Palestinian University Students’ Exposure to Islamic Websites - An-Najah and Birzeit Universities as Examples
Publication Type
Original research
Authors

The rise of “Islamism” in the Arab world in the last few decades has drawn researchers’ attention to this significant phenomenon. In addition, the advent of internet, it is believed, formed a vital tool for this rise, given it opened a wide door to Muslim groups to communicate with audiences. Simultaneously, it is noticed that Palestinian people, in particular, were influenced by political Muslim groups which influence peoples’ various aspects of life. This study focuses on the exposure of Palestinian students at two major universities to the Islamic websites, and sheds light on the extent to which those students are influenced by them. The study, based on the Use and Gratifications Theory, depended on the descriptive approach, and used the quantitative analyses, examined a sample of An-Najah and Birzeit universities in the Palestinian West Bank, and found that more than half of students are exposed to Islamic websites, and regard them as a reliable source of information. At the same time, the study shows that students, in general, are open to “non-Islamic” websites, and obtain news and political analyses from them. Students, in addition, show reservations on Islamic websites which represent Islamic parties, and believe that those sites do not offer enough room for interaction.

Journal
Title
An-Najah Humanities Journal at An-Najah University
Publisher
An-Najah National University
Publisher Country
Palestine
Publication Type
Both (Printed and Online)
Volume
28
Year
2014
Pages
1949-1997