Identity Interrupted: A Study of Palestinian Space and Education in Lebanon

• In Event: Issues of identity, internationalization and leadership in higher education in Iran and Arab states

Proposal

This study explores the perspectives of high-achieving Palestinian refugee students in Lebanon concerning their educational journeys as well as socio-economic and political prospects. Based on qualitative methodology, interviews were conducted with 22 Palestinian refugee students in Lebanon who are either currently attending or graduated from university on a scholarship provided by a local NGO. This study underscores student motivation to continue studying in a context where they are denied fundamental socio-economic rights, where about 63% of Palestinians do not graduate high school and only 6.2% hold a university degree (Chaaban et al., 2016). Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (PRL) are disproportionately under-educated compared to their peers; one of many examples is that in Jordan as of 2012, among Palestinian refugees between the ages of 25-29, 39% held a university degree (Tiltnes and Zhang, 2013).

My research questions are: How do the camp space and Lebanon’s restrictive legal infrastructure influence motivation of Palestinian youth to pursue educational and economic opportunities? How do educational and economic opportunity as well as identity influence the opinions of Palestinian refugee youth about resettlement in Lebanon?

Understanding educational decisions made by PRL is inextricably linked to understanding how they perceive their futures in relation to the right to return, the question of tawteen (resettlement) in Lebanon and possible third-country resettlement. This study therefore recognizes Palestinian place-making in Lebanon and their advancement into predominantly Lebanese higher education (HE) settings as a microcosm for Lebanese society. The results of the study illustrate the students’ struggle to reconcile their Palestinian identity, at the core of which is the right to return, with their desire to advance socio-economically in Lebanon. The results also demonstrate the challenges faced by Palestinian students in Lebanese HE such as xenophobia, Islamophobia, blatant ignorance and misconceptions about their situation in Lebanon, and specifically for those who attended UNRWA schools, not being prepared for either the academic or social rigor of university life.

To inform my theoretical framework, I draw upon a combination of spatial theories beginning with spatial justice as defined by Edward Soja in using Lefebvre’s theory of the materiality of space. Lefebvre argues that space is not is removed from politics, rather it is political and ideological (Soja, 1989). Moreover, Said (1993) defined unjust geographies as spaces of both oppression and potential emancipation. I argue that this is true of any academic environment, but particularly those inside refugee camps, on borrowed space, or in post-conflict settings. How PRL youth in Lebanon have decided to navigate this and move into Lebanese spaces guides both this research and how Palestinians perceive their futures in Lebanon. Questions were therefore designed to understand PRL placemaking in Lebanon.

I used a qualitative approach and conducted this research through an ethnographic lens to emphasize the complexity of the matter. This study does not provide absolute truths; rather it provides insight into how participants view and define their experiences and spaces. I added questions to the foundation of interview questions based on participants’ offered information that was outside of my initial line of questioning. My analysis emerged from the data I collected to capture the individual experience of each interviewee. Moreover, my research questions were solidified after the interview process. Interview questions were divided into four categories of perceptions about their secondary education, their university education, Palestinian identity and the future of Palestinians in Lebanon, and about their interactions with the Lebanese host population.

There is an abundance of research about the challenges that Palestinians face in Lebanon. There is research that like this study, demonstrates that PRL often see no reason to pursue education since they are unlikely to find well-paying employment and because they believe that their residence in Lebanon is temporary. However, empirical research does not address the subject of Palestinians in Lebanese HE. There is also little research about PRL youths’ perceptions of tawteen not as a permanent alternative to the right to return, but as a means to improve their status until their right is granted. These gaps may be due to a variety of factors including the overwhelming dearth of research about refugees in HE globally, as well as an unwillingness to tackle the question of tawteen and where Palestinians fit into the post-conflict reality of Lebanon. We do not know how PRL see their future beyond the right to return or how those who receive scholarships to study at the country’s top universities experience being thrust into the Lebanese HE system with peers and professors who carry either admiration or disdain for Palestinians. My research provides insight to these issues.

This is significant for two main reasons: Firstly, in order to shift the paradigm from one of relief to one of development for Palestinians, we must contemplate how youth have reconciled their Palestinian identity with the fact that they have been born and raised in Lebanon and may not enjoy repatriation. We must determine how Palestinians might be—if not politically—at least socio-economically integrated into Lebanon. This will also affect how they can contribute to their home in case they do enjoy the right to return. Secondly, there are layers of conflict resolution and reconciliation necessary in Lebanon amongst Lebanese and between Lebanese and Palestinians. It must therefore be understood how they are interacting in one of the few spaces where they interact on a daily basis. Finally, understanding Palestinian-Lebanese exchanges in academic settings provides a glimpse into whether Palestinian educational aspirations are supported in Lebanese HE, as well as what socio-political conversations are happening. This could also be a stepping stone to learning how to best incorporate conflict resolution on Lebanese university campuses.

Ultimately, this research innovatively examines the world’s oldest and largest protracted refugee situation. It is unsustainable for Palestinians, for Lebanon, and for the region to maintain the status quo which does not allow for PRL to positively contribute to Lebanon, nor does it prepare them for the task of returning home and developing Palestinian society. Rather, it keeps PRLs in a cycle of violence, discrimination, economic stagnancy and under-educatedness.

Author

• Sarah Ikhlass Shedeed, Teachers College, Columbia University