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The lives of Palestinian refugee women are complex and layered, embedded in the constraints and dictates of a patriarchal class system within a conservative culture that has been shaped by resistance to the Israeli military occupation since 1948. Over six decades of Israeli military occupation, ongoing national resistance, poverty and a maledominated society are a few of the forces that continue to shape the lives of refugee women today. The Israeli occupation has obstructed the development of a viable Palestinian economy and legal institutions that could serve as a framework for attaining women’s rights. In addition, Palestinian women, especially refugee women have limited employment and education opportunities due to the military violence which serves to strengthen patriarchal norms that discourage women seeking either higher education or work outside the home. Military occupation and traditional patriarchal society are therefore two inter connected processes central to the formation of gender identities and roles for women living in refugee camps. Palestinian refugee women are also part of a unique experience of being refugees on their own land. A central question arises as to whether, in the absence of an independent Palestinian state, refugee women can be agents of transformation in their personal, familial and community relations. I t is necessary to explore the potential for resistance and empowerment at the local level as defined and expressed by women and men in Jabaliya camp in an effort to assist in responding to this question. The everyday experiences of women explored in this study from the standpoint of women and men in Jabaliya refugee camp and their interpretations and perceptions of those experiences, are the basis for identifying everyday acts of resistance and potential avenues of empowerment among women in the camp. Everyday resistance and the process of empowerment are evident in the lives of women. The data show both subtle and open acts of defiance to oppressive ideas and social structures as well as a clear development of a critical understanding of women’s roles and status in the camp.

This thesis is an attempt to find a sustainable solution for the Palestinian refugee problem. It analyzes the Palestinian refugee case and how different actors in the Palestine-Israeli conflict view it. The Palestinian refugees issue is one of the most complicated matters in the peace negotiations between the two parties and without solving it there will be no permanent and sustainable peace in the Middle East region. There is a need for compromise from both the Israelis as well as the Palestinians to find a sustainable solution for the Palestinian refugee problem. The international community in general and those who have the political, military as well as economic power in particular must play an important role in the final settlement of the issue by providing economic incentives to repatriate and compensate the Palestinian refugees. The Right of Return should be respected in any case. While some Palestinian refugees might go back to their historic home land in what nowadays is called Israel, others might have no choice but to be permanently settled in their current host countries provided that they are given full citizenship rights in their host country as well as in the promised Palestinian State.

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