Exile, Identity and Resistance: Palestinian Realities in the Works of Sahar Khalifeh

Abstract

Sahar Khalifeh is one of the most outspoken authors from the Occupied Territories of Palestine – the West Bank. This study examines the literary works of Khalifeh in order to know the contemporary Palestinian situation through the literary prism. The socio-political and economic impact of the Occupation on the life of Palestinians has been so immense that it has become difficult for them to survive in their own homeland. Khalifeh’s narratives effectively lend voice to these challenges faced by them. The Occupation spanning for nearly two generations has taught the Palestinians to resist the challenge in different ways. These multiple resistance strategies adopted by Palestinian men and women constitutes another important theme that this study seeks to unravel in the narratives of Khalifeh. Indeed, the Palestinian resistance movement is constituted of both violent and non-violent forms of resistance throughout their struggle for independence. Unfortunately, the media has sidelined the issue of civil or non-violent forms of resistance movements pursued by the Palestinians and represented the movement grossly as an act of terrorism or insurgency. The different shades of Palestinian resistance to Israeli Occupation are specifically looked into in this study. Palestinians’ life of exile under the Israeli Occupation is another core theme discussed in the literary works of Khalifeh. Simultaneously, she has written on the emerging challenges faced by the Palestinians on their return to homeland. In depicting both these issues, Khalifeh shows a departure from the previous accounts: the gendered impact. If exile has a certain impact on men, the same phenomenon has another set of impact on women; it is important to note that the latter effect has hardly been talked about by earlier Palestinian litterateurs. Further, it is also true that Khalifeh raises the issue of the effect of male exile on females in the Occupied Territories. Israeli Occupation with patriarchal oppression in their own society, renders the Palestinian women doubly challenged. The themes like Israeli Settler Colonial domination, exile, resistance and gender discrimination in the narratives of Sahar Khalifeh have been analysed taking insights from Settler Colonial theory, resistance theories and feminist readings.