This post is all about the research I am currently doing. It's long, really academic, and hopefully interesting. If you have any interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from any angle, I recommend you read it. The story in the title is one that happened earlier this week when I was photocopying surveys that I'm distributing. It's talked about at the bottom of this post.
The very last section has to do with the physical cases that have caused me to ask a lot of questions about Zionism since being in the Middle East. Jews, Zionists, Jews questioning Zionism, PLEASE read it.
Why am I doing research, and what am I researching?
The independent study researching project is a large component of my program, and it's actually one of the main reasons I chose the program I did. The first months of our program are jammed packed with classes so that the last month can be dedicated to us doing a research project on a topic of our choosing. If you know my background, you may be surprised by the topic I've chosen. If you really know my background, though, it shouldn't be too surprising:
I am researching the Palestinian Right of Return, specifically, how Jordanians of Palestinian descent view their relationship with the Right of Return. 83% of Palestinians in Jordan do not live in refugee camps and all Palestinians in Jordan were granted citizenship to the Hashemite Kingdom in the 1950s. This means that Palestinians in Jordan are largely assimilated into the culture, settled, and most interestingly, have never actually been to Palestine (because they aren't allowed to).
When Israel looks at the right of return, they assume that it means 7 million Arabs moving into Israel proper and ruining the demography of the state (I'm not going to touch the morality of this claim with a 10 foot pole). When Palestinians look at the right of return, they see a breach of international law that is yet another injustice to occur to the Palestinian people.
My goal with my research is to talk to Jordanians of Palestinian descent (like my host siblings), to see how they would act if given the chance to move to Palestine/Israel in the right of return scenario.
Wait, Becca. Are you, like, a Palestinian now or something? Has Jordan made you question everything that you know to be true from your upbringing?
So, to answer this exaggerated question that I'm sure many of you that have known me for many years are thinking, the answer is simple and complicated. I'm not, in fact, a Palestinian. I am not a Jordanian, and I'm not an Arab. I also don't see any of those names as being insulting, but that's another conversation.
To address the second question, growing up, I was immersed in the American, Jewish, and Zionist narratives, so being in Jordan amongst a massive Palestinian population has made me question a lot of what I grew up learning about. For me, this semester has been about learning the other side of the story. I'll decide what I believe for me later (maybe), but for now, I am doing my best to understand and share a viewpoint that we in American (especially Jewish) circles rarely see from a non-negative point of view.
Not to be too preachy, but for anyone that considers themselves to be pro-Israel/Zionist or anything of that sort, I think you owe it to yourself to try to understand the other side of the story from the Arab perspective. To shout anti-semitism whenever people criticize israel is ridiculous most of the time, but when we think about the fact that Arabs are also Semitic people, it gets that much more insane. Read things that make you angry because they directly contradict what you believe to be true about this conflict. It sucks, but it makes you think. I advise starting with Peter Beinart's "The Crisis of Zionism."
What does your research entail?
My research involves an extensive literature review, a survey, and a bunch of interviews. I will be writing a 50 page paper about all of this stuff, and I'm not going to try to do it here, but instead, I'm going to finally tell the story I promised...it happened while I was photocopying my survey. So I guess I have to tell you about the survey itself.
The experimental group will involve Jordanians of Palestinian descent (PJs), although the survey will also be given to Jordanian-Jordanians. On this survey, I have a the following blank map of the levant, and I ask people to do the following: 1) write in the names of the countries shown, 2) place an x and write the name of the city you consider to be your home. Then after that, I ask them to mark on a scale from 1-10 to what degree they consider themselves to be refugees.
Here's why I did this:
UN Resolution 194, Article 11, on which the Right of Return is based states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date..." This resolution is logical. A person that has been kicked out of their home in a conflict should be allowed to come back to their home. However, multiple generations later, the logic becomes much more complicated.
How can a person return to a home they have never been? How can a person return to a home that is no longer standing? Can a person return to a city that is different than the one their family came from and still call it return on family basis? These questions don't have easy definitions, but this survey was designed to help me look at some of them in more depth. I have given out about 150 surveys at the University of Jordan, and hopefully, I'll also be able to give some out in a Palestinian refugee camp.
On one extreme, If a PJ says she considers her home to be Amman, Jordan and she doesn't consider herself a refugee at all, the Right of Return according to resolution 194 should not apply to her. On the opposite one, if a PJ says she considers her home to be Hebron, Palestine and she considers herself a refugee, the right of return should apply to her.
It's more complicated, though, when the home/refugee answers don't correlate as one would expect them to. People have said that they consider their homes to be in Palestine, but they don't consider themselves to be refugees; people have answered that they consider their homes to be in Jordan, but they do consider themselves refugees. I'm not sure yet how I will analyze those answers in my paper, but I'll let you know when I do. For now I'm just fascinated.
Other interesting things I've found in survey answers: a lot of people don't know the geography as well as I'd expect. Numerous people answered that the West Bank was the dead sea.
Explaining Zionism to a Palestinian Refugee
When I was in the copy shop near the university, I handed the blank sheet to the 25ish-year-old man behind the counter and told him I wanted 200 copies in Arabic. It became clear quickly that his english and my Arabic are on similar levels. Oy. He then asked me what the surveys were for. I told him research. He asked if I was the manager of the project, and I said yes. He then asked me why I'm doing it. I told him I want to look at the practical side of the implementation of the right of return, and he said that he agreed with my hypothesis that most Jordanians will say they believe in the right of return but wouldn't want to go and live in Palestine. This wasn't good enough for him, though, and he kept asking me why I was interested in Palestine. I then took a chance and came clean--I'm Jewish. Immediately, he told me that he is a Palestinian Muslim from Hebron. Even though I am a Jew, he respects me. I then assured him that I am a Jew, but not an Israeli. He asked me to sit down because he had some questions.
First, he asked me what the difference is between a Jew, a Zionist, and an Israeli. Before I tell you how I answered it, let me remind you of the massive language barrier that existed between the two of us. This meant that I had to say things in as simple words as possible in two languages.
I explained that he is a Muslim and he is a Jordanian. Jordan is a country where a lot of Muslims live, but not all Jordanians are Muslims and not all Muslims live in Jordan. I said that the relationship between Jews and Israel is the same. Israel is a country; Judaism is a religion. WIth Zionists, I explained to him that there are many kinds of Zionists, some that are nicer to Palestinians, and some that don't see the Palestinians as deserving their native land. Settlers are an extreme kind of Zionist, but many settlers, even, respect Palestinians as people. I kept repeating the Arabic word for problem "mushkilah" as I went, and he understood that this is something I've spent a lot of time thinking about.
He then asked me one of the hardest questions I have ever received:
Before 100 years ago, Jews and Palestinians lived peacefully together in Palestine. There were no problems. what happened?
HOLY SHIT. Um...well...HOLY SHIT. How do I try to explain why the 2000 year connection Jews have to Jerusalem was seen as more important than the rights of the people that lived there at the moment. How do I explain to him that I as a Jew can go and live there based on these ancient ties but he can't go and visit based on the physical ties of his parents.
um...Here we go. And don't forget the language barrier.
I started the story with Nationalism, explaining that the European countries were deciding who was german or french enough, and that the Jews didn't fit in. Jews decided they wanted to create a state based on the Jewish nation, and the only place that made sense was Palestine. Jews have been praying to rebuild Jerusalem for two thousand years. I then explained that Jews started moving in large numbers from Europe to Palestine. He asked about the people that already lived in Palestine. I answered "Mushkilah." As I continued to explain about the way the Jews ultimately decided that they wanted a state and that the Arabs at the time either had to accept or flee, I just said Mushkilah. Zionism seems like a way more ridiculous idea when you have to tell it to someone whose family was its victim.
Ethics vs. Zionism - Understanding Jewish Privilege
This isn't the first time since coming to Jordan, I've come to face to face with a paradox that has made me question the ethics of Zionism. Here's the first one.
My American father (hi Daddy) was born in New York City in February 1960. My Jordanian host dad was born in March of 1960 in Silwan, East Jerusalem. My host dad and his family fled in 1967, and he hasn't been allowed back since. Since my American dad is a Jew, though, he can LITERALLY get Israeli citizenship and buy my host dad's family's house in East Jerusalem.
About a month ago, I went to the Dead Sea. As the sun set, we were able to see Jerusalem across the sea. I told my host siblings this, and my youngest brother, Rashed said, "I've never been to Quds. I can't." At the moment, all I said was "Inshallah." I felt terribly awkward at that moment. I had the chance to live in Jerusalem for 6 months and I will be going to Israel again next semester. I can do it easily, because I carry an American passport and I'm Jewish. He can't, because as a Palestinian.
This post got really heavy towards the end, but once I start writing about this stuff, it's hard for me to stop. I will keep you posted on my research and things I learn. If you want sources to read or you have any questions, feel free to let me know. I am learning SUCH interesting things.
Best,
Becca
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