Belonging to the conflict: collective identities among Israeli and Palestinian émigrés to the United States

Abstract

This article explores how Palestinian and Israeli émigrés to the United States understand their sense of collective identity and belonging. Our qualitative study found that these immigrants ‘belong’ to the conflict and that the violence between the two peoples continues to impact them, even years after their emigration. All of the first generation immigrant interviewees perceived the Middle East conflict as a major anchor for their life stories. The participants organized their recollected memories around the conflict, as well as their understandings of self and ‘other’. We present one example from a Palestinian and one from an Israeli which demonstrate this tendency, and offer ideas for conceptualizing collective identity among these and other immigrant groups who have escaped war-torn regions.