Commemoration in the Palestinian Cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem Brendan Browne
Conflict in Cities: Europe and the Middle East
Spring is the season of major commemorative events in Palestinian society. This photo-essay, documenting events in spring 2011, provides an overview of the symbolism present, and the organisation of important commemorative events in Palestinian society. This selection of images has been chosen to highlight the role, which commemorative events assume as political tools in conflicted societies. The images were taken in the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem, in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank. These two cities border on Jerusalem on the north and south, and unlike Jerusalem, they enjoy limited autonomy under the Palestinian Authority. The selected photographs give an insight into the efforts made on selected days of commemoration to strengthen a sense of collective Palestinian national identity. These images were taken over the course of two months in the West Bank, and against the backdrop of a tumultuous period of public demonstration across the Middle East.
Major commemorative events and public demonstrations in Ramallah take place in the Manara, the place where all roads in and out of the city meet. It serves the purpose of providing a useful platform for public addresses to be made, and is large enough to accommodate the vast number who choose to attend. Just north of Jerusalem, Ramallah has developed since the 1990s as the Palestinian political centre of the West Bank under the autonomous Palestinian Authority.
Commemorative posters adorn public spaces in Ramallah in the lead up to any major demonstration. They frequently call on all Palestinians to demonstrate together as a collective group at a chosen place and time. This poster calls on Palestinians to gather and remember six Palestinians with Israeli citizenship killed by the Israeli Army on the 30th March 1976, whilst protesting against the confiscation of Palestinian land to enable the construction of Jewish settlements in the Galilee. This day is marked locally and internationally as Yom al-Ard, or ‘Land Day’.
Preparation for the largest Palestinian commemorative event, Nakba Day, begins in early March. One of the most important tasks is to choose the poster that will be the sole image used to publicise the event, and which will be sent to countries across the world where a significant Palestinian community exists. Entries are submitted from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel, and the wider Diaspora. The Al Awda ('the Return') Jury, meeting in Bethlehem, consists of leading Palestinian artists and activists who choose the winner.
In a short period of time, the Manara square in Ramallah can be transformed from a bustling city centre, to the meeting place of people from all walks of Palestinian life, taking part in the public demonstrations. Spectators are given Palestinian flags to wave and those assuming leadership of the event make emotive public addresses. Palestinian folk music is played during breaks in the speeches. In recent years, it is the younger Palestinian generation who have assumed a leading role in the day-long events.
Palestinians of all ages attend the commemorations. Many wear the traditional clothing of their predecessors; others drape themselves in the Palestinian flag. Most choose to wear the Keffiyeh, a shared symbol of Palestinian resistance. Some of those attending, like the lady pictured, are refugees who fled their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Ramallah is home to three refugee camps in the city, with a combined population of over 28,000 (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics).
Efforts are made to ensure that the only flag that is available on the day is the Palestinian national flag. Factional symbols, such as those associated with the main political parties, are restricted. This can be interpreted as a way of achieving a sense of collective Palestinian unity in a society that remains divided, both geographically, and politically. Children and young people come out of school classes to attend the events.
Demonstrators carry political messages and pose in front of the assembled media. Commemorations are important opportunities for groups and individuals to publicly air their views and to make demands. They are tools at the disposal of groups to call for change. Topical i s s u e s o f t h e d a y, w h i c h demonstrators are highlighting, include a demand for an end to the Hamas/Fatah split, viewed by many Palestinians as a factor which politically weakens their calls for Palestinian statehood, and an end to ongoing Israeli occupation.
Image 8 Posters and Derelict. Belfast. 2010
Deciding upon the structure and format of the many commemorative events which take place is a highly negotiated process. In 2007, the National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba was formed, in an effort to consolidate the commemorative practices that were being undertaken across the region. Representatives from each of the refugee camps in the West Bank and NGOs meet to discuss the core issues. This year the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs in Ramallah facilitated the meeting.
The use of evocative symbolism, in particular a giant key and keyhole (as displayed at the entrance to Aida camp in Bethlehem), is prevalent in many Palestinian towns and villages, reminding people of the ongoing plight of Palestinian refugees, and their right to return to the villages they were forced from in 1948. Nakba Day, 15th May, marks the day when the state of Israel was declared on land on which the local Palestinian population lived, leading to the birth of the current and ongoing Palestinian refugee issue.
Palestinian refugee children from Kalandia camp collecting scrap material near the Ramallah checkpoint. Whilst the Nakba day commemoration on the 15th May recalls events that took place in 1948, the reality is, that for many Palestinians, the Nakba is an ongoing process. In the words of one West Bank Palestinian: 'The Nakba, for many, is every day and every night, not just May 15th.'
Conflict in Cities and the Contested State research project, supported by the ESRC (grant number RES-060-25-0015)
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