"Growing Up Palestinian"

Paper Summary:

The paper critically analyzes Bucaille's text "Growing Up Palestinian", which explores the social fault lines within Palestinian society. Using Bucaille's book as a basis, the paper argues that these fault lines have not only been exacerbated but, to a great extent, created by the instrumentality of the Israeli occupation; a process that has been reinforced by the inadequacies of the emerging Palestinian governance since the 1990s. The paper shows how these fault lines have not only fragmented Palestinian society, but critically weakened it in the face of a range of challenges over the past decade.

From the Paper:

"In her book Growing Up Palestinian, French journalist and academic Laetitia Bucaille describes the impact of the Israeli Occupation, the two Intifadas, and the emerging Palestinian governance structures in the 1990s upon a generation of young Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Given the nature of her subject, this text cannot truly be considered a general analysis of Palestinian society as a whole. For example, one significant gap in her text is its lack of direct treatment of young Islamists and members of Hamas; an increasingly influential portion of the Palestinian population. This being said, even with the text's focus upon more secular young Palestinians we can understand the complexity of social change among the Palestinian population over the past two decades."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bucaille, Laetitia. Growing Up Palestinian: Israeli Occupationand the Intifada Generation. Trans. Anthony Roberts. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.

More papers on "Growing Up Palestinian":

• Book Review # 131653 : "Growing up Palestinian" - A Review"
• Narrative Essay # 117667 : "Growing Up Poor"
• Analytical Essay # 66548 : "Russell Baker's "Growing Up"

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