Carim-As 2008/44
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS: DISCIPLINARY SPACE AND TERRITORY OF EXCEPTION Sari Hanafi CARIM Analytic and Synthetic Notes 2008/44 Socio-Political Module Cooperation project on the social integration of immigrants, migration, and the movement of persons Co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union (AENEAS Programme) CARIM Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration Analytic and Synthetic Notes – Socio-Political Module CARIM-AS 2008/44 Sari Hanafi Associate Professor, American University of Beirut Palestinian Refugee Camps. Disciplinary Space and Territory of Exception. © 2008, European University Institute Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] If cited or quoted, reference should be made as follows: [Full name of the author(s)], [title], CARIM AS [series number], Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI):European University Institute, [year of publication]. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION CANNOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BE REGARDED AS THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ http://www.carim.org/Publications/ http://cadmus.eui.eu CARIM The Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration (CARIM) was created in February 2004 and has been financed by the European Commission. Until January 2007, it referred to part C - “cooperation related to the social integration of immigrants issue, migration and free circulation of persons” of the MEDA programme, i.e. the main financial instrument of the European Union to establish the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Since February 2007, CARIM has been funded as part of the AENEAS programme for technical and financial assistance to third countries in the areas of migration and asylum. The latter programme establishes a link between the external objectives of the European Union’s migration policy and its development policy. AENEAS aims at providing third countries with the assistance necessary to achieve, at different levels, a better management of migrant flows. Within this framework, CARIM aims, in an academic perspective, to observe, analyse, and predict migration in the North African and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (hereafter Region). CARIM is composed of a coordinating unit established at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) of the European University Institute (EUI, Florence), and a network of scientific correspondents based in the 12 countries observed by CARIM: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and, since February 2007, also Libya and Mauritania. All are studied as origin, transit and immigration countries. External experts from the European Union and countries of the Region also contribute to CARIM activities. The CARIM carries out the following activities: - Mediterranean migration database; - Research and publications; - Meetings of academics; - Meetings between experts and policy makers; - Early warning system. The activities of CARIM cover three aspects of international migration in the Region: economic and demographic, legal, and socio-political. Results of the above activities are made available for public consultation through the website of the project: www.carim.org For more information: Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI) Villa Malafrasca Via Boccaccio, 151 50133 Firenze (FI) Italy Tel: +39 055 46 85 878 Fax: + 39 055 46 85 755 Email: [email protected] Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/ Abstract This paper explores the impact of living in the Palestinian camps on the socio-economic situation and on the construction of political and national identities. It first presents an overview of the living conditions of Palestinian refugees with a comparison between the lives of the camp dwellers and those of other refugees. Then it argues that there are major differences between closed and open refugee camps, and that the camp setting as a closed space is not a 'natural' setting for refugees, but that it is a matter of disciplinary power. It also demonstrates that in Palestinian camps, the relationship between national identity and residential setting is weak and that the camps end up modelling a new, urban identity as opposed to a new national identity. Résumé Ce papier explore l’impact des conditions de vie dans les camps palestiniens sur la situation socio- économique et la construction des identités nationales et politiques. En premier lieu, l’auteur passe en revue les conditions de vie des réfugies palestiniens en comparant la vie des résidents du camp et la vie d’autres réfugiés. Puis, il démontre qu’il y a des différences majeures entre les camps fermés et ouverts, et que l’environnement des camps fermés ne constitue point un cadre naturel pour les réfugiés, mais est la conséquence d’un exercice de pouvoir et de discipline. Il démontre aussi que la relation entre l’identité nationale et le cadre résidentiel dans les camps palestiniens est faible et que les camps finissent par modeler une identité nouvelle, urbaine, opposée à la création d’une nouvelle identité nationale. Introduction1 Palestinian nationalist discourse used to rely on two main pillars: the Nakba2 and the right of return of refugees. To keep this discourse as vibrant as possible the camp was seen as the primary unit in maintaining Palestinian identity in Arab host countries. Using the camp setting to reinforce nationalism is not unique to Palestinians. For instance, Burundian refugees in camps in Tanzania cultivate their Hutu nationalism while those who dwell in the towns identify as “out of the group”.3 For humanitarian organizations, the camp remains the most suitable spatial configuration for control and surveillance and it is an imposed form as refugees themselves generally resist at times their confinement in such a space. According to the statistics of the HCR, in 2002 only 38 % of the world’s refugees were camp dwellers while 20 % were urban-zone dwellers. In the case of Palestinians, the average rate of refugees inside camps is fairly significant at 29 %, but in Gaza and in Lebanon these rates rise to around 50 %. (see Table 1). Table 1: Palestinian refugees registered at UNRWA (2005) Number of Refugees Region or Number Refugees Refugees Total % % Refugees Country of Camps inside the Outside Number Refugees compared Camps the camps of inside with the Refugees the local Camps population Jordan 10 283,183 1,497,518 1,780,701 15.9 32.8 * West Bank 19 181,241 506,301 687,542 26.4 31.4** Gaza Strip 8 471,555 490,090 961,645 49 78.4** Lebanon 12 210,952 189,630 400,582 52.7 10.7 * Syria 10 112,8824 311,768 424,650 26.6 2.4 * Total 59 1,146,931 3,108,189 4,255,120 29.6 * Statistics dating from 2005 ** Extrapolation based on 1997 Census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) What is the impact, however, of living in such spaces, first, on the socio-economic situation and, second, on political and national identities? Many studies that I have conducted in the past on the Palestinian Diaspora, demonstrate substantial differences in terms of socio-economic status, living conditions and identity formation between those who are camp dwellers and urban dwellers (Hanafi, 1997, 2001); and this article will move in the same direction. I will first start by presenting an overview of the living conditions of Palestinian refugees with a comparison between the lives of the camp dwellers and those of other refugees. I will argue that there are major differences between closed and open refugee camps and that the camp setting as a closed space is not a 'natural' setting for 1 I would like to thank those who contributed in enriching the first version of this paper, especially Michal Givoni and Yael Berda. 2 Nakba is the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948. 3 Liisa Malkki (1997:67-68) wrote: "In contrast [to the nationalists in the camps], the town refugees had not constructed such a categorically distinct, collective identity. Rather than defining themselves collectively as 'the Hutu refugees,' they tended to seek ways of assimilating and of manipulating multiple identities - identities derived or 'borrowed' from the social context of the township. The town refugees were not essentially 'Hutu' or 'refugees' or 'Tanzanians' or 'Burundians' but rather just 'broad persons' (Hebdige 1987: 159). They were creolized, rhizomatic identities - changing and situational rather than essential and moral […]. In the process of managing these 'rootless' identities in township life, they were creating not a heroized national identity but a lively cosmopolitanism" 4 This figure does not include the dwellers of Yarmouk camp which is the biggest Palestinian camp in the World, as it is not an official camp for the UNRWA. 3 This does not always include the availability of sanitation and drinking water. CARIM-AS No.2008/44 © 2008 EUI, RSCAS Sari Hanafi refugees but that it is a matter of disciplinary power: control, surveillance, and the ‘imposition of exception’. Some consider the absence of refugee camps a determining factor in confusing the national identity of refugees with that of the host country. We will see though, instead, that the relationship between national identity and residential setting is weak and that the camps create a new, urban identity as opposed to a new national identity. Palestinian refugee camps are highly problematic, given the gap between refugees’ legitimate claims and rights with regard to UN Security Council resolutions and international law (Hanafi, 2002), and the demographic expansion and structural changes that have taken place in the camps since their establishment.