Palestinian Women and Politics in Israel

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Writing a book is not quite the solo endeavor that some people imagine it to be. I have received support and encouragement from many people, and I am grateful to them all. I would like to acknowledge a few people in particular, however, for their generous investments of time and thought on this subject that is very important to me. First, I must thank Amy Gorelick, senior acquisitions editor, University Press of Florida, who contacted me and suggested I write on this topic. Her steadfast support kept the project moving forward and her personal encouragement kept me moving forward. I am very grateful to Galia Golan, who always encouraged me to publish a book on the political Palestinian women in Israel. She has always believed in my potential and in the potential of such a project. Special thanks go to Elizabeth Crighton, Pierre Englebert, and Richard Worthington, my colleagues at Pomona College, for their unlimited support of my project, and for reading different chapters and offering valuable comments. I also must thank Tracy Ellen Smith for her investment of time and energy in helping me map the Arab localities in Israel. Special thanks also to my friends Barbara Aswad, Kenneth Habib, and Gregory Orfalea for their contribution to this book. Their feedback and suggestions were most helpful. I am especially grateful to Julie Peteet, Jimmy Bishara, and Frances Hasso for their critiques of several chapters of my book; their in-depth comments strengthened this manuscript. In revising and editing this book, I have been indebted to my reviewers whose profound comments and detailed notes challenged me with alternate views and propelled me to elaborate and strengthen many arguments in the manuscript. In concert with my anonymous reviewers, Cynthia Nelson and Carolyn Russ read and edited the complete manuscript. They offered helpful comments, encouraged clarity, and smoothed the language. Their support and enthusiasm were great. I feel lucky to have them working with me. x Acknowledgments I remember with love and appreciation the late Hisham Sharabi, who suggested and facilitated my coming to the United States. He recommended me to the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University . Unfortunately, he passed away in Beirut before I could adequately thank him for all he had done. I want to thank my friend As῾ad Abu Khalil. His help and advice in different areas of this book were invaluable. I must thank all Palestinian women and men activists in Israel who supported this project and who were available for follow-up interviews over the past several years. I particularly would like to mention Manal Shalabi, ῾Aida Tuma, Nabila Espanioly, Taghreed Shbita, Samira Khoury, Zuhriyya ῾Azab, Taghreed Jahshan, Mariam ῾Awwad Jihad Jabareen, and Na᾿ela ῾Awwad. I thank the Mellon Foundation and Pomona Collage for their financial support of my field research during the summers of 2006 and 2007. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of my family: my husband, Wadi῾; my parents, Saleem and Tamam; my sisters, Valentina, Luna, and ῾Obour; and my brother, Tariq. They believed in the work and supported my efforts. Their excitement about the book sustained me during this long process. They all have my undying gratitude. While the list is long and I can’t name all who helped and supported me, I would also like to thank Michael Hudson, Ella Shoahat, Pamela Martin , Bassam Frangieh, Nancy Farley, ῾Adnan Aswad, Paul Steinberg, Chris Toensing, Bob May, and Rita Bashaw for their support. If I have inadvertently omitted anyone to whom acknowledgment is due please accept my deepest apologies. For all the time and energy devoted to this book, I am aware that it might contain errors or undeveloped themes, and for any of these I take full responsibility. And yet, it is my sincere hope that the main themes and the book’s subject matter will foster new insight on the complicated topic of Palestinian women active in politics in Israel. ...