Sharaf Politics - Honor and Peacemaking in Israeli-Palestinian Society (Hardcover)

Sharon Lang explores sharaf ('honour') as a social construct of Israeli-Palestinian society and how this key concept is inextricably linked to male emotion, identity and action. Providing ethnographic insight into the real life perspective and gendered politics of Israeli-Palestinian people, the book examines how sharaf is interwoven in acts of violence as well as matters of peacemaking. Family honour killings, murders of women by their fathers and brothers are analyzed in order to understand how male identity connects to female sexuality, and how sharaf may move a man to kill. Ultimately, the book illustrates how Palestinians have held onto and recreated indigenous political practices based on social norms and values of sharaf and reconciliation despite the imposition of Israeli systems of control.