Oppressed and Challenged but not Defeated: Families in Gaza Writes Back

Abstract

The longstanding occupation, military operations, and siege have left their imprint on all aspects of life in Gaza including the family as the core unit of society. This article analyses the impact of the Israeli practices on the structure of the Palestinian family as found in Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine. More specifically, the paper argues that although various forms of aggression and harsh humanitarian conditions have taken a heavy toll on the Palestinian society, they did not destroy the tightly knit traditional and patriarchal structure of the family nor did they render Palestinians completely submissive or silent. Furthermore, the author argues that the highly autobiographical stories in GWB give voice to Palestinians living under constant fear, humiliation and deprivation, a voice that is repeatedly dismissed or muted by the international community. As such, Gaza Writes Back is treated in this study as a work that belongs to resistance literature..