Palestinian Women

Palestinian Women is the first book to examine and document the experiences and the historical narrative of ordinary Palestinian women who witnessed the events of 1948 and became involuntary citizens of the State of Israel.

Told in their own words, the women’s experiences serve as a window for examining the complex intersections of gender, nationalism and citizenship in a situation of ongoing violent political conflict.

Known in Palestinian discourse as the ‘Nakbeh’, or the ‘Catastrophe’, these events of 60 years ago still have a powerful resonance in contemporary Palestinian-Jewish relations in the State of Israel and in the act of narrating these stories, the author argues that the realm of memory is a site of commemoration and resistance.

Author Biography

Fatma Kassem completed her PhD in the Department of Behavioural Science at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, her research stemmed from deep interest in how structural and hegemonic power relations work within and between societies, and how they influence women and marginal groups. Kassem has both academic and practical training in conflict resolution, with practical experience of facilitating ‘dialogue’ groups of Jews and Palestinians in Israel. During 2007-2008 she was a Fellow of the research program Europe in the Middle East / the Middle East in Europe (EUME). She serves as a Board member of ‘Zochrot’ and the association for promoting higher education among Bedouin women in the Negev.