Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Between Sumud and Submission : Palestinian Popular Practices on the Land in the Edge Areas of Jerusalem

Alkhalili, Noura LU (2017) In Meddelande från Institutionen för kulturgeografi och ekonomisk geografi. Avhandlingar
Abstract
This thesis delves into two ‘edge areas’ located in and around East Jerusalem. It attempts to unfold and analyze the dynamics in these edge areas, while investigating the agency of the people present there through their own perceptions and practices towards the land, the urbanization processes, the power circulation and the structural impositions. Squeezed by a settler-colonial domination that continuously encroaches further on their lives, the Palestinians, in return, seek to carve out a space for their own enduring presence on the land. That pursuit combines elements of sumud (steadfastness) and adaptation, tenacity and accommodation, actions that sometimes subvert the occupation and some other times submit to its logic. The thesis... (More)
This thesis delves into two ‘edge areas’ located in and around East Jerusalem. It attempts to unfold and analyze the dynamics in these edge areas, while investigating the agency of the people present there through their own perceptions and practices towards the land, the urbanization processes, the power circulation and the structural impositions. Squeezed by a settler-colonial domination that continuously encroaches further on their lives, the Palestinians, in return, seek to carve out a space for their own enduring presence on the land. That pursuit combines elements of sumud (steadfastness) and adaptation, tenacity and accommodation, actions that sometimes subvert the occupation and some other times submit to its logic. The thesis traces the contradiction between a proliferating ethos of individual enrichment and the remaining collective culture of political struggle. It also scrutinizes the ways that Palestinians move between those poles as always conditioned by the pressure from the overarching structure of settler-colonial domination. Furthermore, the thesis examines how certain structural patterns are unconsciously reproduced by the agents of these specific areas, even when their intention and desire could be to resist them. The thesis argues that East Jerusalem should be approached from the theory of settler-colonial hegemony. Thus, these areas are the by-products of the settler-colonial domination present in East Jerusalem, intentionally assembled by the Israeli authorities as
“containers” that collect undesired Palestinian Jerusalemites, while leaving them trapped in a state of permanent temporariness. This situation has developed gradually through the construction of the separation wall, so as to further enhance the systematic displacement of the Palestinian Jerusalemites and achieve the Judaization of Jerusalem. The thesis claims that acts of resistance and accommodation of certain colonial practices have the inclination to collide and interact with each other, and hence obfuscate the demarcation between them. This dynamic has been unpacked through coining the concept ‘enclosures from below’. The thesis aims to contribute to scholarship on Palestine and provide a detailed analysis that could feed into a
wider analysis of the dynamics of settler-colonialism, as well as inform Palestinian strategies in the ongoing struggle for liberation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Senior Lecturer Hanieh, Adam, SOAS University of London
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Palestine, Jerusalem, Edge Areas, Settler-Colonialism, Refugee Camp, Resistance, submission, Enclosures from Below, Land, Urbanization, Palestina, Jerusalem, Flyktingläger, Bosättare kolonialism, Motstånd, Underkastelse, Urbanisering
in
Meddelande från Institutionen för kulturgeografi och ekonomisk geografi. Avhandlingar
issue
18
pages
188 pages
publisher
Lund University
defense location
Världen, Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
defense date
2017-06-09 13:15:00
ISBN
978-91-7753-291-0
978-91-7753-292-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db7cf0b7-f3ac-4693-9596-f3ee59426b84
date added to LUP
2017-05-17 12:34:57
date last changed
2019-08-19 15:46:12
@phdthesis{db7cf0b7-f3ac-4693-9596-f3ee59426b84,
  abstract     = {{This thesis delves into two ‘edge areas’ located in and around East Jerusalem. It attempts to unfold and analyze the dynamics in these edge areas, while investigating the agency of the people present there through their own perceptions and practices towards the land, the urbanization processes, the power circulation and the structural impositions. Squeezed by a settler-colonial domination that continuously encroaches further on their lives, the Palestinians, in return, seek to carve out a space for their own enduring presence on the land. That pursuit combines elements of sumud (steadfastness) and adaptation, tenacity and accommodation, actions that sometimes subvert the occupation and some other times submit to its logic. The thesis traces the contradiction between a proliferating ethos of individual enrichment and the remaining collective culture of political struggle. It also scrutinizes the ways that Palestinians move between those poles as always conditioned by the pressure from the overarching structure of settler-colonial domination. Furthermore, the thesis examines how certain structural patterns are unconsciously reproduced by the agents of these specific areas, even when their intention and desire could be to resist them. The thesis argues that East Jerusalem should be approached from the theory of settler-colonial hegemony. Thus, these areas are the by-products of the settler-colonial domination present in East Jerusalem, intentionally assembled by the Israeli authorities as<br/>“containers” that collect undesired Palestinian Jerusalemites, while leaving them trapped in a state of permanent temporariness. This situation has developed gradually through the construction of the separation wall, so as to further enhance the systematic displacement of the Palestinian Jerusalemites and achieve the Judaization of Jerusalem. The thesis claims that acts of resistance and accommodation of certain colonial practices have the inclination to collide and interact with each other, and hence obfuscate the demarcation between them. This dynamic has been unpacked through coining the concept ‘enclosures from below’. The thesis aims to contribute to scholarship on Palestine and provide a detailed analysis that could feed into a<br/>wider analysis of the dynamics of settler-colonialism, as well as inform Palestinian strategies in the ongoing struggle for liberation.}},
  author       = {{Alkhalili, Noura}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7753-291-0}},
  keywords     = {{Palestine; Jerusalem; Edge Areas; Settler-Colonialism; Refugee Camp; Resistance; submission; Enclosures from Below; Land; Urbanization; Palestina; Jerusalem; Flyktingläger; Bosättare kolonialism; Motstånd; Underkastelse; Urbanisering}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{18}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Meddelande från Institutionen för kulturgeografi och ekonomisk geografi. Avhandlingar}},
  title        = {{Between Sumud and Submission : Palestinian Popular Practices on the Land in the Edge Areas of Jerusalem}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/25656472/PhD_thesis_Noura_Alkhalili.pdf}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}