The dialectic of nationalism and feminism among Palestinian women student-activists in Israeli universities

Abstract

This paper explores the dialectical relationship between nationalism and feminism in the experience of a group of Palestinian women student-activists in Israeli universities. An overview of the history of Palestinian women’s involvement in the national movement leads to the conclusion that the Palestinian Intifada in 1987 was a turning point in articulating a feminist-nationalist agenda among Palestinian women activists in the West Bank and Gaza and inside Israel. Qualitative interviews with 11 Palestinian women student activists in Israeli universities reveal two intertwined themes of nationalism and feminism. Participants clearly challenge their male dominated political organisations to espouse a progressive social-political agenda focusing simultaneously on national and gender forms of oppression.