Complicity, Dissent, And The Palestinian Intellectual

Authors

Sa'ed Atshan, Swarthmore CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2019

Published In

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature And Culture

Abstract

In this article, I draw on the major works of two Palestinian intellectuals—Edward Said and Hanan Ashrawi—and I compare the experiences of Palestinian intellectuals living in the United States with those living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. The writings of these two exemplary figures shape the conceptual underpinnings of my exploration of the way Palestinian academics navigate questions of complicity with the different hegemonic political systems that govern their lives. I argue that Said and Ashrawi model a steadfast refusal to be complicit in the state-led repression around them at the same time as they engage in principled dissent from their own national institutions in the name of a broader vision of universal emancipation. Yet, Said and Ashrawi embody two distinct modes of intellectual and political activity, shaped by their relative proximity to Palestine. The critical difference between their forms of dissent reveals how, for Palestinian-Americans, engagement with the question of Palestine is discursive and intellectual labor, while for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, it can require interfacing one’s body directly with the coercive apparatus of the state. In both cases, however, the Palestinian intellectual faces systematic assaults on his or her academic freedom.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Sa'ed Atshan. (2019). "Complicity, Dissent, And The Palestinian Intellectual". CLCWeb: Comparative Literature And Culture. Volume 21, Issue 3. DOI: 10.7771/1481-4374.3549
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-peace/13