Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations, but One Identity The Forced Migration and Refugee Unit The Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies Birzeit University Birzeit-Palestine 2012 “This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada.” Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations, but One Identity December, 2012 All Rights Reserved ISBN 978-9950-316-49-2 The Forced Migration and Refugee Unit The Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies Birzeit University B.O. Box 14, Birzeit-Palestine Tel/Fax: +970 (2)2982939 or +972(2)2982939 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Websites: http://ialiis.birzeit.edu/fmru/ http://ialiis.birzeit.edu/ Copy Editor: Sunaina Miari The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the position of the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies or Birzeit University. Design & Printing by Adwa Design Biography Zarefa Ali: Assistant Coordinator at the Forced Migration and Refugee Unit at the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies at Birzeit University. She received her MA degree from Birzeit University in International Studies with a concentration in Forced Migration and Refugees. Rana Barakat: Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Program of Contemporary Arab Studies, Birzeit University. Kristine Beckerle: Graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Social Studies and a Foreign Language Citation in Modern Standard Arabic. She has volunteered with UNHCR in Geneva, as well as with UNRWA’s Representative Office in New York. After graduating, she spent a year in Jordan working with UNRWA’s Jordan Field Office on gender and protection issues and pursuing independent research in the refugee camps. She is currently pursuing a J.D. at Yale Law School. Khaldun Bshara: Conservation architect and anthropologist. He is currently the co-director of RIWAQ where he has been working since 1994. He got his BA in Architectural Engineering from Birzeit University (1996), and MA in Conservation of Historic Towns and Buildings from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (2000). Interested in space and memory, in 2007 Bshara joined the graduate program of social and cultural anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, where he obtained his MA in anthropology in 2009, and his PhD in 2012. Bshara carried out many architectural design and architectural conservation projects in Palestine. In addition, he is the author and co-author of number of books and articles, including Tashgheel-Job Creation through Restoration 2001-2011 (English 2011), Riwaq’s Guidelines for Maintenance and Restoration of Historic Buildings in Palestine (Arabic 2005), and Ramallah, Architecture and History (Arabic 2002). Ilana Feldman: Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at George Washington University. She is the author of Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-67 and co-editor of In the Name of Humanity: The Government of Threat and Care. Her current research traces the Palestinian experience with humanitarianism since 1948. Nell Gabiam: Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Political Science at Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA. Her current research focuses on Palestinian refugee camps in Syria and examines the politics of suffering, memory, and identity in relation to the space of the refugee camp. 3 Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations, but One Identity Fillipo Grandi: Commissioner-General of UNRWA. He holds a degree in Modern History and has long been engaged in refugee work. He joined UNRWA in 2005 and was elevated to his present post in January 2010. Sari Hanafi: Professor at the Department of Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Media Studies , American University of Beirut. He is also the Editor of Idafat: the Arab Journal of Sociology and author of Crossing Borders, Shifting Boundaries, Palestinian Dilemmas, and many other articles. Sophie Richter-Devroe: lecturer in Gender and Middle East Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, with a broad research interest in gender theory and women’s activism in the Middle East. Her PhD Thesis on Palestinian women’s formal and informal political activism in peacebuilding, resistance and survival won the 2012 National Women’s Studies Association/Illinois Press First Book Prize. She has published translations and reviews of Arabic literary works, as well as several journal articles on Palestinian and Iranian women’s activism. Her work also includes research on Palestinian refugees, Palestinian cultural production, and the Naqab Bedouins. Rosemary Sayegh: Anthropologist and oral historian, part time lecturer with the Center for Arab and Middle East Studies at the American University of Beirut. She has published two books, The Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries, Too Many Enemies in addition to many articles on the Palestinians in Lebanon, and an eBook on Palestinian women’s stories of displacement. Leonardo Schiocchet: Researcher of the Middle East Study Center (NEOM) in Brazil at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). Has Ph.D. in anthropology from Boston University. 4 Table of Contents Zarefa Ali: 7 Introduction Chapter One: Palestinian Refugees’ Experiences: Intergenerational Differences 11 Rosemary Sayegh: 13 Palestinian Refugee Identity/ies: Generation, Region, Class Ilana Feldman: 29 Palestinian Refugee Experiences in a Changing Humanitarian Order Kristine Beckerle: 39 Pity versus Rights’ Recognition: Rejection of the Victim Label by Palestinian Refugees Chapter Two: Palestinian Refugee Identity and the Right of Return 65 Leonardo Schiocchet: 67 Palestinian Sumud: Steadfastness, Ritual, And Time Among Palestinian Refugees Sari Hanafi: 91 Palestinian Refugees and The Right of Return: Towards an Extraterritorial Nation-State Solution in Light of Arab Uprising Sophie Richter-Devroe 103 Return Narratives of Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank: A Generational Perspective Chapter Three: The Psychological and Spatial Dimensions of Palestinian 119 Refugees Khaldun Bshara: 121 For a Paradigm Shift: A Psychoanalytical Approach to Palestinian Refugees’ Memory and Spatial Practices Nell Gabiam: 147 Spatializing Identity: The Changing Landscape of Palestinian Refugee Camps Rana Barakat: 159 Conclusion: Palestinian Refugee Studies: Divergence, Convergence and Change Annex: Keynote Address by Fillipo Grandi 169 5 Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations, but One Identity 6 INTRODUCTION Zarefa Ali Palestinian refugees constitute perhaps the largest group of refugees on the globe. Their plight, created in 1948, endures to this day as their children, grandchildren and subsequent generations are yet living in refuge. When one speaks of the problem many aspects come to mind including psychological, social, economic, existential, humanitarian, and political ones. All these, in addition to the political environment refugees reside in, have had a significant impact on the status of Palestinians. In some Arab host countries, Lebanon being one, they have been deprived for two-thirds of a century of their basic rights, and suffer from recurring conflict and oppression. The policies of host countries, in addition to the overall geopolitical context in which they reside, powerfully affect the formation and development of their Palestinian identity. Intergenerational differences between Palestinian refugees constitute a significant issue which the various articles included in this book seek to explore. It is often assumed that the majority of Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps, and a large portion of the specialized literature has been devoted to the status of camp refugees, whether inside the oPt or in host Arab countries. The diversity of this book is exemplified by the variety of geographic settings covered in the articles it includes, exploring the status of Palestinian refugees inside and outside of refugee camps and in various parts of the world. In addition to space, extended time is also presented. One finds a comparative study of refugees in Lebanon and Brazil, as well as intergenerational differences among Palestinian refugees in the oPt, Amman, Lebanon, Syria, and other diasporic areas. After six decades of living in exile, Palestinian refugees continue to share characteristics which place them under a broader identity, notably that of Palestinians more generally.1 In the context of studying the issue of Palestinian refugees, the emphasis should not only be on Jeel Al-Nakba (first generation refugees) but also on the conditions and status of their children and grandchildren. The question of intergenerational differences between Palestinian refugees is an issue worth further exploration, particularly when searching for solutions for their continued state of exile. Some insist on the 1 As stated in the Concept Note for the Conference entitled “Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations But One Identity,” Birzeit University. This conference was held on November 21-22, 2011 and the abstracts were selected by a research committee at the Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies. The submitted papers were then carefully revised by a publishing committee. 7 Palestinian Refugees: Different Generations, but One Identity dream of return, while others choose to resettle in the first or second country of refuge. However, the different perspectives of Palestinian refugees does not undermine nor conflict with their inalienable