RGP Cycle 5 Grantees and Projects
Principal Investigator: Weeam Hammoudeh, Birzeit University
Co-Investigator: Rita Giacaman, Birzeit University
Co-Investigator: Shiraz Nasr, Birzeit University
Country: Palestine
Grant Type: Team Project Grant
Project Title: Shrinking Spaces and Violated Communities: The Health, Livelihoods, and Living Conditions of Palestinians in the Biddu Enclave on the West Bank
In this study, we focus on one area that has been especially impacted by territorial fragmentation, enclavization, and mobility restrictions, the Biddu enclave West of Palestinian East Jerusalem, to examine the effects of the interplay between exposure to prolonged political violence, mobility restrictions, reconfiguration (and disfiguration) of space, and fragmentation of social life, livelihoods, and health. We engage directly with the social ecologies and spaces that people inhabit and seek to understand the ways in which long-term exposure to political violence and dispossession impact social life, livelihoods, and health across generations. Furthermore, we seek to understand how land has been reconfigured by examining Israeli Occupation policies, closures, and confiscations in the area in order to put together a profile of the transformations the area has witnessed. We then explore how the reconfiguration and shrinking of space impact key aspects of life and people’s relationship to their land and livelihoods, especially where land confiscation and barriers separating people from their land exist. More specifically, we aim to:
- Understand and document the spatial transformations that have taken place in the Biddu enclave using secondary data and first-hand accounts of residents;
- Examine the impact of these spatial transformations on people’s understanding of place, and their experiences of social life within these spaces;
- Explore connections between prolonged exposure to political violence on health and more specifically to explore people’s understandings of health in a context of protracted settler colonial rule.
This study utilizes a mixed-methodology approach, drawing on both quantitative spatial methods (consisting of spatial data scoping and secondary data analysis focusing on population changes and movements in these areas) and a qualitative methodological approach drawing on a mix of tools to understand how these transformations have impacted people’s lives, their relationship with the space, and how they understand health and wellbeing within this context. We will select 2-3 communities in the Biddu enclave for the following methods, including Biddu village and 1-2 villages of different sizes and proximity to the Separation wall.
The expected results of the project will be of significance both for knowledge production as well as for policy. This project addresses key gaps in the literature, especially the literature pertaining to conflict zones. The interdisciplinary approach inherent in this project will push the theoretical boundaries of preexisting literature. The project will likely produce important insights in conceptualizing spatialized approaches to examining life and health in contexts undergoing chronic conflict or colonial contexts. It provides an important knowledge base for policy and advocacy in these areas.
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Weeam Hammoudeh is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Community and Public Health and Visiting Researcher at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Birzeit University. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow with the Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS). She holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from Brown University, and an MPH from Birzeit University. She is interested in understanding how political and social transformations impact health, psychosocial wellbeing, and population processes, particularly in conflict areas; as well as how health systems and social institutions develop and shift in relation to political, economic, and structural actors, particularly in developing countries and post-colonial settings.
Rita Giacaman is a Professor of Public Health at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University. A founding member of the Institute, she was a researcher/practitioner in the 1980’s Palestinian social action, which led to the development of the Palestinian primary health care model. In the 1990s, she participated in building the Palestinian community-based disability rehabilitation network. Since 2000, she has been focusing on the impact of chronic war- like conditions and exposure to violence on the health and well-being of Palestinians, with an emphasis on psychosocial health; and the development of measures suitable for assessing health and well-being in conditions of protracted violence. She has published extensively both locally and internationally. Her co-edited volume Public Health in the Arab World was published in 2012 by Cambridge University Press. Giacaman was awarded an Honorary PhD from LSE in 2011.
Shiraz Nasr has a Master's degree in Spatial Analysis from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. She is skilled in quantitative research methods and GIS. Her current research focus is related to marginalized community groups including women and children. She is also part of the Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance (LPHA) coordination team.
