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Citation |
Feldman I. Cult. Anthropol. 2007; 22(1): 129-169. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2007, American Anthropological Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
In this article, I explore the intersection of humanitarian practice and refugee law in shaping categories of “refugee” and “citizen” in Gaza in the first years after 1948. I examine how humanitarian practice produced enduring distinctions within the Gazan population and provided a space in which ideas about Palestinian citizenship began to take shape. A key argument is that humanitarianism, despite commitments to political neutrality, often has profound and enduring political effects. In this case, humanitarian distinctions contributed to making the “refugee” a central figure in the Palestinian political landscape. I also consider how humanitarianism in Palestine was guided by the larger, emerging postwar refugee regime, even as Palestinians were formally excluded from some of its mechanisms. |