Spaces of Truth: Palestinian Refugee Women Reframe Concerns of Jerusalem and Resist Judaisation

Abstract

Since the third Intifada (2014–2015) onward, refugee Nakba-generation women reframed concerns over Shu'fat refugee camp space in response to newer settler-colonial and spatial Judaisation practices in Al-Quds/Jerusalem; created a different relationality of space/time; gave accounts that are closer to the present, made the present a driving force for their action; transformed the courtyard (hosh) experience into a community bonding function; and created a new layer of resistance. The Nakba narratives were conveyed as part of the present, their belonging to Jerusalem became the ‘truth of space’, and their visual memory overcame the ‘true now space’. Ultimately, their memory was a potential for creative collaboration between present consciousness and experiences of the past creating a ‘relational solidarity in the living present’.