Palestinian Women in the Public Domain during the Late Ottoman and Mandate Periods, 1831–1948

Abstract

Abstract This paper is part of a broader study on women’s land ownership, entrepreneurship and status in different societies and in various periods (Kark, 1992; Kark, 2002; Kark, 2009). Here we consider the topic of gendered space in Palestine in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. Following a discussion of the theory (both general as well as specific to the Middle East) concerning territory, space, and gendered space, and within a comparative context, we focus on the economic and political activities of nomadic, rural, and urban Arab women in the public sphere in Palestine during the late Ottoman and Mandate periods. Using case studies, we also focus on the economic interaction between rural village and town at the beginning of the twentieth century.