Palestinian women and Muslim family law in the mandate period / Elizabeth Brownson.

First edition.

Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, [2019]

©2019

xi, 214 pages ; 24 cm.

Gender, culture, and politics in the Middle East.

In this volume, Bronson sheds new light on Palestinian Muslim women agency in shari'a courts from the British Mandate period to the present. Her extensive archival research on wife-initiated maintenance claims, divorce, and child custody cases deepens our understanding of women's position in the courts. Using court registers and interviews, Brownson uncovers a variety of ways women have manipulated the system to their benefit despite its patriarchal bias. She also finds that few reforms were implemented during the Mandate period. The British were uninterested in improving colonized women's legal status and sought to avoid further antagonizing Palestinians. At the same time, Palestinians wished to uphold the one indigenous institution they still controlled while both British rule and Zionism threatened their nationalist aspirations. Although Palestinian women have had few alternatives to using this male-privileged system to redress grievances with their husbands and in-laws, they continue to resist its injustices every day. Brownson finds that women's understanding of family law fundamentals has enabled some to navigate the system deftly. A unified, reformed law reflecting society's current needs is required, however, so women can have full access to their rights.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online version: Brownson, Elizabeth. Palestinian women and Muslim family law in the mandate period. First Edition. Syracuse, NY : Syracuse University Press, [2019]

KMC145.W64 .B76 2019

English

9780815636281 (hardcover alkaline paper)
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