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Limitations and Realities of Palestinian Identity in Exile, Occupied Palestine and Israel

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Limitations and Realities of Palestinian Identity in Exile, Occupied Palestine and Israel Prestwood, Elizabeth Brooks Paradise Lost, and Lost Again: Limitations and Realities of Palestinian Identity in Exile, Occupied Palestine and Israel. (Under the Direction of Dr. Jon Thompson) Abstract The focus of this research is to examine the literature of Palestinian authors for insight into the meaning of Palestinian national identity. The literature of Ghassan Kanafani, Liyana Badr, Sahar Khalifeh and Emile Habiby represents a wide range of themes that mirror the real-life struggles of many Palestinians. Throughout the novels I examined in this study, modes of Palestinian identity, whether in exile, in occupied Palestine, or in Israel, present different life possibilities and realities, which are limited by location, political situations and social elements. This thesis is an attempt to illuminate the difficulties and challenges that Palestinians have had to face as a result of over 50 years of Israeli occupation, and the resilient and innovative ways in which they have dealt with their reality. PARADISE LOST, AND LOST AGAIN: LIMITATIONS AND REALITIES OF PALESTINIAN IDENTITY IN EXILE, OCCUPIED PALESTINE AND ISRAEL By ELIZABETH BROOKS PRESTWOOD A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts ENGLISH Raleigh 2003 APPROVED BY: ________________________________ _________________________________ ________________________________ Chair of Advisory Committee Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the Palestinian people, whose struggle for peace and justice continues, and to Raed Samamra, for opening my eyes to a new world of understanding. ii Biography I am a native of the small, but delightful city of Hickory, North Carolina. After completing my undergraduate degree in Journalism with concentrations in news writing and advertising from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I decided to enroll in the English Master of Arts program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. At N.C. State, I took a class with Dr. Larysa Mykyta titled “Islam in the Middle East and South Asia in Women’s Writing,” which sparked my interest in the literature of the Middle East. Because of Dr. Mykyta’s class, I realized that there is a wide world of literature available from the Middle East region to which I had previously not been exposed. Further, Raed Samamra, a native of Palestine, is responsible for my interest in Palestinian literature specifically as a result of learning about his culture and his country’s troubled and contested history. It is my sincere hope that this thesis can help encourage understanding of the Palestinian struggle throughout history, and that through such awareness, we will move one step further toward peace. iii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge above all, the diligent work of Dr. Larysa Mykyta, whose relentless efforts and patience helped make this thesis possible. I also extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Jon Thompson and Dr. Michael Grimwood for their insightful assistance and flexibility. iv Table of Contents Page 1. Introduction……………………………………….………1 2. Chapter One: Palestinian life in Exile: Men in the Sun and A Balcony over the Fakihani………..………………..27 3. Chapter Two: Life in Occupied Palestine: Wild Thorns…..55 4. Chapter Three: Palestinians Living in Israel: The Secret Life of Saeed The Pessoptimist…..………………………….76 5. Conclusion………………………………………………...87 6. Bibliography……………………………………………....90 v Introduction In no other realm can the pain and struggles of the Palestinian people be more vividly portrayed than in its literature. In the novels examined in this study, modes of Palestinian identity, whether in exile, in occupied Palestine, or in Israel, present different life possibilities and realities, which are limited by location, political situations and social elements. Despite differences in background or location, the characters face the consequences of possessing a Palestinian identity, which means coping with the oppression of Israeli occupation and the loss of their homeland. The characters choose to cope with oppression in various ways, some of which include joining the Israeli work force, fleeing Palestine or other Arab countries, or taking up arms against Israel and other Arab nations. In The Question of Palestine, Edward Said presents the problems that have arisen from the Israeli occupation of Palestine and addresses both the future of Palestine and the issue of Palestinian identity: “Each Palestinian community must struggle to maintain its identity on at least two levels: first, as Palestinian with regard to the historical encounter with Zionism and the precipitous loss of a homeland; second, as Palestinian in the existential setting of day-to-day life, responding to the pressure in the state of residence” (121). In essence, a person may be Palestinian, but Palestine no longer exists as a nation, so the only true homeland possible for the Palestinian is one constructed in the mind. This lost homeland, and the necessity to construct a kind of makeshift homeland in the mind has led to feelings of permanent displacement and hostilities, according to Said: The pattern begins in Palestine with some real but partly mythologized spot of land, a house, a region, a village, perhaps only an employer, then it moves out to take in the disappearance of a collective national identity (even while remaining inside the old Palestine), the birth of concrete exile, always, always a head-on…collision with laws designed specifically for the Palestinian, finally some recent sense of revived hope, pride in Palestinian achievements. And there is hostility everywhere. (121) Similarly, Barbara Parmenter describes how Palestinian writers portray the actual land of Palestine in her book, Giving Voice to Stones: Place and Identity in Palestinian Literature. In her analysis, she examines various Palestinian authors in terms of their representations of home and exile: “Whereas the Israelis establish their place by transforming nature – draining swamps, irrigating arid lands, and building cities, Palestinian writers cling to the indigenous landscape and its relict features for inspiration and support” (79). Throughout the novels examined in this study, characters make repeated references to their lost homeland and idealize the actual land. These references reveal the characters’ need to preserve their connection to their lost homeland in order to maintain a larger collective national identity as Palestinian. Salma Khadra Jayyusi provides a broad overview of the role of identity throughout the entirety of Palestinian literature in her essay, “Palestinian Identity in Literature”: “Palestinian identity is well-preserved in its pride and convictions, its aspiration to heroism, its resilience, and its rejection of counterviolence, its assumed self- righteousness, even sometimes in its arrogant defiance” (172). Though Jayyusi’s statement provides an accurate generalization of Palestinian identity in literature, her statement is idealized. Not all of the characters in the novels aspire to be heroes, not all reject counter- violence, and not all of them even defy Israeli occupation. These exceptions reveal Palestinian identity to be a more complex issue than the critical generalizations suggest. The novels illustrate that differences in location, political involvement, and social situation shape the characters’ lives and reactions to oppression. 2 However, to understand the identities portrayed in Palestinian literature and the oppression that the characters withstand is nearly impossible without examining the complex and disputed history of Palestine itself. By examining Palestinian history, the reader can better understand the roots behind a character’s struggle in exile, in occupied Palestine, or in Israel, and can therefore gain insight into the character’s actions and reactions. Also, knowledge of historical context will provide the reader with an understanding of the characters’ deeply ingrained longing for a Palestinian homeland and the sacrifices that some of the Palestinian characters make to attempt to secure such a place for themselves and their families. Throughout history, the land that gave birth to three major peace-oriented religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, has been the source of more conflict, bloodshed and loss than nearly anywhere else in the world. To call the place Palestine, and not Israel or Zion, is an act of political will in itself, as Said notes in The Question of Palestine, since any name for the country represents a particular political doctrine and the land has been altered and contested for centuries (10)1. From the Jewish perspective, the establishment of Israel is justified as a homeland to escape the centuries of persecution the Jewish people have endured in many countries around the world. The Jews wanted to create a national homeland in Palestine, which according to their beliefs was their place of origin, where they could create a uniquely Jewish identity. Despite these intentions, many Palestinians feel that Israel was, in fact, created at the expense of the Palestinian people, who already inhabited the land that the Jews claimed as their own. Ironically, the persecution that the Jews were escaping in other 1 Conflicts over Palestine can be traced back at least to Biblical times since Christians, Jews and Muslims all trace their origins to Palestine. As a result, conflicts have flared throughout history, from the Hellenistic period, through the Roman Empire, the
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