 |
[email protected] |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
A Refugee as a Status Symbol: The Case of the Palestinian Refugees
Nitza Nachmias
Full-Text PDF
XML 215 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5542/2014.10.006
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
The refugee problem has existed for centuries and has created great suffering for both refugees and for those who have tried to assist them. There are an estimated 11-12 million refugees and about 30 million internally displaced persons in the world today, and approximately 70% of them are in Africa and the Middle East. The most protracted and complicated refugee situation is the case of the Palestinians who ceased to be stateless refugees decades ago but insisted on being identified as “refugees”. The Palestinians transfer the refugee identity from one generation to the next, as a status symbol and an honored identity. In fact, the descendants of the 800,000 Palestinians, who fled their homes in Palestine in 1948, have long been settled in the countries of their residence, but they still identify themselves as “Palestinian refugees” and they carry a refugee Id card as an honorary membership card. From early childhood, Palestinian children are socialized to adopt the identity of “refugees”, and idealizing of returning to the homeland of their distant ancestors. The have developed a self-concept, self-regard, and self-identity based on the refugee-narrative. They feel that giving up the refugee identity could lead to the elimination of the Palestinian identity and nationality.
refugee, Palestinan refugees, refugee identity, UNRWA (United Nations Work and Relief Agency for the Palestinian refugees), stateless narrative
Howard Buchan.(2014). Reidenbach and Robin’s Multidimensional Ethics Scale: Testing a Second-Order Factor Model. Psychology Research, 4(10),808-822.
Beckerle, K. (2012). Pity versus rights recognition: Rejection of the victim label by Palestinian refugees. In S. Miari (Ed.), Palestinian refugees: Generations, but one identity (pp. 39-64). Jerusalem: Birzeit University.
Bjawi-Levine, L. (2009). Children’s rights discourse and identity ambivalence in Palestinian refugee camps. Jerusalem Quarterly, Spring(37), 75-85.
Clemens, M. S. (2007). The influence of the refugee status on Palestinian identity and the impact of identity on durable solutions to the refugee problem. Nebraska Anthropologist, 22, 97-112.
David, H. P. (1969). Involuntary international migration: Adaptation of refugees. International Migration, 7(3/4), 67-81.
Kristine, B. (2012). Pity versus rights’ recognition: Rejection of the victim label by Palestinian refugees (pp. 39-63). In S. Miari (Ed.), Jerusalem: Birzeit University.
Lindsay, J. G. (2009). Fixing UNRWA: Repairing the UN’s troubled system of aid to Palestinian refugees (p. 53). The Washington Institute.
Malkii, L. (1992). National geographic: The rooting of peoples and the territorialization of national identity among scholars and refugees . Cultural Anthropology, 7(1), 24-44.
Mi’ari. M.(1998). Self-identity and readiness for interethnic contact among young Palestinian in the west bank. Canadian Journal of Sociology, Winter 98, 23(1), 47-55.
Michaela, C. (2007). The influence of the refugee status on Palestinian identity and the impact of identity on durable solutions to the refugee problem (p. 102). Nebraska Anthropologist.
Nachmias, N. (2009). UNRWA at 60: Are there better alternatives? Middle East Forum, October 12.
Richter-Devroe, S. (2012). Return narratives of Palestinian refugees in the west bank: A generational perspective. In S. Miari, (Ed.), Palestinian refugees: Generations, but one identity Jerusalem (pp. 103-118). Birzeit University.
Rumbaut, R. G. (1994). The crucible within: Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and segmented assimilation among children of immigrants. International Migration Review, 28(4), 753.
Salman, E. (2006). Terror in the Holy Land (p. 218). Greenwood Publishing.
Sayegh, R. (2012). Palestinian refugee identity/ies: Generation, religion, class. In S. Miari (Ed.), Palestinian refugees: Generations, but one identity (p. 15). Birzeit University.