In
the name of the embedded mother: Women citizens on alert in the West Bank
The colonial matrix of citizens and non-citizens
reveals an interactive surface of social behavior between the two groups.
Normally, the interaction occurs almost exclusively between the citizens’ armed
forces personnel and the non-citizens. In the last four years, however, a group
of mostly middle aged women citizens have situated their bodies in permanent
daily shifts in specific sites/monads which make up the network of the
Machsomim (checkpoints) in the non-citizens’ habitat, completely interrupting
their daily lives. While the majority of the citizens avoid bodily contact with
the non-citizens, this group of women has expanded its engagement with the
non-citizens, seeking to provide human assistance beyond the specific monads/checkpoints.
In this paper I would like to critically
reflect on this interaction by employing the Narcissus-Echo metaphor for
analyzing the relations between the armed forces personnel and the women
citizens. I will explore these relations by following them along three
different trajectories:
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The political effect of challenging the
military armed personnel in each machsom/monad.
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The liberal ethics reflected in individual
human solidarity with the
Non-citizens.
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The practical collaboration with the armed
forces personal, enhancing the illusion of a democratic state.
My research consists of participatory
activist engagement with the group and the virtual transverse activities on the
internet, in the form of words and images.
The theoretical insights drawn from my
analysis will be used to interrogate three visual images:
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The video clip of the violin player at the
Beit Iba monad/checkpoint.
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The
image of one of the women in the group who volunteered to join the armed forces
and serve at the monad/checkpoint.
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The group’s photography exhibition that
was banned in Beer