Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines recent Palestinian airport narratives, with a specific emphasis on depictions of Ben Gurion/Lydda airport in Israel, a site where Palestinians often receive extra scrutiny and disparate treatment. Focusing on works by Adania Shibli, Raba’i al-Madhoun, and Randa Jarrar, it argues that such narratives reveal airports to be, for Palestinians, sites of stasis, displacement, and detention, and offers a counter-reading of the popular imaginary of airports as facilitators of unfettered global mobility. The narratives depict this stasis through the spatial and temporal distortions experienced at the airport by individuals and groups excluded from global networks of free movement, tourism, and travel, but they also use moments of suspension and immobility to imagine and stage various forms of collective, shared experiences. This suggests that the stasis of the airport can unexpectedly be a catalyst for acts of solidarity and protest.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.