This work provides a case study of the deleterious effects of patriarchy among Palestinians living in rural villages and refugee camps of the West Bank: its negative consequences for men as well as women, for democratization and for progress toward the creation of a more just society.

A civil engineer and regional planning specialist examines the laws and conditions of development in the West Bank during Israeli military occupation and argues that the dominant purpose "has always been the colonising of the West Bank by Jews, the incorporation of these within the Israeli legal and administrative system, and ultimately de facto annexation of the West Bank."--Conclusion.