3rd World Congress of Environmental History

Struggling for survival: Palestinian everyday resistances against colonization

• In Event: Resistances from Local Ecological Knowledge from the Global South. Experiences from America, Asia and the Middle East

Abstract

This research aims to analyze local everyday strategies developed by Palestinian people to resist colonization and prevent land dispossession and displacement. Palestinian resistances against colonization can be traced back to the first third of the twentieth century. Particularly, the Zionist movement clashed with local population in Palestine when it tried to implement a settler colonial project. This process has involved an unbalance protracted socio-environmental conflict still ongoing, where struggle over land and natural resources is one of the key issues. Palestinian responses to colonization prevented the complete success of the colonial project. These responses also involved everyday practices of resistance built on local traditions, such as Sumud. Palestinian communities developed strategies to remain in the land, protect their subsistence economy and preserve their identity. This paper will present the main features of the Palestinian everyday resistances against colonization, linking current processes with historical trends, and it will identify the main successes and failures of these resistances.

Author

• Diego Checa Hidalgo, Universidad de Granada