To what extent are gender roles informed by the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Are there any side-lined actors in prominent narratives of the conflict? Is it possible to break out of the constant cycle of fatigue and pessimism that conflict can bring? Can pessimism be a source of strength? These are some of the questions that we tackled in the third seminar hosted by the Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue Society this semester.

We had the pleasure of having Dr Lotte Buch-Segal hold a short presentation centred around her article, Gendered Perceptions of the Occupation: Optimism, Madness, and a Maddening Ordinary. Dr Buch-Segal provided detailed anthropological insights of her experiences in Palestine, where she interviewed the wives of jailed men, and reported some important domestic perspectives that are yet to be widely researched by academics. Her nuanced sociolinguistic analysis of the wives’ uses of language not only communicated their role in society as nurturers, but also conveyed the paradox of suppression and the acknowledgement of mental illness. She claimed that by suppressing their husbands’ psychological torture in Israeli prisons, and containing their own secondary trauma, women were able to resist occupation and the social stigma that surrounds confinement. This narrative injected a sense of hope and strength into our discussion, especially as Dr Buch-Segal provided meaningful images of artwork and shots of life in Palestine, which only emphasised the arguments she presented.

Our members found Dr Buch-Segal’s presentation of the psychological dimension to the conflict fascinating and were able to bring up interesting topics of discussion such as the role that women play in political activism, and the effects that the imprisonment of men may have on their children. Continuing the conversations that we had during our previous seminar, a statistics-based presentation by Professor David Stone, we were able to bring in an academic element to our discussions by prompting speculations over the reliability and accuracy of quantitative versus qualitative data. Furthermore, we discussed the strengths and weaknesses of oral history as opposed to written history. This also allowed Dr Buch-Segal to provide her opinion on interviewing as a woman, and how that perhaps influenced the extent to which the Palestinian women were able to open up. Additionally, our talks on sexuality and gender led us to discuss the stances taken on the LGBTQ+ community by the Palestinian and Israeli governments, and the communities belonging to both regions. This made us question whether existing societal views are informed by the current conflict or whether the conflict in fact informs those views. 

Overall, Dr Buch-Segal’s presentation and the open-mindedness and diversity of our attendees sparked compelling conversations about gender, occupation, ethics, psychology and society. Personally, this connected with me on a deeper level as it humanised the conflict. Hearing about the personal lives of other Palestinians provided me with an insight into how occupation can affect the psychology and social fabric of a community, and its saddening impact. It also stressed the importance of dialogue and academic research in bridging the gap between the known and the unknown, especially with regards to such a complicated and controversial issue.