Date of Graduation

Spring 5-21-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

International Studies

First Advisor

Christina Garcia Lopez

Abstract

This research will examine narratives of Palestinian identity throughout the diaspora and how such narratives are expressed, portrayed, and remembered. Out of 103 narratives included in the book, Being Palestinian: Personal Reflections on Palestinian Identity in the Diaspora (2016), edited by Yasir Suleiman, four narratives were selected for analysis, in order to examine common themes such as: diaspora, displacement, identity, erasure, and stigmatization. The four narratives selected are written by Palestinians of various ages and professions who have been exiled to other countries; these narrative speakers, two men and two women, share their personal experiences as Palestinians and what those experiences mean in a world away from the homeland. While these narratives cannot represent all Palestinian experience, they do provide a reference point for the analysis of how Palestinians frame themselves. Palestinian voices are becoming more amplified and validated; yet Palestinian history and identity narratives are still commonly pushed to the side, challenged, and erased. This marginalization occurs not only as a result of land theft and ethnic cleansing in historical Palestine, but also in the diaspora, in relation to social media, news coverage, literature, and day-to-day conversations. This thesis argues that although Palestinian identity narratives are painfully silenced and erased–due to ethnic cleansing, apartheid rulership, settler colonialism, and the structural oppression that emerges from those processes– Palestinians continue to use their identity narratives as a form of resistance, within the broader context of human liberation, in order to educate the world about our history, current realities, and imagined futures.

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