Arrested in Place: Palestinian Children and Families at the Border

Abstract

Borders represent places and symbols of power (Donnan and Wilson, 2001), and they can be both physical/visible as well as mental/invisible. In other words, borders may have a physical presence in space, yet they may also occur as a mental state that equally restricts movement without necessarily existing as a visible obstacle. This chapter explores how Palestinian children and their families deal with both visible and invisible borders in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt).Visible borders in the oPt are physically tangible and are part of an extensive network of barriers including checkpoints, roadblocks, metal gates, earth mounds, and trenches, all of which operate according to a frequently changing assortment of bans and limitations (Weizman, 2007, p. 147). Invisible borders are abstract and virtual, representing an emotional barrier that haunts the dreams and future aspirations of those arrested within the physical borders of the oPt.