Social media platforms have become critical components of rebel groups’ communication channels. While discussions on rebels’ social media presence usually centre around issues of violence and...Show moreSocial media platforms have become critical components of rebel groups’ communication channels. While discussions on rebels’ social media presence usually centre around issues of violence and disruption, mounting evidence exists pinpointing the non-violent tactics rebel actors employ online. Interested in how social media use contributes to the ability of established rebel groups to project, cultivate, and negotiate favourable online personas internationally, this research project offers an exploratory case study analysis of the 5-day long #AskHamas Twitter campaign that Islamic resistance movement for Palestinian liberation Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah - commonly known as Hamas, conducted in March 2015. A mixed method approach combining social network analysis and empathic close-text reading was employed to reconstruct the international reception of the online event. Framing the Twitter campaign conceptually as an instance of public relations (PR) management, findings substantiate that the #AskHamas Twitter event allowed Hamas to establishing direct, and relevant relations with its targeted Western audience. At the same time, evidence pinpoints the ultimate dependency of online campaigns on the willingness of targeted audience to engage seriously. In case of #AskHamas, meaningful exchange with Hamas was obstructed by deliberate trolling, mocking and ridiculing on parts of participating. Evidence collected in this study implicates the urgency to overcome violence-fixation in Western understandings of rebel actors, and the necessity to contextualise identified rebel online communication practices to their socially mediated context of creation and dissemination.Show less
With its illustrious buildings and infrastructure, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a global tourist destination. In June 2019, the building projects in UAE were estimated at 3 trillion AED. This...Show moreWith its illustrious buildings and infrastructure, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a global tourist destination. In June 2019, the building projects in UAE were estimated at 3 trillion AED. This construction industry sustains itself through the thousands of migrant workers it employs who mostly belong to South-Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. Generally, they are carried to the GCC via the Kafala system. This essay will aim to answer the question, “What are the various ways that are used to contest the condition of the migrant labourers against the state in UAE?” In order to answer the question, this essay will first give a brief overview about the conditions and general situation of the migrant labourers, how the exclusion of labourers is done through the citizenship rules, kafala system and lack of labour laws. The literature review will discuss different theories to try and explain the mechanisms behind immigrant protests in the UAE. Further, the paper will discuss the various ways that have been used to contest the conditions of the migrant labourers against the state including protests and suicides by the labour, international pressure, efforts by activists, non-governmental organisations and students. It will analyse what methods have been successful and which have not been successful in bringing about change. This thesis agrees with the statement that while the UAE has made recent changes to their Labour Law and Kafala System which are indeed a step in the right direction, they need to actually enforce the changes through proper channels and governance while also increasing the penalties significantly in case the law is broken by wealthy sponsors and companies who exploit migrant labourers by charging them exorbitant fees in order to stop the long standing system of exploitation and treatment of migrant labourers as slave labour.Show less
National identity is the one of the basic elements of a modern state because the belonging of people to the nation is based on their belonging to their identity. For every Third World country, the...Show moreNational identity is the one of the basic elements of a modern state because the belonging of people to the nation is based on their belonging to their identity. For every Third World country, the defining of national identity and the construction of national belonging is especially crucial to the social stability and the social development. Egyptians identity issue merged in 19th century, when Egyptian intellectuals were influenced by Western “nation state” thought and tried to identify the national identity of Egyptians. From the 19th century to 1967, we can find that the development process of Egyptian nationalism has a clue --- from a vague distinction of “Egyptians” and “un-Egyptians” to an attempt of construction the national history; from “the lack of nationalism” to the struggle between different kinds of nationalism to the dominant of Arabism. However, the disastrous rout of Egypt in 1967 Arab-Israeli War cut down this process and a series of political events in Sadat era was finally resulted in a new identity crisis in Egypt society. In that case, Egyptian government had no option but to re-shape the Egyptian national identity for the sake of repairing the crack of society which made by the identity crisis and maintaining its legitimacy. In Sadat era, Egyptian government amended history textbooks, constructed some new national museums and introduced some new symbols. However, The measures undertaken by the Egyptian government under Sadat did not create a new consensus over what the ‘Egyptian nation’ is. Quite on the contrary, many national identities compete with each other but none of them can be a dominant ideology.Show less
