Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Bereavement of Martyred Palestinian Children pp 81–99Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Part Four: National Identity and the Way Bereaved Parents Cope

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 115 Accesses

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict ((PSCHC))

Abstract

Part Four, National identity and the way bereaved parents cope, deals with Palestinian national identity and the transformation of Palestinian bereaved parents into a symbol of the Palestinian national struggle. This chapter examines the process of nationalization of Palestinian mourning and its transformation from personal grief and loss into collective loss, intended to support a collective Palestinian national agenda. The chapter attempts to pinpoint the connection point between the national dimension and the religious dimension in shaping the collective bereavement of Palestinian society. The religious discourse is linked to the national discourse in a way that promotes the national agenda of Palestinian society. The chapter examines the nature of sacrifice and bereavement in Palestinian society and the added meanings that have succeeded in shaping a new national-religious culture around the subject of bereavement and sacrifice. In this chapter, I attempt to understand how this culture was able to transform individual bereavement into collective bereavement with the aim of shaping a Palestinian national memory. I termed this process the “politi-religization (politidatiya) of bereavement.” The expectation that Palestinian parents are sacrificing their child for the concept of national hegemony has created the process of nationalization of bereavement and transformed bereavement from a private, individual matter into a collective process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Shenhav (2001 [Hebrew]).

  2. 2.

    Shenhav (2001 [Hebrew]) and Derrida (2001).

  3. 3.

    Suleiman and Beit-Hallahmi (1997), Bishara (1998), Howard (2000), Rouhana (1997), and Smooha (1998).

  4. 4.

    Bishara (1999 [Hebrew]) and Herzog (2010 [Hebrew]).

  5. 5.

    Riggs (1991).

  6. 6.

    Shenhav (2001 [Hebrew]).

  7. 7.

    Pierson (2004 [1996]), Herzog (2014 [Hebrew]).

  8. 8.

    Hobsbaum (2006) and Herzog (2014 [Hebrew]).

  9. 9.

    Bishara (1995) and Alian (2004).

  10. 10.

    Manaa (1999 [Hebrew]).

  11. 11.

    The word “Nakba,” an Arabic work meaning a major catastrophe, became synonymous with the expulsion, massacre and plundering of the country’s Palestinian residents and the prevention of the refugees’ return to their homes at the end of the 1948 war.

  12. 12.

    Rabinowitz and Abu Baker (2002 [Hebrew]) and Kanaana (2000).

  13. 13.

    Said (2001 [Hebrew? Arabic?]).

  14. 14.

    Al-Naksa, meaning “defeat” in Arabic, is the name given to the defeat of the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan during the 1967 war. For Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular, this occurrence constituted a second round of defeat for Palestinians, following the Nakba.

  15. 15.

    Manaa (1999 [Hebrew? Arabic?]), Bishara (1998), and Haidar (1997 [Arabic]).

  16. 16.

    Shikaki (1999 [Hebrew]).

  17. 17.

    Shikaki (1999[Hebrew]) and Tamari (1999 [Hebrew]).

  18. 18.

    Jad (1992 [Hebrew]).

  19. 19.

    Shikaki (1999).

  20. 20.

    Zartal (2002).

  21. 21.

    Ben-Amos and Bethel (1999 [Hebrew]) and Sa’di (2002).

  22. 22.

    Granot (1976 [Hebrew]).

  23. 23.

    Evans (2007).

  24. 24.

    Rothenberg (2005 [Hebrew]).

  25. 25.

    Tzorf (2004 [Hebrew]).

  26. 26.

    Bhabha (1994).

  27. 27.

    Evans (2007).

  28. 28.

    Gershoni (2006).

  29. 29.

    Sivan (1986 [Hebrew]).

  30. 30.

    Evans (2007).

  31. 31.

    Al-Krenawi et al. (2001–2002).

  32. 32.

    Tzorf (2004 [Hebrew]) and Evans (2007).

  33. 33.

    After the version by Daniel Roters, at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSPJ4wEHrA.

  34. 34.

    The inattention to the needs of Palestinian women in the poems of Darwish cannot but make me think of Ibrahim’s inattention to Hagar or Sarah in the story of the binding. Hagar and Sarah are given no response or mention in the story of the binding in the Qur’anic text. They appear in later texts, for example that of Al-Tabari (839 and 923 AD), who drew on earlier scholars of the Hadith. At the time of the binding, Isaac said: “My father, tie the rope tightly around me so that I will stay still, and remove your clothing so that my tears do not splash it, because when Sarah sees this, she will be shocked. Slice the blade cleanly and fast across my neck so that my death will be easy. And when you return to Sarah, bless her that she may have peace” (Al-Tabari 2000). That the Qur’anic text ignores the needs, beliefs and views of Hagar and Sarah while later texts mention rituals to ease their maternal pain, brings to mind the current reality of Palestinian mothers in particular and of mothers in general, whose children are caught up in any political conflict.

  35. 35.

    Enloe (1989).

  36. 36.

    Tzorf (2004).

  37. 37.

    McClintock (1993).

  38. 38.

    Evans (2007).

  39. 39.

    Maitse (2000).

  40. 40.

    Shalhoub-Kevorkian (2003).

  41. 41.

    The play Blood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre) was written in 1933. It is a story of love, betrayal and revenge whose central character is a bride who plans to run away with her lover after her marriage ceremony. On the eve of her wedding, the bride flees with her chosen consort toward their intended freedom, toward destiny, toward death. The betrayed groom decides to pursue them; when he finds them, he challenges the lover to a duel in which they are both killed.

  42. 42.

    Gilboa (1991 [Hebrew]).

  43. 43.

    Eraq (2002 [Arabic]) and Kanaana (2000 [Arabic]).

  44. 44.

    Tzorf (2004 [Hebrew]).

  45. 45.

    Tzorf (2004).

  46. 46.

    Tzorf (2004).

  47. 47.

    Zartal (2002).

References

  • Al-Krenawi, A., Graham, G. R., & Sehwail, M. A. (2001–2002). Bereavement responses among Palestinian widows, daughters, and sons following the Hebron Massacre. Omega, 44(3), 241–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Tabari, M. (2000). Gamee’ Al-Byan an tawel aae Al-Quran [Interpretation of the Koran]. Damascus: Moassat Al-Risala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alian, B. (2004). Nkd Al-siasa: al-dwla oal-den [Policy review: State and religion]. Al-dar Al-baida: Al-mrkz Al-thaqafe Al-arabi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Amos, A., & Bethel, A. (1999). Commemoration and national identity: Memorial ceremonies in Israeli schools. In P. Bishara (Ed.), Between the self and us, building an Israeli national identity and identity (pp. 129–151). Jerusalem: Van Leer Institute Press and the United Kibbutz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha, K. H. (1994). Dissemination: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation. In The location of culture (pp. 199–244). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishara, A. (1998). The ruptured political discourse and other studies (in Arabic). Ramallah: Muwatin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishara, A. (1995). Ben liom laoma: hahoreem a’al hliomiot [Commemoration and National Identity: Memorial ceremonies in Israeli schools]. Teoria obiqorit, 6, 19–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derrida, J. (2001). On forgiveness. In On cosmopolitanism and forgiveness (pp. 27–60). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, C. (1989). Bananas, beaches and bases: Making feminist sense of international politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eraq, A. (2002). Sorat al-shaheed fi al-sher al-flstene al-moaser [The Shahid’s figure in modern Palestinian poetry]. Acre: Dar Al-asoar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, S. (2007). Mothers of heroes, mothers of martyrs. Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granot, T. (1976). Horeem shqolem. Tophaot vitahlicheem [Bereaved parents. Phenomena and processes, a summary of group work with bereaved parents]. Summary of group work with bereaved parents. Tel-Aviv: Ministry of Defense, Rehabilitation Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilboa, M. (1991). Dmoot haoma [The image of the nation]. Jerusalem: Omanot yisraeet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gershoni, E. (2006). Prameda lioma: hntscha, ziqron vilaomiot bmtsriem bmea hasrem [Pyramid for the nation: Commemoration, memory and nationalism in Egypt in the Twentieth Century]. Tel-Aviv: Am Ovid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haidar, A. (1997). The Palestinians in Israel and the Oslo agreement (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Institute for Palestinian studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, B. (2010). Dual Citizenship and Revocation of Citizenship. Research in Political Sociology, 18, 87–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, H. (2014). Htrt hsbech shil hmoderniot: hhavnaia shil mgdar, dat oleoom [The tangle of modernity: The interdependence of gender, religion, and nation]. In H. Herzog & A. Lfidot (Eds.), paradox sfent tzwos: mgdar, dat, omdena [The paradox of Theseus Ship: Gender, religion and state] (pp. 24–70). Jerusalem: Van-Leer Institute ve Hakebotz Hamohad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobsbaum, A. (2006). Liomeuot vileomeem maz eidn hamahpecha [Nationalism and nationhood since the revolution]. Tel-Aviv: Rsling.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. A. (2000). Social psychology of identities. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 367–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jad, A. (1992). Mslonem lvadot ammiot: nsheem Palestiniot 1989–1919 [From slonim to popular committees: Palestinian women 1919–1989]. In S. Sberski & A. Offa (Eds.), haintifada, mbt mbfnem [The Intifada, an inside view]. Tel-Aviv: mirchash.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanaana, S. (2000). Who forgets his past, loses his way. Studies in folk heritage and the Palestinian identity (in Arabic). Acre: The Aswaar Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maitse, T. (2000). Revealing silence: Voices from South-Africa. In S. Jacobs, R. Jacobson, & N. Marchbank (Eds.), State of conflict: Gender, Violence and Resistance. London and New York: Zed books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manaa, A. (1999). Hplastinem bmaa hasrem [The Palestinians in the twentieth century]. In A. Manaa (Ed.), Hplastinem bmaa hasrem mbt mbfnem [Palestinians in the 20th century, an inside view] (pp. 5–30). Jerusalem: Van-Leer Institute Ve kedem.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClintock, A. (1993). Family feuds: Gender, nationalism and the family. Feminist Review, 44, 61–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, C. (2004). The modern state. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabinowitz, D., & Abu baker, H. (2002). Hdor hzkof [The upright generation]. Tel-Aviv: Keter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggs, F. W. (1991). Ethnicity, nationalism, race, minority: A semantic/onomantic exercise. International Sociology, 6(3), 281–305, 443–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothenberg, M. (2005). Shqol ohagda hkhia [Bereavement and living legend]. Tel-Aviv: Yedot Aharonot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouhana, N. (1997). Palestinian citizens in an ethnic Jewish state: Identities and conflict. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Said, E. (2001). Aqor: la mzrakh ola marv [Displacement: Neither east nor west]. Tel-Aviv: Sfre khmd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sa’di, A. (2002). Catastrophe, memory and identity: Al-Nakbah as a component of palestinion identity. Israel Studies, 7(2), 175–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sivan, E. (1986). Qnae Hislam [The Islamists]. Tel-Aviv: Am Oved.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shalhoub-Kevorkian, N. (2001). Using the dialogue tent to break mental chain: Listening and being heard. Social Service Review 75(1), 135–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shakaki, H. (1999). Mavar ldimokratia bplasten: thlekh hshlom, shiqom laome ohbcherot [Beyond democracy in Palestine: The peace process, national rehabilitation and elections]. In A. Manaa (Ed.), Hplastinem bmaa hasrem, mbt mbfnem [Palestinians in the 20th century, an inside view]. Jerusalem: Van-Leir Institute Vekedm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenhav, Y. (2001). zhot bchvra post-laomet [Identity in post-national socity]. Teoria obiqorit, 19, 5–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smooha, S. (1988). Arabs and Jews in Israel: Conflicting and shared attitudes in a divided society (Vol. 1). Boulder, CO: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suleiman, R., & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1997). National and civic identities for Palestinians in Israel. The Journal of Social Psychology, 137(2), 219–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamari, S. (1999). hchvra hflastenitt – himshechiot oshenoi [Palestinian society—Continuity and change]. In A. Manaa (Ed.), hplastinem bmEaa haesrem, mbat mbifnem [Palestinians in the 20th century, an inside view] (pp. 5–30). Jerusalem: Van-Leer Institute ve kdem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tzorf, M. (2004). Hakhraiot shil ‘hakhrem’ – nsheem, mgdr olaomiot bkhvra hplastinet btsl hantfada [The ‘others’ of the ‘others’—Women, gender and nationalism in Palestinian society in the shadow of the intifada]. In A. Bnghots (Ed.), Nsheem bmzrkh htekhon ben msorit lshnoi [Women in the Middle East between tradition and change]. Tel-Aviv: Moshe Dian Center for Middle East and Africa Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zartal, E. (2002). Haoma ohmvit: historia zechron politica [The nation and death: History and memory politics]. Tel-Aviv: zmora.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Minerva Humanities Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Maram Masarwi

Authors
  1. Maram Masarwi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Masarwi, M. (2019). Part Four: National Identity and the Way Bereaved Parents Cope. In: The Bereavement of Martyred Palestinian Children. Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18087-4_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation