Social inclusion in the context of foreign-policy debates: Reflections on jihad, human rights and gender equality in Islam

Abstract

This chapter will first discuss the inconsistency between Western policy on the issue of Palestine, as typified by Australian foreign policy, not only with the sentiments of increasingly large portions of these societies, but also the inconsistency between such policy formation and current research and trends within the field of conflict resolution. The second part of chapter will explore how the gap between these policy settings and Islamist policy positions in Palestine might be bridged by a shift in strategy among the Islamists themselves. I will present a new methodology based on social science research, contextualisation and a maqasid or objective-oriented approach. This methodology has implications for interpretation beyond issues around conflict resolution to include such matters as human rights and gender equality in Islam.