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Displacing Palestine: Palestinian Householding in an Era of Asymmetrical War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2010

Penny Johnson
Penny Johnson
Affiliation:
Palestinian Authority (Ramallah)
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Extract

In emails from the besieged town of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israel's December 2008/January 2009 war on Gaza, Majeda Al Saqqa (2009a), a long-time community and women's activist, describes to friends the shrinkage of her life into the domestic space. She explains the endless strategizing to protect children physically and psychologically and her fears not only for family but for friends all over Gaza, sometimes reachable by mobile phone, sometimes, most terribly, not. In her war diary, there is no mention of Palestinian leaders or governments, neither the Hamas-led de facto government in Gaza nor the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. She offers only bitter asides about the international community. Apart from family, neighbors, and friends, the only agents that offer a modicum of sanity and security are local: the Palestinian health workers risking their lives for the wounded and local radio broadcasters who stay on the air with news, warnings, and encouragement.

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 295 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

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