A Hopeful Endeavor into Palestinian Home Demolitions

Honors Thesis by: Colleen O’Neill

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I first became entranced with the Palestinian/Israeli conflict when I saw

a news report on a poor homeless man whose family farm was robbed of

him. He had not returned to his homeland for years and when he did,

pointing to an enormous shopping center; he stood, showing the camera

where his livelihood and timeless memories were stolen. The news report

was short, I remembered it being perhaps 4 minutes long at best. I was

passing through my living room when my father pointed this out. I cannot

remember where this man was from or even the shopping center’s new

“home”. All I can remember is that he was from the Middle East. My thoughts

and curiosity of this man’s story and how both the land and the man were

torn apart from each other stayed with me. It was not until the continuous

exposure over the years to the Arab-Israeli conflicts that my curiosity won

over and I finally decided to investigate for myself what is going on.

When I took on this project back in the fall of 2014, I was interested in

the concept of perception and the prejudices that lay with individuals and

group sentiment people have towards the “other”. I became interested in

what both the Palestinians and Israelis shared in common and how their

differences could be utilized into a sense of commonality and mutual

respect. Stemming from information I gathered on the conflict, I began

working on pieces that focused on accessibility and transparency. I began

layering different materials and obstructions were created within each piece.

My desire was for the viewer to peer through each piece to gain a sense of

accessibility to the “other.” I envisioned accessibility as having portals in

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which a person could enter or be denied entrance. I translated this idea into

my pieces by creating physically opened and closed off sections. My interest

stemmed from wanting to further investigate personal identity and the

relationships people develop with one another and the communities that

foster. Hope was one of the overriding themes I wanted to convey through

my artwork (see Figure 1).

Fig. 1. Example of Experimental Pieces. Personal Photograph by Colleen

O’Neill. 15 Apr. 2016.

At this point I encountered a road block once I realized that this topic

was too broad and vague for a thesis. I realized that this interest did not

specifically relate to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and found the conflict

itself intricately complicated and too large of a subject for me to work with.

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As I continued to narrow my research, I began to focus on domestic life

within the West Bank and Gaza territories. I soon became interested in

Palestinian home demolitions after a friend mentioned it, and from then on I

decided to look further into this aspect of the conflict.

Through my research I learned that the majority of Palestinians

undergoing home demolition are refugees. According to Amnesty

International, “Most of the houses demolished by the Israeli army in the

Occupied Territories [are] the homes of refugee families” (Under the Rubble

1). This was important for me to realize because it put Palestine into context

in relation to the rest of the world. I then realized that although the majority

of Palestinians live in poverty, the Palestinian State also has its poor, middle,

and high classes like various other countries.

I also discovered that the general reasons for home demolitions “are

done based on unlicensed housing, military/security needs such as suicide

bombings and other attacks against Israeli civilians also known as

destruction done for deterrence” (Amnesty International 1-2). Other reasons

pertain “to build or expand roads or other infrastructure for the benefit or

protection of Israeli settlers, also preventive measures as form of collective

punishment, and property destroyed in the course of combat activities”

(Under the Rubble 7-9). Although this text was written in 2004, I have found

these same reasons through other organizations such as The Israeli

Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) and B’Tselem. B’Tselem has

statistical lists on the destruction of Palestinian property, residencies,

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settlements and home demolitions within both the West Bank and the Gaza

Strip territories.

Another problem Palestinian refugees face are the embargoes placed

on construction materials in both the West Bank and Gaza territories. The

embargoes placed delay families from rebuilding their homes. Many of the

people left homeless, especially in the Gaza sector find difficulty rebuilding

due to this limited access of construction supplies. According to Reuters

Makeshift Homes Sprout in Gaza, back in 2015, “Around 150,000 families

[were] still homeless after last year's war between Israel and Hamas, in

which Israeli bombardment destroyed thousands of apartment buildings and

homes.” Reuters also states that many agencies “Rather than wait to rebuild

permanent homes… have decided to build temporary structures with

materials they can get.” Many of these families are left stuck in “temporary

housing” until the embargo is lifted. Regardless of who is in the right or

wrong, this deficiency of building materials restricts homeless Palestinians

from rebuilding their homes and as such their lives.

So for those getting by with what is available, resource availability is a

life impacting issue. Some Palestinians who experience homelessness never

fully recover to their original state due to these embargoes. I started

empathizing with their situation because my family and I had experienced a

similar misfortune during the 2008 market crash in the U.S. Except in our

situation, my family was the host family for two other families from my

mother’s side. Both families had lost their homes and turned to us for

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shelter. My father took on the burden of supporting 3 families including ours

for two years. As I read through testimonials, I thought about the loss of

privacy and the vulnerability that comes with homelessness. I began putting

myself in their shoes and contemplated how these refugees would

experience a complete shift in perceiving and relating to materialistic goods.

I was certain they would most likely hesitate towards becoming emotionally

attached to personal possessions in fear of losing them again. I started

asking myself how these people could go about trying to mend their lives

back together and what that process would look like. I considered how I

would go about visually interpreting an experience of someone hesitating to

submitting to closeness. Where would that person decide to put their hopes

and aspirations?

In my attempt to relate to them I began constructing my art. I decided

a way that I could personally relate to this problem from the U.S. would be to

restrict my own materials and only use scraps or found materials for my

piece. I thought this would be the most empathetic approach because I then

could personally embody the experience of remaking a home using limited

material. I upcycled whatever I could find and treated the material with care

but also with restraint. I started working alongside the themes of privacy

loss, vulnerability, hopelessness, struggle, impermanence, family dynamics,

loss of power, and feeling out of control. With time the project became a

comparison piece. As I continued reading up on the issue I became less

concerned with accountability and whether the demolitions were done

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rightfully or wrongfully so. I knew there would always be the average Joe who

suffers from the politics occurring around them, and for me, they were the

ones I felt the most concern for. When I started working based of these

limitations, I found myself utilizing the materials in unconventional ways. I

did not have power tools to resize the wooden pieces I found, so oftentimes I

would have to stack them or rearrange them in order to balance the piece.

Many times I was building “in the moment”, so to speak, because I would use

screws and mount temporary structures to hold up the parts that were too

fragile. At any moment they could have easily fallen over. I was now starting

to internalize my perception on the subject of Palestinian home demolitions

(see Figure 2).

Fig. 2. Final Artwork. Personal photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15 Apr. 2016.

Certain sections of the piece began embodying particular themes, one

being a reference to home and resisting attachment. An example is the

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makeshift curtain I made out of a scrap of cloth. I covered it with a red mesh

so it would allude to the defiance of personalization and closeness to home

(see figure 3). Another section in which these thoughts exist are found within

the flowered wallpaper collaged with a small drawing located by the

makeshift curtain. I strategically obstructed the wallpaper with strips of wood

so it would visually relate back to the resistance of becoming close to

something that may be taken away.

Fig. 3. Close up of Makeshift Curtain. Personal photograph by Colleen O’Neill.

15 Apr. 2016.

As I worked, I continued reading and learned that most homeless

Palestinians generally turn to their relatives or the international community

for shelter. This is a stressful situation especially for Palestinian women

because they are traditionally in charge of the home and children. According

to Under the Rubble, “When families are made homeless by the demolition of

their homes, women bear the brunt of rebuilding the home.” They often

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carry this burden because “for most women the running of the house is

mainly their responsibility or their primary activity” (Under the Rubble, 9).

When homeless Palestinian families turn to their relatives for refuge, their

relatives oftentimes “do not have sufficient space to accommodate an

additional family” (Under the Rubble 9). This places strain on both families

and makes it more difficult for the homeless Palestinian mother to

successfully attend to family concerns. By living in close proximity, the

hosting family will always provide unwarranted opinions to how their guest’s

family life should be managed. This leaves them with a deepened lack of

security and privacy for the family.

I could empathize with these difficulties as it was the experience my

family and I had during the 2008 market crash. In order to host so many

people within our home, we constructed a bedroom in the living room with

temporary plywood walls. I personally understand how this becomes an

additional burden for the host family and the strained loving relationships

that result from it because I have lived through it.

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Fig. 4. Close up of Finished Piece. Personal photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15

Apr. 2016

As I returned to my studio to hash out these ideas, I started

metaphorizing these concepts into my piece. I found that by having empty

spaces, and by having the structures lack sturdy physical walls, I could allude

to the fragility and insecurity that comes with being homeless. I started

purposefully creating makeshift walls out of cloth, cardboard, plaster cloth,

or feeble wood which does not make for a secure structure. I felt that this

openness and fragility symbolized the instability of somebody undergoing

this experience (see figure 4).

As I compared my personal experience with that of a Palestinian

refugee, I realized that a major difference between my experience and that

of the Palestinian’s is the accessbility to new housing. At least with my family

we could see an end to our situation sooner than later, whereas a Palestinian

cannot necessarily see theirs so clearly. According to the Los Angeles Times,

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the embargoes placed on materials entering these areas, especially in the

Gaza Strip, “has choked economic development in Gaza” (Gaza’s Dilema). Therefore this results in a basic financial difficulty and physical limitation on

access to construction materials necessary to rebuilding a home. I started

wondering how a family would attempt at recovering financially. I then

wondered if women were involved in the arts and crafts in order to raise

money for their families. As I started digging through research, it turns out

that they do.

The poverty and lack of governmental support by the governing bodies

in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip inclines many Palestinian women to

make and sell embroidery. According to Jerusalem Institute of Injustice, the

governing bodies in both the Gaza strip and the West Bank participate in

“the foremost violations of human rights… against Palestinians” (Hidden

Injustices, 5). So even when a homeless Palestinian turns to their

government, either to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank or the

Hamas in the Gaza Strip, they are not met with the financial support they

need. Therefore some refugee women turn to emboridery “as a way to

support their families while their husbands and male relatives [find] it

increasingly hard to find work” (The Telegraph). The current use of

Palestinian embroidery also works as an effort to continue their cultural

traditions. They use this as a way to not lose their cultural heritage as this

reinforces solidarity into their communities during difficult times. Many

women turn to cooperatives to sell their work, and according to Al Arabiya

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News, “[it helps] keep alive an artistic tradition that stretches back

generations and ties a far-flung diaspora to its homeland.” It is important to

note that the making of embroidery is also as a resistance to the Israeli

occupation. According to Mondoweiss, “theirs is a resilient act of keeping

alive Palestine’s cultural heritage and identity against the great, many odds.”

I saw these efforts as an additional sentiment that comes from experiencing

losing your home. Since I was interested in how people go about mending

their lives, I felt that embroidery is not only a synonym for healing, but also a

vehicle that carries out their sentiments and thoughts on their experiences.

Fig. 5. Close up of Chicken Wire. Personal Photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15

Apr. 2016.

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When I learned that homeless Palestinians turn to Palestinian

embroidery as a source of income, I felt it was important for me to tie this

aspect into my piece. Admittingly so, I was already attracted to incorporating

wire into my work and found the harsh cold aluminum of chicken wire to be

appealing . Once I worked it into my piece, I knew it to be a divider and as a

metaphorical restricting force (see figure 5). This further pushed the idea of

limited and confined spaces but also referenced the dividing wall that

separates Israel and Palestine. The moment I started weaving yarn into the

wire, I saw this section as giving way for a desire to free up clustered living

spaces. I saw the yarn as a mending force that attempts at dealing and

resolving internal conflicts a homeless Palestinian experiences after home

demolition.

If the chicken wire does also reference the wall, then perhaps the yarn

can also reference the graffiti used to personalize the wall. Perhaps the

graffiti then becomes the vehicle to humanize this enormous concrete

structure. As I continued contemplating the dichotomy between the act of

mending and resisting, I continued adding other instances within the piece

that exemplified this duality. These other instances exist in the weaving

between the wooden structures where cloth, wire, string or yarn was used

(see figure 6).

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Fig. 6. Close up of Cloth Enravelled into Wooden Piece. Personal photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15 Apr. 2016.

As I look back on these past semesters I have dedicated to this thesis, I

can tell where my efforts could have been improved or better directed. In

numerous ways I owe it to this program for giving me the opportunity to

learn and grow as an artist, but also for giving me the confidence necessary

to make a piece that is outside of my immediate reality. When I first

approached this project I desired to pursue a topic I knew I should be

informed about. I was curious and had many questions on the originality of

the conflict. This project has been an incredible challenge for me because

although I got to a creative place where I could work relentlessly, I know my

research skills could have been refined.

Whenever I think of what I could have done differently, I will always say

it is crucial to have a directed plan from the beginning. The best part is

although I did not have a structured schedule on approaching the research

and the work required, in the end I did left understanding what it takes. I

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eventually did end up gaining the dedication and self-direction I ultimately

sought for myself. I do admit I do not particularly feel that I am drastically

more educated about the conflict. The more I read, the more questions I

have, and the more I lose myself to this issue. I firmly believe a topic like

this, especially one that is easily skewed by media interests and has many

political interests, will always be a challenge to fully comprehend.

Works Cited

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Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. “Amid Israeli Restrictions on Materials, Makeshift Homes Sprout in Gaza.” Reuters, 19 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Close up of Cloth Enravelled into Wooden Piece. Personal photograph by

Colleen O’Neill. 15 Apr. 2016. Close up of Chicken Wire. Personal Photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15 Apr.

2016.

Close up of Finished Piece. Personal photograph by Colleen O’Neill. 15 Apr.

2016

Ezzedine, Hossam. “Palestinian Women Weaving a Living From Home-Grown Art.” Expat News. The Telegraph, 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

“Guide: Gaza Under Blockade.” BBC News. 6 Jul. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2016. Hidden Injustices: A Review of PA and Hamas Human Rights Violations in the

West Bank and Gaza. Jerusalem, Israel: Jerusalem Institute of Injustice. 2012. Print.

Palestinian Embroidery under Occupation. Dir. Balata Film Collective. Standard Youtube Liscense, 2007. Film.

Shakle, Samira. “Israel tightens its blockade of Gaza for ‘security reasons.’” Memo, Middle Eastern Monitor. 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property. Amnesty International. 2004. Print. AI Index: MDE.

“WBank Women Weave a Living From Traditional Art.” Al Arabiya News. 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Yamada, Shirabe. “Palestinian Women Sew for Change: Artisan Heritage as Cultural and Economic Empowerment Tool. Mondoweiss. 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Zavis, Alexandra and Sobelman, Batsheva. “Gaza’s Dilemma: Deadly War or Suffocating Israeli Embargo.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 23 Jul. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.