, by providing us with a significant study of the relatively unknown and fascinating tales of the supernatural as they affect Palestinians whose lives have been shaped by over thirty years of Israeli occupation and its detrimental consequences. Women, more often than men, are possessed by the jinn. Rothenberg discovers that women's stories of jinn reveal just as much about gender norms as they do about women's spirituality. By examining women's stories of the jinn, Rothenberg provides rich details about the lives of ordinary Palestinian village women, whom scholars have tended to overlook. Single women, especially those of marriage age, are most susceptible to spirit possession, and often people use the jinn to explain why a woman remains unmarried. The shift away from agricultural work and towards the nuclear household, and the increasing isolation of women within their homes makes them especially vulnerable. Rothenberg shows that the jinn essentially serve as a means of criticizing these changes taking place. Women (and not men) who defy social norms, such as losing their virginity before marriage, are also said to be possessed and therefore not responsible for their actions. I found blaming the jinn for loss of virginity to be particularly significant as it calls into question the whole issue of family honor and the reported preponderance of "honor killings" among Palestinians. Stories of the jinn also shed light on the collusion of patriarchy, and its control of social relations between men and women, with the political, namely the Israeli occupation. The story of Zahia, who is possessed by a Jewish spirit, is particularly poignant. Zahia had been married at the age of a sixteen to a cousin who lived in Amman. Zahia's encounter with the supernatural reflects the absence of any kind of social familiarity with her new surroundings in Amman, as well as with her husband, despite his being a cousin. Rothenberg argues that Zahia's Jewish jinn is symbolic of her suddenly having to negotiate the Israeli bureaucracy of occupation whenever she wants to visit her family in Artas, whereas before her marriage, Zahia, like many other Palestinian women, did not have direct contact with the Israeli occupation. Zahia's possession by a Jewish spirit also signifies that her marriage to her stranger-cousin and her move away from her family are as equally oppressive and controlling as the occupation. Rothenberg's discussion of men who are possessed by spirits is also fascinating, and through their stories, Rothenberg sheds light on male experiences under occupation. In particular, men often struggle with the jinn while in Israeli prisons on charges of nationalist activity, highlighting their encounter with power as well as moments of resistance. Overall, Rothenberg has
{"title":"Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank, by Cheryl A. Rubenberg. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001. 317 pages, glossary, bibliography, index. US$59.95 (Cloth) ISBN 1-55587-956-X","authors":"Elayne E. Greenberg","doi":"10.1017/S0026318400050318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400050318","url":null,"abstract":"and lived in the late 1920s. While Granqvist wrote perhaps the most important books to date about Palestinian village life during the British Mandate period, Rothenberg has followed in her footsteps, by providing us with a significant study of the relatively unknown and fascinating tales of the supernatural as they affect Palestinians whose lives have been shaped by over thirty years of Israeli occupation and its detrimental consequences. Women, more often than men, are possessed by the jinn. Rothenberg discovers that women's stories of jinn reveal just as much about gender norms as they do about women's spirituality. By examining women's stories of the jinn, Rothenberg provides rich details about the lives of ordinary Palestinian village women, whom scholars have tended to overlook. Single women, especially those of marriage age, are most susceptible to spirit possession, and often people use the jinn to explain why a woman remains unmarried. The shift away from agricultural work and towards the nuclear household, and the increasing isolation of women within their homes makes them especially vulnerable. Rothenberg shows that the jinn essentially serve as a means of criticizing these changes taking place. Women (and not men) who defy social norms, such as losing their virginity before marriage, are also said to be possessed and therefore not responsible for their actions. I found blaming the jinn for loss of virginity to be particularly significant as it calls into question the whole issue of family honor and the reported preponderance of \"honor killings\" among Palestinians. Stories of the jinn also shed light on the collusion of patriarchy, and its control of social relations between men and women, with the political, namely the Israeli occupation. The story of Zahia, who is possessed by a Jewish spirit, is particularly poignant. Zahia had been married at the age of a sixteen to a cousin who lived in Amman. Zahia's encounter with the supernatural reflects the absence of any kind of social familiarity with her new surroundings in Amman, as well as with her husband, despite his being a cousin. Rothenberg argues that Zahia's Jewish jinn is symbolic of her suddenly having to negotiate the Israeli bureaucracy of occupation whenever she wants to visit her family in Artas, whereas before her marriage, Zahia, like many other Palestinian women, did not have direct contact with the Israeli occupation. Zahia's possession by a Jewish spirit also signifies that her marriage to her stranger-cousin and her move away from her family are as equally oppressive and controlling as the occupation. Rothenberg's discussion of men who are possessed by spirits is also fascinating, and through their stories, Rothenberg sheds light on male experiences under occupation. In particular, men often struggle with the jinn while in Israeli prisons on charges of nationalist activity, highlighting their encounter with power as well as moments of resistance. Overall, Rothenberg has","PeriodicalId":88595,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Studies Association bulletin","volume":"40 1","pages":"296 - 297"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1017/S0026318400050318","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56777238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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