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Adriana Curto
August 21st, 2015
Women & Gender in the Arab World
"State Sanctioned Violence through a Cross-Section of Pain"
When the faults of deeply rooted systems of oppression in the past, such as
colonialism and imperialism start to spillover effects into contemporary society, the
weaknesses of these very structures are exposed. States in the Middle East have long
suffered from occupation and Western influence, both of which have affected their
political systems today. With no difference between the ideas of state sanctioned
violence defined as violence with consent or permission from the state and state violence,
violence directly enforced by the state, these two manipulatory ideas have a direct
negative affect on the citizens placed within the state. Minorities particulary fall under the
sword of the dominant power source, in this case constituting those who have control
over state laws, policies, and economic prosperity. State violence, despite orientalist
notions to be subjected specifically to the Middle East, can be acted upon a victim
physically, emotionally, and structurally. The cases of sexual harrassment by military
officials in Egpyt, Israeli occupation over Palestinian land, and the absence of Lebanese
protection of women through law contribute to the necessary mold of "state violence" and
"state sanctioned violence" through one of these three effects.
The mentality of state violence in the Middle East, specifically targeted to
minorities and ideologies out of line with the dominant power, has not emerged from
cultural norms and behaviors people in the East hold, according to Huntington's famous

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work Clash of the Civilizations.i Intellectuals like Edward Said in his book Orientalismii
denounce the claims of cultural insensitivity and contribute imperialist societies that
produced it as the issue. Within the structures of patriarchy, kinship, religion, and tribal
tradition, the claims of physical and social boundaries between men and women are
created from colonialist influence.iii These structures then attempt to justify certain acts
such as violence against women, unequal treatment by ethnicity or race, and justification
of religious fragmentation, all of which are present in the cases of Egypt, Palestine, and
Lebanon.
The demonstrations in Tahrir Square in 2011 were more than just a demand for
civil rights, freedom of speech, and eventually for the overthrow of Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak. From Islamic to nationalistic to feminist, all elements of representation
were being fought for but in an ideal sense, the number one connecting association was to
unite as one; Egyptians. Although some didn't see themselves as Egyptian before other
terms like Muslim Brotherhood or associations with religion, class, etc., for the most part
the protests in Tahrir symbolized to the government and the rest of the Arab World that a
population in masses could come together for one purpose and fight for their rights as
citizens. Unfortunately, nothing comes as simple and uncomplicated as this idea.
The media, both Western outlets and Egyptian, took from the revolution two key
things. The first was that Tahrir Square was a hotbed for democratic ideals and with all
Egyptians coming together, all binaries of poor to rich and man to women were
irrelevant. "One that was Tahrir Square represented a utopian space that forged a new
gendered social contract (El Saadawi 2011) and hosted a new 'model for how democracy
should be' (Naib 2011)."iv In the beginning, headlines such as the New York Times read

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"Egypt's Tahrir Square Again Echoes for Justice" and Al Jazeera's "Online Activism
Fuels Egypt Protest" emerged, covering mostly the glories of the movement. As later
events emerged, secondly, the media started portraying Tahrir as a square of dangerous,
hypermasculine men who were too sexually prioritized and stricken to organize
legitimate leadership. This brought back the binaries and put their stereotypes back into
action for example, all women in the Square are victims of these violent-sexual men and
the reason for recent attacks had been justified. The media frankly ignored the security
state and their practicesv, denouncing through international outlets that a regime could be
responsible for the violent string of events in the Square.
Hend Nafea was a twenty-four year old Egyptian girl when she became a direct
victim of the security state's physical violence during the Revolution. Trials of the
Spring, a documentary premiered during the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and
promoted through the New York Times, tells the story of Hend and other women who
fought and continue to fight for their freedoms and dignity within a state that has failed to
recognize them. Hend leaves her village to travel to Cairo, despite her very conservative
family's lack of approval, and joins the Revolution along with tens of thousands of other
Egyptians. In one of the first military crackdowns she was beated and molested, leaving
her determined more than ever to make her voice louder. "I was charged with offenses
like assaulting officers, using bricks, Molotovs, but we were the victims."vi Brought into
the court house to have her charges read, she was accused of disorderly conduct and
brought to a cabinet room to be tortured and beaten, leaving her with a 25-year sentence
in prison for protesting against the regime. Hend then made the decision to flee to
Lebanon where she posed as a tourist and refrained from using any social media in case

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the regime was to locate her during her travels. "I feel like I left Egypt mid-battle, not
just in terms of my own sentence, but in terms of everything that I was trying to do. I left
unwillingly and reluctantly."vii Hend's story in Trials of the Spring is just one of the
telling battles of oppression and strength from state violence, showing the effect this
violence has on the lives of young women.
The use physical violence acted on by the security state continues to affect its
victims but the awareness of sexual violence and physical violence through news outlets,
organizations, and activists has continued to find its way into society. Emotional
violence imposed by the state is more abstract, leaving little coverage and awareness of
its destructive implications. In the case of Israel and Palestine, emotional violence forced
on victims by the state has been a direct cause of failed politics and unjustifiable land
distribution. This violence has led to generations of families and children being raised
through emotional attachment to memories, objects, and stories without having ever
stepped foot in the place they call homeviii. In some ways, the Israeli state's use of
emotional violence through occupation has been one of the worst forms of violence
because it has not just affected Palestinians physically, but has shaped permanent
mindsets and ideologies that will be carried on through future generations.
In the small hilltop village of Jayyous, located in the Qalqilia district in the North
end of the West Bankix just meeting the coastal plains of central Israel and the
Mediterranean Sea fifteen miles to the West, remains as most of the setting in Pamela J.
Olson's narrative, Fast Times in Palestine. After graduating Stanford with a physics
degree, Olson set out on a post-college backpacking trip through the Middle East, finding
herself immersed with warm-hearted residents in Jayyous. Among whom, she located a

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man named Yusif she had met on vacation in Jordan from his town-council job back in
Jayyous and he agreed to take her back to his homeland. Pamela learns the daily
grievances faced by Palestinians but specifically Jayyous residents, while receiving
special treatment from Israeli border patrol as an American "mixed with the wrong crowd
of people". Affecting every day life for Palestinians is the "seam zone", the area between
the Green Line established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and a fence built on
Palestinian land, blocking off fertile farmland belonging to Jayyous residents.x If you
were to own land on the other side of the fence a resident would need an Israeli-issued
permit, which is nearly impossible to obtain, in order to access their own land.
The emotional attachment to the Jayyous land and its beauty is felt by every
single one of its inhabitants. As Yusuf describes one of the most fertile areas in the West
Bank, he talks about the thousands of mango, avocado, apricot, and citrus trees growing,
as well as the greenhouses and six good water wells located there. The beauty and
romanticization with a piece of land such as this, yet the pain felt from this barricade of
fulfillment and happiness is incredibly painful. Hearing Yusuf's accounts left Pamela
speechless, especially after laying eyes on the large Wall with electric sensors and its
overwhelming ability to call an army Jeep to investigate any security breach in minutesxi,
all seemed impossible. The contrast of a sign that read in Hebrew, English, and Arabic,
"Mortal Danger- Military Zone. Anyone Who Passes Or Damages The Fence Engangers
His Life" blocking a peaceful looking field of olive trees illustrates the effects of
occupation on a land being lived on by civilians who want the same rights as their
counterparts.

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Yusuf spends most of the book showing Pamela the emotional attachment he has
to a land his family has lived on for generations and the realities they are forced into
because of a hegemonic power such as the Israeli state and its security policy. An area
that used to be considered home to him was now a constant reminder and threat of death
to any Palestinian who dared question authority. Jayyous, through symbolism, and its
striking beauty, warm-hearted and hospitable people, and strength to persevere, describes
just one of the innocent victims of state violence and the taunting short and long term
affects it strikes its victims with. With Pamela's departure from Jayyous at the end of the
book, she too falls as a victim of the state's actions, "This, I think, was one of the main
reason why we fell for it so hard. Because it never for a moment permitted us the luxury
of forgetting."xii The luxury of never forgetting illustrates the beauty of such a deep
emotional attachment to a land, but also serves as a toxic memory for those living
through the realities of occupation and state violence that serves to undermine an entire
population of people.
Aside from literature describing the emotional attachment to land, contemporary
art, photographs, and illustrations have challenged these dominant powers and
perpetrators of this type of violence as well. In Rashid Mashharawi's film Tension, he
seeks to depict "normal" life under occupation.xiii He describes the daily behaviors and
scenes in Gaza some of which include children playing "Israeli and Palestinian" instead
of the commonly-known game in America, "Cops and Robbers". One child will mock an
Israeli soldier and pretend to kick the other and "air-shoot" him in the chest.xiv Another
example comes from Emily Jacir's photographs and accompanying texts in a project
titled, "Where We Come From", illustrating the wants and desires of disposed and

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wounded people.xv Her creative thesis attempts to answer the question, "If I could do
anything for you anywhere in Palestine, what would it be?" For some, those who live
outside of their homeland the answer is something that brings connection to home like
find the first child to play soccer with in Haifa or go back to Haifa and locate a historic
family home. For those who live in Palestine, in the Holy Land, the illustrations are more
complex. In one description, a man who has met a women from East Jerusalem and has
only talked to her over the phone then asks a man to go on a date with the girl because he
cannot see her with his West Bank ID card. These expressions of reality through
contemporary art have acted as another type of resistance to state violence and its
emotional implications on Palestinian victims.
As victims of the state are faced with a slew of challenges physically and
emotionally, they might also face structural challenges that have been deep rooted in the
state system such as laws, policies, and codes that seek to discriminate their particular
group of people. In a country such as Lebanon, with a civil law system set up within a
confessionalist government and sectarian society, matters relating to personal status are
processed through religious courts. Since 2014, there had been no laws criminalizing
family violence whatsoever and the country has struggled with the offical acceptance of
marital rape in legal conditions.xvi In the original draft law which had been pending in
Parliament from 2007 to 2010, revisions of particular words were altered. For example,
the key clause criminalizing marital rape was removed and the title of the law was
switched to protect "violence against families" instead of "violence against women" after
backlash from religious leaders.xvii For women as victims of domestic violence, either
from family or their husbands, they are not guaranteed legal protection because

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specifications of the law can be interpreted differently. This issue still stands as a huge
setback to Lebanese women, which is why Lebanese, non-governmental organization
KAFA continues its work in legal reform for the advancement of women in society.xviii
In a country such as Jordan, a constitutional monarchy comprised of not only
Jordanians but Palestinians, Bedouins, Syrians, and Iraqis, there have been various
debates regarding equality and treatment of specific populations over one of the largest
interpretations of "What does the term 'Jordanian' mean?" and its implications in legality
and citizenship. Today, with over half of the population in Jordan estimated to be
Palestinian, the Jordanian state faces a huge dilemna in terms of how these Palestinians
will fold their way into society and who they will be viewed as. The population consists
of various groups of people some of which include Bedouins, Palestinian Jordanians who
were present in Jordan after the annexation of the West Bank from Jordan, Jordanians
with origins to the East Bank, and refugees who have been fleeing from neighboring
states Iraq and Syria because of unliveable conditions.
Article 6 of the Jordanian Constitution states, "Jordanians shall be equal before
the law. There shall be no discrimination between them as regards to their rights and
duties on the grounds of race, language, or religion."xix Because the Jordanian population
no longer includes only "Jordanians", this article has been held under major controversy.
The security state forms the subjects within its state differently and in the case of Jordan
this has resulted in the natural "Jordanian" population and the Bedouin population to be
favored by the state, socially, politically, and legally. The state has used Bedouin
populations as an actor to contribute to national security because of their centrality to

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borders. This population has been seen as one that can bring "value" to the state system,
which is why they benefit in the structural makeup of the state.
A population that unfortunately does not benefit within this structure are people
who fall outside of the social standing as a "Jordanian" such as Palestinians, Syrians, and
Iraqis. These communities in most cases have fled to Jordan at different times through
political and historical movements, at points placing stress on Jordanian citizens through
the labor market, the economic market, and through the concept of space. The state has
openly discriminated against specific populations, denying them citizenship, jobs,
education, and health care in support of the Palestinian "Right of Return" ideology.xx
Some parlamentarians have defended their mistreatment of Palestinian refugees with this
plea in attempting to justify the "Right of Return" in every situation. With official
governmental support of the "Right of Return", the state will not grant these Palestinians
citizenship, denying their basic rights within the Jordanian state. "When Mustafa
Hamarneh, a Jordanian MP, suggested giving the children of Palestinian refugees access
to Jordanian state education, health care, and a driving license, he was labeled a Zionist
agent."xxi These state sanctioned ideologies and interpretations through legal codes are
just a few of the behaviors taken on by the state to justify violence against particular
groups of people.
With the faults of imperialist actions deeply rooted in the history of a region like
the Middle East, structural disadvantages have emerged with civilians classified as the
main victims. State violence or state sanctioned violence, being produced through
physical, emotional, and structural implications, has found minorities and those
unprotected by the state structure at the forefront of this violence. Sexual harrassment of

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women in Egypt, Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and the absense of legal
protection for women or refugees in Lebanon and Jordan has contributed to the mold of
state violence in these post-imperialist societies. Although this violence sanctioned by
the state is not exceptional to the Middle East, ideas of dominance, patriarchy, and
hegemony have stemmed from imperialist control of the region, contributing to issues
such as these that will continue to emerge unless these very systems are challenged by its
own people in the near future.

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Notes
i Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
(New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996)
ii Edward Said, Orientalism (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1979)
iii Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and Suhad Daher-Nashif, "The Politics of Killing
Women in Colonized Contexts", 17 December 2012, Jadaliyya, 24 August 2015
iv Paul Amar, "Turning the Gendered Politics of the Security State Inside Out?",
International Feminist Journal of Politics, 13 (2011): 300, Blackboard
v Amar, 301
vi Trials of the Spring, dir. Gini Retickler, In Person, Fork Films, 2015
vii Kia Makarechi, "When Women Human-Rights Activists Are in Danger, It's Women
Who Come to Their Rescue", 13 July 2015, Vanity Fair, 24 August 2015
viii Ein al-Helweh, dir. Dhana Abourahme, In Person, 2010
ix Jennifer Hitchcock, "Clip: Jayyous", 2013, Vimeo, 24 August 2015
x Pamela J. Olson, Fast Times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland
(Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2013) 111
xi Olson, 21
xii Olson, 291
xiii Maureen Clare Murphy, "The Wall and the Checkpoints", 24 April 2006, The
Electronic Intifada, 24 August 2015
xiv Murphy, 1
xv Ken Johnson, "Material for a Palestinian's Life and Death", 12 February 2009, The
New York Times, 24 August 2015
xvi KAFA, "About Us: KAFA", 2010, KAFA Website, 24 August 2015
xvii Dana Halawi, "Activists Urge Lebanon to Make Marital Rape Illegal", 23 March
2015, Reuters, 24 August 2015
xviii KAFA
xix Jordan, Constitition of the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan, 1952
xx Hazem Jamjoum, "Palestinian Refugees in Jordan and the Revocation of
Citizenship: An Interview with Anis F. Kassim", 28 January 2013, Jadaliyya, 24
August 2015
xxi Unknown, "A Kingdom of Two Halves", 8 March 2014, The Economist, 24 August
2015

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Works Cited
Amar, Paul. "Turning the Gendered Politics of the Security State Inside Out?"
International Feminist Journal of Politics 13.3 (2011): 299-328. Blackboard.
Global and International Securities Program, 12 Aug. 2011. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
The Economist. "A Kingdom of Two Halves." The Economist. The Economist
Newspaper, 08 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
Ein Al-Helweh. Dir. Dhana Abourahme. 2010. Film.
Halawi, Dana. "Activists Urge Lebanon to Make Marital Rape Illegal." Reuters.
Thomson Reuters, 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
The Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan Constitution, § 6 (1952). Print.
Hitchcock, Jennifer. "Clip: Jayyous (SD)." Vimeo. Dreams Deferred: The Struggle for
Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine, 2012. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Print.
Jamjoum, Hazem. "Palestinian Refugees in Jordan and the Revocation of Citizenship: An
Interview with Anis F. Kassim." Palestinian Refugees in Jordan and the
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2013. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
Johnson, Ken. "Material for a Palestinian's Life and Death." New York Times. N.p., 12
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KAFA. "About: KAFA." KAFA. N.p., 2010. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.

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Makarechi, Kia. "When Women Human-Rights Activists Are in Danger, It's Women
Who Come to Their Rescue." Vanity Fair. N.p., 13 July 2015. Web. 24 Aug.
2015.
Murphy, Maureen Clare. "Review: "The Wall and the Checkpoints"" The Electronic
Intifada. N.p., 24 Apr. 2006. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
Olson, Pamela. Fast times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland.
Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2013. Print.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979. Print.
Shalhoub-Keborkian, Nadera, and Suhad Daher-Nashif. "The Politics of Killing Women
in Colonized Contexts." The Politics of Killing Women in Colonized Contexts.
Jadaliyya, 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.
Trials of the Spring. Dir. Gini Reticker. Fork Films, 2015. Film.