Reconstructing Jihad Amid Competing International Norms: Implications for a Resolution of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Abstract

This thesis adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in its examination of the Israel- Palestine conflict. Its subject matter essentially falls within the fields of international relations and Islamic studies. There are three central research questions of this thesis: From a constructivist perspective, what is the main obstacle to a just peace in Israel-Palestine? What is the mechanism through which the Israel-Palestine conflict can be resolved? What is required of the Palestinians in order to facilitate this process? Utilising the constructivist perspective of international relations along with the contextualist and objectiveoriented (maqasid) approaches of Islamic Studies, the aim of this thesis is to demonstrate why Palestinian nonviolence would be more conducive to their liberation struggle than violent resistance, and how this is a legitimate and authentic form of jihad consistent with the higher objectives of Islam. Independent of strategic and material concerns, international norms and identity factors are fundamental determinants of the interests and policies of even the most powerful nations. In the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, a just resolution has been obstructed by the competition that exists between the norms of self-determination (central to Palestinian claims) and self-defence (central to Israeli concerns). With the norm of self-defence predominant in the ‘peace process’, Palestinian use of violence has increasingly become detrimental to their struggle for self-determination. However, the dominant interpretation and application of jihad equates the concept with armed struggle. A just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict requires a reformulation of jihad through a process that broadens the concept to include non-violent resistance but retains Islamic legitimacy and authenticity. This reformulation, based on context and objectives, will make a critical contribution to generating the requisite international support for the norm of self-determination for the Palestinians, without compromising the norm of self-defence for the Israelis, in order to redirect the strategic and material interests of influential states. This has the potential to shift their foreign policies toward a just resolution of the conflict based on the normative framework provided by the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.