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Palestinian Youth and the Arab Spring

(New York Jewish Week) Michele Chabin - In the March 2012 study "Palestinian Youth and the Arab Spring," Mona Christophersen, a researcher at the Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies in Oslo, found that Palestinian youth "have largely exited from politics, prioritizing personal affairs (family and job) when considering the current situation and their future." Although the youths criticize the state of democracy, freedom of expression and human rights both in the West Bank and Gaza, "neither government is completely condemned, on account of their success in raising the level of security (Gaza) and economic prosperity (the West Bank)." Most strikingly, "Palestinian youth do not seem to think that their situation is desperate enough to warrant any large-scale departure from the political routine." Khalil, a 20-year-old university student from Bethlehem, said people his age don't have the stomach for another violent uprising. "We, the younger people, spent the first decade of our lives living through the violence and fear of the [second] intifada," he said. "Now it's our turn to live life as normally as we can, getting an education and starting a family." Though Khalil would not rule out a Palestinian Arab Spring directed either inward or outward, he predicted that, "for the time being at least, things will remain quiet."
2012-04-19 00:00:00
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