writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

SURVIVING THE NAKBA: A NARRATIVE OF NARRATIVES
JUDE SAJDI *
The story of Palestinians begins before the Nakba 1 of 1948. It starts with a life that most people
can relate to; a life of education, work, family and community. However Palestinians have been
marked down in history as the people who lost their land, and the Nabka, as the event that denied
them their land and ‘their commonality with other human beings.’ 2 Although one cannot classify the
extent of suffering that different Palestinians have endured, the narratives of Palestinian women
highlight specific struggles, not only for being Palestinian, but for being women as well. Hence,
Palestinian women were faced with a dual struggle.
Literature on the Nakba could be categorized into two different but complementing groups. The
first group documents its historical aspect and provides factual information 3 , and the second
captures and documents oral history of Palestinians living in Palestine before 1948 and testimonials
by those who survived it; examining the impact of different colonial systems on Palestinian women 4 ;
the role of women in the history of political activism 5 ; and the shift in gender discourse and activism
across different time periods and events such as the Nakba 6 .
While such variations of Palestinian oral history – particularly of women ‐ are important in
demonstrating the different shades of Palestinian life and struggle, they lack an alternative angle of
examining Palestinian women’s perceptions of the impact the Nakba had on their human security
and fulfillment.
This research attempts doing just that; offering a different lens of looking at Palestinian women’s
narratives. Capturing the narratives of two women who have witnessed the Nakba, I try to explore
their experiences and the coping mechanisms that were available to them, in order to understand
the impact that the Nakba had on their human security and consequently how their perceptions of
human security were prior to, and how they developed during and after the Nakba.
My analysis is based on a human security conceptual framework which states that the objective of
human security is ‘to safeguard the vital core of all human lives from critical pervasive threats, in a
way that is consistent with long term human fulfillment’ 7 . The vital core of human beings consists of
three interrelated and overlapping elements, namely, survival, livelihood and dignity. Different
events that human beings experience may have a strong impact on their quality of life. Although not
every aspect of human security can be protected at all times, at the very least, the vital core of
human well‐being must be protected in order to sustain human fulfillment and quality of life 8 .
I have based this research on in‐depth interviews with Siham and Najat; women who have
witnessed and experienced the Nakba as children and are now living in Amman. In order to examine
the impact that the Nakba had on the human security of Palestinian women, I had to choose women
who already enjoyed the basic components of human security while living in Palestine prior to the
Nakba. Therefore both women had relatively comfortable socio‐economic backgrounds in Palestine.
Both were born in Yafa in the 1930s and lived there till the Nakba. Despite these similarities in their
backgrounds, and as the results of this research show, Najat's and Siham's perceptions of their
human security are not often similar.
In this paper, the human security of Najat and Siham are explored across four stages: the first
covers their lives before the Nakba; the second covers the events of the Nakba; the third their early
lives post the Nakba and finally the last timeframe covers their lives at present.
Bitter‐sweet reminiscences: Life before 1948
The narratives of Najat and Siham portray wholesome childhoods and a quality life; they were
surrounded by loving family, friends and neighbors. They both went to good schools and reflected on
times of happiness; full of singing, communal events and strong familial ties. However, both their
*
Independent Researcher.
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