Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This commentary critiques the concept of resilience in general drawing on the international literature, followed by an analysis of its application to Palestinians living in the Israeli occupied Palestinian territory (the West Bank, including Palestinian East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip).

Keywords

resilience Palestinians occupied Palestinian territory capacity to endure and resist neoliberalism words and language matter colonial logic

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Mourad

. Aftershock Beirut. American University of Beirut, 2020. Available from: https://rustedradishes.com/aftershock/.

Hama

. Language as an oppressive device in Orwell’s 1984. Int J Humanities Cultural Stud. 2015;2(1):265-277.

Marcoccio

. Identifying oppression in language: The power of words. Canadian Soc Work Rev/Revue Canadienne de Service Social. 1995;12(2):146–158.

Suhr-Sytsma

Brown

S-E

. Theory in/to practice: Addressing the everyday language of oppression in the writing center. In: Landmark Essays in Contemporary Writing Center Studies. Routledge; 2024:219-244.

Dubinsky

Starr

. Weaponizing language: Linguistic vectors of ethnic oppression. Global Stud Q. 2022;2(2):ksab051.

Divine

. Word crimes: Reclaiming the language of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel Stud. 2019;24(2):1-16.

Walsh-Dilley

Wolford

. (Un) defining resilience: Subjective understandings of ‘resilience’from the field. Resilience. 2015;3(3):173-182.

Glantz

Sloboda

. Analysis and reconceptualization of resilience. In: Glantz Meyer

Johnson

, eds. Resilience and Development: Positive Life Adaptations. Springer; 2002:109-126.

Ong

Leger

. Advancing the study of resilience to daily stressors. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2022;17(6):1591-1603.

10.

DeVerteuil

Golubchikov

. Can resilience be redeemed? Resilience as a metaphor for change, not against change. City. 2016;20(1):143-151.

11.

Schipper

ELF

Langston

. A comparative Overview of Resilience Measurement Frameworks. Overseas Development Institute; 2015 2015, Report No.

12.

Sheehi

. Psychoanalysis under occupation: Nonviolence and dialogue initiatives as a psychic extension of the closure system. Psychoanal Hist. 2018;20(3):353-369.

13.

Amo-Agyemang

. Decolonising the discourse on resilience. Int J African Renaissance Stud-Multi-, Inter- Transdiscipl. 2021;16(1):4-30.

14.

Fisher

Jones

. The problem with resilience. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2024;33(1):185-188.

15.

MacKinnon

Derickson

. From resilience to resourcefulness: A critique of resilience policy and activism. Prog Hum Geogr. 2013;37(2):253-270.

16.

Rigg

Oven

. Building liberal resilience? A critical review from developing rural Asia. Glob Environ Change. 2015;32:175-186.

17.

Mariani

. Economic rationality in the world of Amartya Sen 2023. 10.32388/H08D4L.

18.

Schwarz

. Resilience in psychology: A critical analysis of the concept. Theory Psychol. 2018;28(4):528-541.

19.

Dhar

Dixit

. Making of a crisis: The political and clinical implications of psychology’s globalization. J Theor Philosophical Psychol. 2022;42(2):108.

20.

Zembylas

. The therapisation of social justice as an emotional regime: Implications for critical education. J Professional Capital Commun. 2016;1(4):286-301.

21.

Gill

Orgad

. The amazing bounce-backable woman: Resilience and the psychological turn in neoliberalism. Sociol Res Online. 2018;23(2):477-495.

22.

Hutcheon

Lashewicz

. Theorizing resilience: Critiquing and unbounding a marginalizing concept. Disabil Soc. 2014;29(9):1383-1397.

23.

Humbert

Joseph

. Introduction: The politics of resilience: Problematising current approaches. Resilience. 2019;7(3):215-223.

24.

Abualkibash

SKA

Lera

M-J

. Psychological resilience among Palestinian school students: an exploratory study in the West Bank. Int Human Stud. 2015;2(3):1-20.

25.

Peteet

. Language matters: Talking about Palestine. J Palest Stud. 2016;45(2):24-40.

26.

Bodin

Wiman

. Resilience and other stability concepts in ecology: Notes on their origin, validity, and usefulness. ESS Bulletin. 2004;2(2):33-43.

27.

Robertson

Cooper

. Resilience. Stress & Health: J Int Soc Investigat Stress. 2013;29(3):175-176.

28.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian

. Necropolitical debris: The dichotomy of life and death. State Crime J. 2015;4(1):34-51.

29.

Dyer

McGuinness

. Resilience: Analysis of the concept. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 1996;10(5):276-282.

30.

Rutter

. Resilience as a dynamic concept. Dev Psychopathol. 2012;24(2):335-344.

31.

Donnellan

Conger

McAdams

Neppl

. Personal characteristics and resilience to economic hardship and its consequences: Conceptual issues and empirical illustrations. J Pers. 2009;77(6):1645-1676.

32.

Zolkoski

Bullock

. Resilience in children and youth: A review. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2012;34(12):2295-2303.

33.

Meari

. Sumud: A Palestinian philosophy of confrontation in colonial prisons. South Atlantic Q. 2014;113(3):547-578.

34.

Nijim

. Genocide in Palestine: Gaza as a case study. Int J Human Rights. 2023;27(1):165-200.

35.

Amira

. The slow violence of Israeli settler-colonialism and the political ecology of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Settler Colonial Studies. 2021;11(4):512-532.

36.

Giacaman

. Reflections on the meaning of ‘resilience’in the Palestinian context. J Public Health. 2020;42(3):e369-e400.

37.

Cromer

. A War of Words: Political Violence and Public Debate in Israel. Routledge; 2004.

38.

Peteet

. Words as interventions: Naming in the Palestine Israel conflict. Third World Q. 2005;26(1):153-172.

39.

Atawneh

. 7. The political discourse of the Israeli occupation: The spirit of orientalism. In: Ilham

Lawrence

Shelley

, eds. Examining Education, Media, and Dialogue Under Occupation. Multilingual Matters; 2011:110-128.

40.

Said

. The burdens of interpretation and the question of Palestine. J Palest Stud. 1986;16(1):29-37.

41.

Directorate-General for the Middle East NAatG, The European Union. Commission Announces Multiannual Programme for Palestinian Recovery and Resilience worth up to 1.6 Euros. The European Union; 2025. https://north-africa-middle-east-gulf.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-announces-multiannual-programme-palestinian-recovery-and-resilience-worth-eu16-billion-2025-04-14_en .

42.

World Bank Group. New$30 million Grant to Support Palestinian Reforms in Digital Economy, Governance and Pandemic Resilience. World Bank; 2021. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/05/28/new-30-million-grant-to-support-palestinian-reforms-in-digital-economy-governance-and-pandemic-resilience?utm_source=chatgpt.com .

43.

Austrian Development Agency. Supporting Transformative Resilience in Area C, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Austrian Development Agency; 2024. https://www.entwicklung.at/en/projects/detail-en/supporting-transformative-resilience-in-area-c-east-jerusalem-and-gaza .

44.

UNICEF. Journey Through Hell: A Family’s Story of Resilience in War Torn Gaza Strip. State of Palestine: UNICEF; 2024. https://www.unicef.org/sop/stories/journey-through-hell-familys-story-resilience-war-torn-gaza-strip .

45.

Alinovi

Mane

Romano

. Measuring Household Resilience to Food Insecurity: Application to Palestinian Households. FAO Food Security Program; 2010:341-368.

46.

Aitcheson

Abu-Bader

Howell

Khalil

Elbedour

. Resilience in Palestinian adolescents living in Gaza. Psychol Trauma: Theory Res Pract Policy. 2017;9(1):36.

47.

Mahamid

Hamamra

Bdier

. Traumatic events predict sleep disturbance among Palestinians: The moderating roles of resilience and posttraumatic growth. Traumatology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000559

48.

Swiss Peace. Supporting the Resilience of Palestinian Higher Education in Gaza. Swiss Peace; 2024. [Available from: https://www.swisspeace.ch/articles/supporting-the-resilience-of-palestinian-higher-education-in-gaza.

49.

Veronese

Sousa

Cavazzoni

. Survival and resilience among Palestinian women: A qualitative analysis using individual and collective life events calendars. Violence Against Women. 2021;27(6-7):900-917.

50.

Coleman

Lowe

. Conflict, identity, and resilience: Negotiating collective identities within the Israeli and Palestinian diasporas. Conflict Resolution Q. 2007;24(4):377-412.

51.

British Council OPT. Language of Resilience Grants: British Council, Occupied Palestinian Territories; Undated. https://www.britishcouncil.ps/en/programmes/english/english-and-empowerment/language-resilience-grants.

52.

UN Sustainable Development Group. “We need real action’” Palestinian Women Speak of Hope and Resilience amind the Horros of War in Gaza. UN Sustainable Development Group; 2024. https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/we-need-real-action-palestinian-women-speak-hope-and-resilience-amid-horrors-war?afd_azwaf_tok=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.eyJhdWQiOiJ1bnNkZy51bi5vcmciLCJleHAiOjE3NDc3NDE1OTUsImlhdCI6MTc0Nzc0MTU4NSwiaXNzIjoidGllcjEtNWI2ZmI1NGRkLWxnZmZoIiwic3ViIjoiMTc2LjY1LjI0LjEyOSIsImRhdGEiOnsidHlwZSI6Imlzc3VlZCIsInJlZiI6IjIwMjUwNTIwVDExNDYyNVotcjE1YjZmYjU0ZGRsZ2ZmaGhDMUZSQWJlM3cwMDAwMDAwemMwMDAwMDAwMDB2YWN4IiwiYiI6IlVBZ3p3dU1xbHpOSzNDeWRQMjh1azhjZG94SUg3al9lYl95SEc2R3BlcFUiLCJoIjoidHJ6XzJyZDVmZmEtZ2JrQkNiSkVfYkZjajFHaXNpeXJxRXR3cV91czdWWSJ9fQ.Md6vTr2td4qnSggmkpZ-7LogEozcpqeH1y8Jp66ONA9fZx–0JgOIaoTEze8×1UrH6g3PoYAeXsq8gdcK7KJSpqcCihOA6zEf7E2wppMUeFcX0vBsgGDBaL4eo2Euw_lYvGIFbxzcbecahtEz6DzfSK6KvTsn_sUZUTO_rAz5NMALzfLt65KfEHMLvNOgMEf8a9yu3UT28mh8YKFpzUsvODK4ACNIue_s1Cqq1WWX__0jfXoxT7MqUKEADoPIJVyORJMN0ewOAwCvFqF7rBA036BfKKjwVQtr3IHYkQnLI3c-8uESQh9o7AQW4BnVpW0xOJSkwvBZpFjQE9GOBcBvg.WF3obl2IDtqgvMFRqVdYkD5s .

53.

European Union. Comprehensive Programme for Palestine European Union; 2025 [Available from: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanCommission/posts/the-eu-is-the-largest-provider-of-external-assistance-to-the-palestinians-we-are/1079849037513558/.

54.

International Labor Organization. Human-Centered and Employment-rich Recovery Key to Building Resilient Palestinian Labor Market Says ILO Regional Director Occupied Palestinian Territory. International Labor Organization; 2025. https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/human-centred-and-employment-rich-recovery-key-building-resilient .

55.

Palestinian Non Governmental Network PNGO. Promoting Resilience Through Application of Tripe Nexus in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Area C, and East Jerusalem. PNGO; 2023. [Available from: https://en.pngoportal.org/uploads/documents/2023/03/XY2go.pdf.

56.

Palestinian Agricultural Coalition PAIC. PAIC.

57.

(NDC) NDC. Action for East Jerusalem’s Identity and Resilience Programme (AJIR): NDC.

58.

Palestinian Vision. Youth for Resilience Project: Palestinian Vision; 2024. https://palvision.ps/forming-youth-for-resilience-group/.

59.

Sayid Marcos Tenorio. It’s Been a Year of Resilience from the Heroic Palestinians in Gaza: Middle East Monitor MEM; 2024. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241007-its-been-a-year-of-resilience-from-the-heroic-palestinians-in-gaza/.

60.

Gray

. The Roots of Resilience in Palestinian Culture: The New Arab; 2017.

61.

Mahmoud

. What Does the Resilience of Gaza’s People Tell the World Doha. al-Jazzera; 2025. [Available from: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2025/1/19/what-does-the-resilience-of-gazas-people-tell-the-world.

62.

Badarin

. Politics and economy of resilience: EU resilience-building in Palestine and Jordan and its disciplinary governance. European Security. 2021;30(1):65-84.

63.

Brown

. Time to Rethink, but not Abandon, International Aid to Palestinians. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; 2018.

64.

Keelan

Browne

. Problematising resilience: Development practice and the case of Palestine. Dev Pract. 2020;30(4):459-471.

65.

Lenner

Turner

. Governing Displacement in the Middle East: From Vulnerability to Resilience? Lebanese American University; 2021. https://soas.lau.edu.lb/files/Governing-Displacement-Middle-East.pdf .

Deconstructing Resilience and Reconstructing Palestinian Endurance and Resistance

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References