Abstract
Narrating Refugee Camp: the Palestinian Children as defence
of the community under milary violence
This paper aims to explore some internal and external
oppressive practices that create serious risks to the physical and
psychological health of Palestinian children. The typical stories of three
children interviewed at Jenin refugee camp are subjected to content analyis.
Key themes emerging from the analysis include the need to “re-deem”
grandparents and parents (depressed, preoccupied, without hope), intolerance of
imprisonment and being coerced into confined spaces, the need for space to play
in, the acceleration, through violence, of the rite of passage towards
adulthood. The current conditions endured by the children of the refugee camp
make you imagining a possible agreement to fighting groups in adolescence or
adulthood. This does not mean that families encourage their children to engage
in guerrilla warfare or other terrorist acts. The motivations leading to
dangerous practices and risk factors are discussed.