On Youth and National Identity in the Palestinian Context

In: Maǧallat Ǧāmiʿat Bait Laḥm: Maǧalla ʿilmīya muḥkama = Bethlehem University journal, Band 37

Abstract

This study aims to examine the attitudes and opinions of Palestinian youth in the context of the debate about intergenerational conflict and the specificity of youth in the Palestinian condition. A high percentage of young people in the various Palestinian communities are exposed to unemployment, and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they have become targets of the Israeli occupation and its policies. Most Palestinian youth also face a dead-end in the political and living horizons and the scarcity of normal life opportunities (including, work, education, family, freedom of movement, planning for the future, etc.). Young people, as the case with women and other social groups, are also subject to restrictions that limit their access to political, economic, social and cultural decision-making positions. Drawing on studies and surveys that dealt with the situation of Palestinian youth, after discussing the rationale for interest in youth in the past two decades, this study shows the need to deal with youth as an essential component of society and not as an external segment or as outsiders. It also indicates that there are relatively limited differences between the positions and opinions of Palestinian youth and the older age groups. The study concludes that differences in the opinions of youth (and non-youth) can be attributed to the variations in the political situations and life opportunities among Palestinian communities, gender, place of residence, and political affiliation. The study did not find evidence to support the argument that intergenerational conflict exists. The determining factor in this condition is the Israeli occupation, Zionist settler-colonialism, apartheid regime, and the denial of basic rights. This study confirms the vitality of national culture among the various Palestinian communities.