The Multiple Resistance Strategies for Survival under Israeli Occupation in the Novels of Sahar Khalifeh

Abstract

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict that started after 1948 war persists to play a dominant role in shaping Palestinian resistance movement. Sahar Khalifeh is a renowned Palestinian writer of the West Bank which is one of the Israeli occupied territories of Palestine. The core theme of Khalifeh’s writings is the Palestinian resistance to Israeli Occupation. This article examines specifically the multiple resistance strategies adopted by both Palestinian men and women on a land which is under prolonged Israeli occupation. Indeed, the Palestinian resistance movement constitutes both violent and non-violent forms of resistance throughout their struggle for independence. Unfortunately, the media has sidelined the issue of civil or non-violent forms of resistance movements pursued by the Palestinians and represented the Palestinian resistance grossly as an act of terrorism or insurgency. This paper analyzes the different ways of resistance carried out by the Palestinians and the limitations thereof, as depicted in the two novels of Khalifeh–The End of Spring and the Inheritance.