Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Occupied Intimacies: The implications of occupation for intimate relationships in the Palestinian Territories

Ärlemyr, Hilda LU (2016) MOSM03 20162
Centre for Middle Eastern Studies
Abstract
This qualitative study examines how the Israeli occupation affects and interferes with Palestinian intimate relationships in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The research material consists of semi-structured interviews with female students and graduates conducted during a short period of fieldwork in the West Bank in September 2016. The thesis shows that Israeli mechanisms of control, such as restricted mobility and differentiation of ID cards, interfere with the women interviewees’ choice of marital partners. It examines how the unpredictability of checkpoints, border crossings, and imprisonment affect Palestinian women’s abilities to plan their social lives. The thesis explores also how the idea of sumud, a responsibility of staying... (More)
This qualitative study examines how the Israeli occupation affects and interferes with Palestinian intimate relationships in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The research material consists of semi-structured interviews with female students and graduates conducted during a short period of fieldwork in the West Bank in September 2016. The thesis shows that Israeli mechanisms of control, such as restricted mobility and differentiation of ID cards, interfere with the women interviewees’ choice of marital partners. It examines how the unpredictability of checkpoints, border crossings, and imprisonment affect Palestinian women’s abilities to plan their social lives. The thesis explores also how the idea of sumud, a responsibility of staying in the land, has led to Palestinian self-restrictions on migration. Furthermore, it shows that the informants’ everyday resistance to occupation can be contradictory and is always highly entangled with kinship ties and personal aspirations.

The thesis aims to broaden the theoretical perspectives on intimacy, and move beyond the European and American context to explore the reshaping of intimate relationships in a situation of occupation. I develop for the purpose of the thesis the concept ‘occupied intimacies’, that seek to shed light on how the mechanisms of control connected to occupation interfere with occupied subjects’ intimate relationships. Moreover, it highlights how the same subjects find ways to resist the occupation. I suggest also that the concept ‘occupied intimacies’ may offer fruitful angles to analyse cases beyond that of Israel-Palestine. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ärlemyr, Hilda LU
supervisor
organization
course
MOSM03 20162
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
restrictions, mobility, matrix of control, West Bank, Palestinian Territories, intimate relationships, intimacy, occupation, everyday resistance, search for the ordinary, sumud
language
English
id
8906542
date added to LUP
2018-07-04 09:21:30
date last changed
2018-07-04 09:21:30
@misc{8906542,
  abstract     = {{This qualitative study examines how the Israeli occupation affects and interferes with Palestinian intimate relationships in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The research material consists of semi-structured interviews with female students and graduates conducted during a short period of fieldwork in the West Bank in September 2016. The thesis shows that Israeli mechanisms of control, such as restricted mobility and differentiation of ID cards, interfere with the women interviewees’ choice of marital partners. It examines how the unpredictability of checkpoints, border crossings, and imprisonment affect Palestinian women’s abilities to plan their social lives. The thesis explores also how the idea of sumud, a responsibility of staying in the land, has led to Palestinian self-restrictions on migration. Furthermore, it shows that the informants’ everyday resistance to occupation can be contradictory and is always highly entangled with kinship ties and personal aspirations.

The thesis aims to broaden the theoretical perspectives on intimacy, and move beyond the European and American context to explore the reshaping of intimate relationships in a situation of occupation. I develop for the purpose of the thesis the concept ‘occupied intimacies’, that seek to shed light on how the mechanisms of control connected to occupation interfere with occupied subjects’ intimate relationships. Moreover, it highlights how the same subjects find ways to resist the occupation. I suggest also that the concept ‘occupied intimacies’ may offer fruitful angles to analyse cases beyond that of Israel-Palestine.}},
  author       = {{Ärlemyr, Hilda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Occupied Intimacies: The implications of occupation for intimate relationships in the Palestinian Territories}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}