EUME
2009/ 2010

Munir Fakher Eldin

Communities of Owners: Land Law, Governance, and Politics in Palestine, 1858–1948

received his doctorate from New York University in a joint program in Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies and History (September, 2008). His dissertation, entitled “Communities of Owners: Land Law, Governance, and Politics in Palestine, 1858–1948,” examines the history of the territorial conflict between Zionism and the Palestinians from the perspective of the late Ottoman- and British-introduced land regimes. Using a wide range of archival documents and other sources in Arabic, English, Hebrew, and Ottoman Turkish pertaining to government and landholding in the Beisan Valley (north of Mandate Palestine), the study demonstrates the role of the state in shaping the colonial geography of the country.

Communities of Owners: Land Law, Governance, and Politics in Palestine, 1858–1948

During his stay in Berlin, Munir Fakher Eldin will work on a manuscript that will incorporate his dissertation project and expand its scope to include the impact of colonial rule on the project of Arab modernity in Palestine. The work has been presented in papers given at the Middle East Studies Association’s (MESA) annual meeting, the International Center of Advanced Studies’ (ICAS) seminar at NYU, and at the Palestinian Diaspora & Refugee Center—Shaml, Ramallah. Munir Fakher Eldin has also used oral history to document stories about change and resistance in the everyday life of the Syrian population in the occupied Golan Heights—his home region. Both during his annual summer visits there and while abroad, he continues to be active in the community’s cultural and political affairs.

All fellows

Events