Amahl Bishara

What are the interlinked socialities, practices, and emotions that sustain community and the possibility of political action in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank where residents are dispossessed by entangled structures of settler colonialism, dispossession, military occupation, authoritarianism, and neoliberalism? What can an archive of stories that bridge past and present, the event and the everyday, and individual and group perspectives do for a community? This project centers on an oral history of a refugee-led community-based organization established in 2000. Despite these refugees’ commitment to liberation, political stagnation and now war mean that liberation does not feel imminent. Even if Israeli occupation were to end, the struggle for dignity and Palestinian democracy would remain. This community organization is rooted in the values and socialities of the surrounding society, but it is also distinct from it, with particular political commitments and social values. With this project, we look at how a commitment to karama (dignity), al-musanada (connectedness), al-tawasul (connection), and enjoyment (al-marih) guide the work of Lajee and others in the community. We create a multifaceted community archive of suffering, steadfastness, resistance, and joy that will build community resources for the struggles to come.