Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration around Sixteenth-Century Jerusalem Review Author[s]: Bruce Masters International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol, 29, No. 1 (Feb., 1997), 145-146. Stable URL: hhtp//links,jstor-org/sici?sici=0020-7438%28199702%2929%3A 1%3C 145%3APPAOOR%3E2.0,CO%3B2-7 International Journal of Middle East Studies is currently published by Cambridge University Press. ‘Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hhup:/www.jstororg/about/terms.huml. JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at butp:/swww jstor.org/journals/cup uml Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission, ISTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. upulwww jstor.org/ Wed Dec 8 09:15:42 2004Reviews 145 cially because there was a growing mixed middle class in Lebanon in the inter-civil-war period. Although other sociologists have likened various groups to castes, they have usually {done son relationship to race (eg. lacks in America)..The concept does not quite ft Lebanon, Rather a in the former Yugoslavia and USSR, the notion of ethnic and sectarian nationalism, as presented in great part by Joseph Rothschild in Evhnopolities: A Conceptual Framework, seems more appropriate. Moreover, Saadeh’s neglect of cultural values and perceptions as a variable inthe formation of Lebanon oversimplifies the problem toa simple structural-adjust- ‘ment solution. There ae fundamental value differences between the Various groups that date ‘back to earlier history. These, as well as structural changes, must be part of any attempt to change Lebanon's confessional system into a viable national one. Ths requires vas reeducation and careful planning, Nonetheless, the value of Saadeh’s book is that it offers a clear summary of Lebanon's con- {essional system and the problems it has created forthe Lebanese people and state, She also ‘makes clear thatthe continuation of the system, even in a somewhat different form, will not solve Lebanon’ problem. tis a very useful book for students studying contemporary Lebanon. and the Middle East, bu it is not a major work of scholarship. The points she makes about the confessional system are not new, and the recasting of the explanation simply obfuscates real understanding. Finally, Saadeh does include a bibliography; although itis made up primarily of secondary sources and works of particular sociologists, students may still find it useful [Awy SINGER, Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration around Sixteenth-Century Jerusalem, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (Cambridge: ‘Cambridge University Press, 1994). Pp. 218, REVIEWED BY BRUCE MASTERS, Department of History, Wesleyan Univers Conn, Middletown, One of the most vexing problems for historians of the Ottoman Empire has been providing voice to its millions of peasants. Inspired by the works of historians of early modera Europe — Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Carlo Ginzburg, Natalie Davis—a generation of scholars has sought materials in the various archives of the former Ottoman Empire which might be em= ployed to write peasants into the growing body of studies on the social and economic life Of the empire. Faced with a lack of sources derived from villages themselves, however, most have given up or, alternatively, written studies based on documents generated by those wield- ing politcal power in Istanbul. These necessarily present an idealized version of Ottoman rural life: villages were frequently surveyed, peasants stayed onthe lan, axes were fairly col- lected. Alternatively, scholars working in the Islamic cout records of the larger provincial towns have often presented a picture of rural life in which the central stat is distant or absent, and always largely irelevant. Amy Singer has researched both local and imperil sources to offer the most complete picture yet of rural Palestine in the 16th century Singer isto be complimented for her efforts. She has written a concise and engaging study ‘which combines research in Turkey (the Basbakanhk Argivi in Istanbul and the Tapu ve Ka dastro Umum Mudurligi in Ankara) and Jerusalem (the Shari°a Court records). The combi- nation ofthe two types of sources—central government and local—allows her to give a much ‘more multifaceted description of village life than would otherwise be possible, We not only Jearn thatthe registration of lands in Jerusalem was periodically carried out by agents of the central government, bt we are also informed of strategies that the peasants used either to con found those efforts or to alter the results of the registration once conducted. Employing the court records of Jerusalem, Singer is able to describe the process of village governance and146 Reviews representation to the government’ representatives there, as well as to add other details of a ‘ministration that are absent from imperial surveys. She thus adds texture to otherwise dry data Singer makes no claims that her documents do not support. When discussing the fact that Christian villagers were assigned a greater proportion of taxes than were their Muslim neigh: bors, for example, she suggests it was perhaps due to ther elative wealth. Research from Otto- ‘man cities shows that non-Muslims were habitually assessed ata higher rate, whether in a guild ‘ora religiously mixed neighborhood, than were their Muslim compatriots based simply on ‘thei religion rather than wealth. But in the absence of any explicit evidence that this was so in central Palestine during this period, Singer offers no such conclusion. This is not o say that she does not attempt any overarching analysis. Her chapter entitled “Between Rebellion and Oppression” offers interesting analytical insights into the relationship between villagers and the government. Singers concluding chapter places her findings in the larger context of Ottoman peasant studies. Although brief it deals with the numerous problems which beset investigations into the peasants of the Ottoman Empire, Not the least of these i the nature of the documents them- selves and their limitations in representing peasant life. She also offers comparative observa tions both with other provinces of the Ottoman Empire during the same period and within Palestine in succeeding periods. From these remarks, iti clear how far the field of Ottoman peasant studies has come and how much more work must be done. Her appendices are the least useful part of the book, and I wonder why “The Sort-Charts” were even included a all. ‘Singer has chosen for her investigation a period when Palestine was more firmly under Otto ‘man central-government contol than any other time in its history, save for te lst half-century ‘of the empire. She has also chosen villages well within the political orbit of Jerusalem. A later period, or more isolated region, would undoubtedly present different conclusions. Indeed, Beshara Doumani's Rediscovering Palestine (Berkeley: 1995), which examines Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, offers just such a counter-example of a peasant world in which the central gov- cemment rarely intruded. Is precisely for this reason that Singer's work is so valuable, as her careful study allows such comparisons tobe made. It also underlines the need for further stud- ies on differing periods and places, using a combination of sources. Itis doubtful that research- cers will ever find the sources that would allow Ottoman historians to writ the kind of social history that is being written about peasant life in early modern Europe, but Singers book shows that some details of Ottoman peasants’ history can be retrieved by a determined scholar. ASHER ARIAN, Security Threatened: Surveying Israeli Opinion on Peace and War, Cam- bridge Studies in Political Psychology and Public Opinion (Cambridge and Tel Aviv: Cambridge University Press and the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 1995). Pp, 320. Reviews ny RUSSELL A. SroNE, Department of Sociology, American University, Wash- ington, D.C. Public-opinion research in Israel has become a well-established part of the socal-reporting scene. Rarely does a week go by without one of more of the major newspapers publishing the results of a poll or survey on a major issue facing the nation. Before elections, or at times of crisis attention to survey results increases, Over the years, the cumulation of studies has created an important resource for portraying public views on major issues. Political scientist Asher ‘Arian has worked with clection-related polls fr almost thirty years and is ane of the major con- twibutors to the survey-analysis literature on Istaeli politics and national-security, and related public policy. In Security Threatened, Arian presents and analyzes findings from a series of annual surveys (1985-94) commissioned by the National Security and Public Opinion Project at the Jaffee