PALESTINIAN REFUGEES and the POLITICS of ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY in JORDAN by Michael Vicente Pérez A
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IDENTIFYING PALESTINIANS: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES AND THE POLITICS OF ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY IN JORDAN By Michael Vicente Pérez A DISSERTATION Submitted To Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Anthropology 2011 ABSTRACT IDENTIFYING PALESTINIAN: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES AND THE POLITICS OF ETHNO-NATIONAL IDENTITY IN JORDAN By Michael Vicente Pérez Based on extensive research (January 2006 – January 2008) among Palestinian refugees living within United Nations Relief and Works Agency camps in Amman, Jordan, my dissertation examines how the contingencies of local and transnational politics constitute particular forms of identification that underscore the possibilities and limits of Palestinian ethnicity and nationhood. My dissertation underscores three critical issues within the process of ethno-national identification among diaspora Palestinians. First, my research shows how Palestinian ethno-national identifications reflect two critical issues: (1) the exclusionary discourse and practices of Transjordanian nationalists and the Jordanian State and (2) the desire to identify as Palestinians, not Jordanians. To challenge their marginalization in Jordan, Palestinians rely on pan-Arab and religious identifications that emphasize their ethno-religious commonality with Jordanians while preserving their distinct ethno-national identification as Palestinians. Second, my research demonstrates how categories of national and religious identification among refugees indicate the intersections between local concerns and transnational politics. I show how the idioms of religious nationalism articulated by refugees concerning the homeland reflect the significance of Palestinian homeland politics in Jordanian camps and offer Palestinians an opportunity to assert national identifications in a context where Palestinian nationalism is strictly controlled. Finally, my dissertation examines how the unique experience and meaning of life as a refugee in Jordan facilitates national identifications defined in terms of displacement and exile. As I show, refugee status constitutes a central point of identification among Palestinians that enables specific forms of ethnic and national belonging grounded in the experience of prolonged displacement and the myth of return. This dissertation reflects a central concern over the impact of transnational migration and displacement upon the formation and meaning of ethno-national communities and their location within the nation-state. My work examines how ethnic and national categories, whether at the level of the state, national elites, or everyday people, are produced within the nexus of local and transnational struggles that underscore the often contentious position of migrant communities within host states and homeland politics. By recognizing that the process of identification among displaced peoples reflects transnational realities, my research highlights the instability of social categories and the conditions under which they are represented, resisted, and claimed. Copyright by MICHAEL VICENTE PÉREZ 2011 To my mother, Magdalena Medel, and father, Alfredo Pérez, whose families brought them to the United States and made my education possible. To my loving and supporting wife, Fatima Bahloul, who sacrificed her time and ambitions in order to support me in the field. Her patience and love were essential for this dissertation. Finally, to my sons, Joaquín Pérez-Bahloul and Māzen Pérez-Bahloul, who I pray will draw inspiration from my work and will exceed me in all endeavors. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first thanks goes to the countless individuals in East Lansing, Michigan, and Amman, Jordan, who helped facilitate my contact with the research participants and made this dissertation possible. In particular, I would like to thank Abu Anas for his sincere interest in my research project and assistance during the initial stages of my research. His connections in Amman helped me begin my research and proved to be invaluable for this dissertation. I am also grateful for the innumerable Palestinians who participated in this study. Their patience, compassion, and sincerity helped make this project both enjoyable and an exceptional learning experience. A special bit of gratitude must be offered to the Bazr āwī family for their friendship and consideration. The countless hours we spent talking, playing chess, watching the news, and simply living together made Jordan feel like home. I must also thank the various institutions and figures that made this research a largely unproblematic experience. Alain McNamara of the Jordan Fulbright office was particularly helpful. His knowledge of the institutional landscape of Jordan was essential. Alain was also a kind and supportive man who cared greatly for me, my wife, and my research project. The individuals at UNRWA were also kind and essential for this research. I must also thank the DPA for its authorization of my research project for two years in Jordan. Back in the USA, I must thank my wise committee including Drs. William Derman, Elizabeth Drexler, Mara Leichtman, Salah Hassan, and Anne Ferguson. Their patience and support were essential for the success of this dissertation project. Bill and Mara were both particularly helpful with my draft chapters and offered important feedback that improved the quality of this dissertation. A special “big up” goes out to Andrea Freidus, who Skyped with me throughout the writing process and whose encouragement kept me going. Finally, this research vi was generously funded by a Fulbright IIE and a Wenner-Gren dissertation research grant. A Dissertation Completion Fellowship was kindly provided by the Michigan State University Graduate School. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ XI LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... XII KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... XV CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Context and Concerns ..............................................................................................................1 The Politics of Identification ....................................................................................................6 The Imagined Homeland ........................................................................................................19 The Chapters ...........................................................................................................................22 CHAPTER TWO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: THE SITES, THE PROCESS, AND THE ANTHROPOLOGIST....................................................................................................................28 Research Routes and Trajectory .............................................................................................28 Research Sites: The Fields......................................................................................................33 Interviews ...............................................................................................................................44 Participant Observation ..........................................................................................................49 Document Research ................................................................................................................51 Research Questions and Answers ...........................................................................................52 Positionality and Fieldwork in Jordan ....................................................................................55 Background in Jordan ............................................................................................55 Arrivals ..................................................................................................................58 Positionality and Challenges in the Field...............................................................61 Muslim Amr īkī.......................................................................................................64 Inta Amr īkī? ...........................................................................................................67 Spies Like Us .........................................................................................................69 CHAPTER THREE IDENTIFYING REFUGEES THE CLAIMS OF EXILE AND THE MEANING OF “PALESTINIAN REFUGEES” .....................................................................................................72 Introduction ............................................................................................................................72 The Unmaking of Palestine and the Making of Palestine Refugees ......................................78 Two Wars, Two Waves: Palestinian Refugees in Jordan .......................................................83 The Camp and Its Meanings ...................................................................................................86 viii Camp Demography .................................................................................................................88 Identifying Refugees: Refugeeness for All .............................................................................93