THE UNENDING WAR
On the Children of Gaza
Teach-In Session 07 - November 20, 2023
TEACHING NOTES
This teach in challenges harmful narratives about Palestinian children by highlighting their experiences, in particular, how this war on Gaza affects them specifically while detailing the broader history of Israel's of targeting, unchilding, and imprisoning of Palestinian children.
Heidi Morrison is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She is the author of the forthcoming Inner Wounds: Oral History, Trauma, and Palestinian Children of the Second Intifada (Oxford University Press) and the editor of the forthcoming Lived Resistance Against the War on Palestinian Children (University of Georgia Press). Morrison is the author of Childhood and Colonial Modernity in Egypt (Palgrave 2015), the editor of The Global History of Childhood Reader (Routledge 2012), and co-general editor of A Cultural History of Youth six-volume set (Bloomsbury, 2023). She is the founding president of the Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (AMECYS) and on the board of the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC).
Amahl Bishara is Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at Tufts University. She is the author of Crossing a Line: Laws, Violence, & Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Stanford 2022), about different conditions of expression for and exchange between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, and Back Stories: U.S. News and Palestinian Politics (Stanford University Press 2013), an ethnography of the production of U.S. news during the second Palestinian intifada. Working with youth at the Lajee Center, in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, she has co-produced two bilingual children’s books, The Boy and the Wall (2006) and The Aida Alphabet Book (2014).
Janna Jihad is 17 years old and lives in the village of Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine. She is a journalist and an international advocate for children's rights.
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
Amahl Bishara is Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at Tufts University. She is the author of Crossing a Line: Laws, Violence, & Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Stanford 2022), about different conditions of expression for and exchange between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, and Back Stories: U.S. News and Palestinian Politics (Stanford University Press 2013), an ethnography of the production of U.S. news during the second Palestinian intifada. Working with youth at the Lajee Center, in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, she has co-produced two bilingual children’s books, The Boy and the Wall (2006) and The Aida Alphabet Book (2014).
Janna Jihad is 17 years old and lives in the village of Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine. She is a journalist and an international advocate for children's rights.
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
- Teach-In: Know Your Rights: The Assault on Campus Activism
- For more teach-ins on Palestine: Gaza in Context Teach-Ins
FULL TEACH IN
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CONTENTS
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"In attacking the children, [Israel] causes instability in the family and social structure which leads to multigenerational damage, including epigenetic changes." - Heidi Morrison
TEACHING RESOURCES
This teach-in focuses on the young people of Gaza, who make up nearly half of the population. The reigning narrative on these children dehumanizes them, fueling the war on them. While humanitarian aid is much needed, it is not the long-term solution for their trauma, which is caused by a structural and ongoing process of settler colonialism as well as the process of "unchilding". Palestinian children know and express resistance daily, despite their lack of formal citizenship.
- How does the process of "unchilding" manifest in Gaza, and what are its long-term psychological and social impacts on Palestinian children? Discuss specific policies or practices that contribute to this phenomenon.
- Compare and contrast the experiences of children in Gaza with those of children in other protracted conflict zones. What unique challenges do Gazan children face, and what can be learned from other contexts?
- Critically assess the limitations of humanitarian aid in addressing the trauma experienced by children in Gaza. What alternative or complementary approaches might be more effective in supporting their well-being and development?
- What role does oral history and cultural preservation play in everyday resistance? How do Palestinian children participate in this?
- Intergenerational Trauma Study: Students explore the concept of intergenerational trauma in the context of Palestine, focusing on how ongoing Israeli occupation and violence affects multiple generations of children with emphasis on historical events such as the Nakba as well as smaller-scale instances of violence and the subsequent impact they continue to have from generation to generation. They may propose a theoretical model illustrating potential transmission mechanisms and intervention points and refer to memoirs, interviews, and existing studies.
- Educational Access Case Study: Groups of students may investigate the state of and access to education in the West Bank and/or Gaza, focusing on factors like infrastructure damage, resource shortages, and safety concerns for Palestinian students. They can compile data on enrollment rates, educational outcomes, and compare these to regional standards, as well as engage in a broader investigation examining infrastructure surrounding schools in the West Bank, noting Israeli checkpoints or recorded arrests/use of violence against students.
- Children's Voices Project: Students may analyze existing interviews, testimonies, or creative works (e.g., artwork, poetry) by Palestinian children or initiatives facilitating such expression to identify common themes in how they express their experiences, hopes, and challenges. Students can present their findings in a structured report or thematic presentation with the aim of bringing to life the teach-in's speakers' theories and findings.
SEGMENTS
IntroductionBassam Haddad introduces the teach-in and Fida Adely reads a selection of moving poems
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Amahl BisharaAmahl Bishara reads an additional poem and shares bleak statistics on Gaza and how that might affect Palestinian children
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Heidi MorrisonHeidi Morrison challenges common narratives and prejudices held against Palestinian children, and offers a critical understanding of "Unchilding" and the impact of trauma on Palestinian children
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Janna JihadJanna Jihad shares her experiences as a child growing up in occupied Palestine, detailing the impact Israeli checkpoints and Israeli practices of unlawful detainment have on the pursuit of education
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Amahl Bishara's Extra CommentaryAmahl Bishara discusses how Palestinian children are integral, functioning members of their communities within the context of Israel's occupation and settler violence
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Q&ABishara asks three questions: How do we think about Palestinian children and adults' agency alongside their need for protection? How can American children support Palestinian children?What responsibilities do audiences have to Palestinian youth journalists?
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SOUNDBITES
On the Globally Unprecedented Numbers of Children Killed in Gaza |
“Unchilding”, Zionism Using Children As Capital to Reinforce its Occupation |
On Palestinian Children's Presence & Inhumane Treatment in Israeli Prisons |
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