The Long Turning: A Palestinian Refugee in Belgium

This article considers the duration and meaning of insecurity—as it is experienced over the course of a life and moves over borders—through the narrative of a Palestinian woman from Shatila now seeking asylum in Belgium. Structured around one person’s account of the asylum process, it considers what a singular case can reveal about a collective migrant condition, the inconstant line separating secure from insecure states, and the reconstitution of a secure self in conditions of chronic uncertainty.

The Wandering Palestinian as Reflected in the Novel Imra’at Al-Risāla by The Palestinian Writer Rajā’ Bakriyya

The article examines the writing of Rajā’ Bakriyya, who is considered a prominent new generation Palestinian woman writer in Israel, focusing on her latest novel, Imra’at al-risāla (The Letter Woman, 2007). It points to the way Bakriyya feminizes the novel from every possible aspect, even the national-political dimension which is integrated into the novel, creating a narrative which is truly her own. The article focuses on the integration of the national-political reality into the text, especially the female protagonist’s journey of wandering between homeland and exile, which is presented as a metaphor for the wandering Palestinian. Bakriyya articulates this journey in a unique way, as a journey between the beloved and a lover. Leaving the homeland is described as leaving the beloved while returning to the homeland is described as a returning to the eternal beloved one. The uniqueness of the novel lies in the innovative and unconventional way in which it describes this journey.

Palestine Unbound

Published each issue, this section strives to capture the tenor and content of popular conversations related to the Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict, which are held on dynamic platforms unbound by traditional media. Therefore, items presented in this section are from a variety of sources and have been selected because they either have gone viral or represent a significant cultural moment or trend. A version of Palestine Unbound is also published on Palestine Square (palestinesquare.com), a blog of the Institute for Palestine Studies. Stories from this quarter (16 November 2018–15 February 2019) include the induction of the first Palestinian woman, Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), into U.S. congress; the steep public censure of a second Muslim congresswoman, Ilahn Omar (D-MN), for her criticism of the influence the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affiars Committee (AIPAC) has over U.S. politics; and the firing of professor/activist Marc Lamont Hill for his pro-Palestinian speech at UN headquarters. Trending hastags this quarter are #TweetYourThobe, #StandWithIlhan, and #IStandWithMLH.

Mansour, Sliman (b.1947, Palestine)

Born in 1947 in Birzeit, Palestine (north of Ramallah), Sliman Mansour studied fine arts at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem. Since the 1970s, his works on paper have contributed to the development of a visual iconography of the Palestinian struggle: the orange tree (symbol of the 1948 Nakba), the olive tree (symbol of the 1967 war), traditional Palestinian embroidery, village life, and the Palestinian woman as the maternal figure of Palestine. In 1987, together with artists Vera Tamari, Tayseer Barakat, and Nabil Anani, Mansour founded New Visions, a collective formed in response to the first intifada (1987–1993). Boycotting art supplies imported from Israel, the artists instead worked with natural materials (coffee, henna, and clay), thereby tying the process of art making to the land and its struggle. In doing so, art no longer merely represented the political. Instead, artistic production itself became a political act. Mansour is known for using mud as a medium. By layering and moulding mud into figural compositions on wooden frameworks, Mansour deploys the literal land to artistically depict Palestine, its history, and its people.

Precarious Labour, Occupied Lands: The Checkpoint Economy and the Proletarianization of Palestinian Women.

The thesis explores the phenomena of the proletarianization of Palestinian women and their experiences as migrant workers in Israel. Proletarianization refers to the separation of producers from the land they utilize for household subsistence and transforming them into wage labourers, hence integrating them into the capitalist system of production. Within this political economy framework, it will become clear that we are not only exploring a capitalist context, but most distinctly the economics of occupation. The assignment of these women to a separate ethnic group within Israel, but also to a separate economic group of "guest" workers who went back to their homes in Palestine at the end of the day had deep implications on both the economies and the structures of Palestinian and Israeli societies. This mostly unprecedented separation of the Palestinian woman from her land and family disturbed the traditional structure of the Palestinian private household. I will also explore how this phenomenon transformed these women and to what extent it transformed their gender roles, "liberated" them from patriarchy, and where it situated them in the nationalistic struggle against occupation.

Rasmea Odeh: The Case of an Indomitable Woman

In this profile of Rasmea Odeh, JPS examines the case of a Palestinian woman who has been incarcerated in both Israel and the United States. After a decade of confinement in Israel, Odeh was freed in a prisoner exchange in 1979. Following deportation from the occupied Palestinian territories, she became a noted social justice and women's rights organizer, first in Lebanon and Jordan, and later in the U.S., where she built the now over 800-strong Arab Women's Committee of Chicago. In April 2017, Odeh accepted a plea bargain that would lead to her deportation from the United States after a years-long legal battle to overturn a devastating conviction on charges of immigration fraud. Observers, legal experts, and supporters consider the case to “reek of political payback,” in the words of longtime Palestine solidarity activist, author, and academic Angela Davis. Odeh's generosity of spirit, biting wit, and easy smile did not desert her throughout the years that she fought her case. To know Odeh is to be reminded that the work of organizing for social justice is about the collective rather than the individual, and that engagement, relationship building, and trust are the foundations of such work.