Revealing Palestine : gender, race, and activism after the second Intifada

Abstract

The long history of Palestinian women working for social change, including women’s rights, peaked during the first Palestinian popular uprising (Intifada, 1987-1993) and continued through the second, or Al-Aqsa, Intifada. In this research project and thesis I sought to investigate some of the characteristics of the current period, after the end of the Al-Aqsa Intifada; specifically, what are some of the opportunities for and barriers to social change? Gendered division of labour within activist groups was also investigated. Research was conducted with nine research participants – six active Palestinian women and three men, living in Israel and the West Bank. Analysis is qualitative and in-depth, personal and political. Results focus on spatial barriers that create and reinforce racial and gendered systems of control, and women’s multiple approaches to layered oppression. Results also highlight ‘invisibility’ as a tool of spatial systems of control.