Chapter 1
The Transformation of Palestinian Society:
Fragmentation and Occupation
Salim Tamari
Introduction
The present level of living conditions study is the first contemporary attempt
to present a social and demographic profile of Palestinian society in order
to isolate its dynamic variables for the purpose of analysis, comparison,
and social planning. The society it describes is one that is dispersed over
several social formations and communities, its fragmentation being the product
of successive wars (most notably the war of l948 and the June war of l967)
with the Israelis. The condition of exile, which has affected more than
one half of Palestinians, has stamped the collective consciousness, cultural
trends, as well as the political behaviour of Palestinians throughout the
Middle East and in the diaspora.
The purpose of this chapter is to present the socio-historical context of
the material discussed in the survey. The focus is on those segments of
Palestinian society which came under Israeli control in 1967. Collectively
those segments (with the Galilee) contain the largest global concentration
of Palestinians today. Data for 1991 indicate that a full 42% of all Palestinians
live in the occupied territories and in Israel (18.6% in the West Bank and
Jerusalem, 10.8% in Gaza, and 12.6% in Israel).1 The bulk of the rest are
distributed in Jordan (31.6%), Lebanon (5.7%), Syria (5.2%), and the rest
of the Arab world (7.7%).2 This pattern of dispersal is particularly crucial
for our analysis in this survey, not only because the future of the Palestinians
is being determined on part of their historic land in the current peace
negotiations, but also because these territories constitute a historic continuity
with Mandatory Palestine of the pre-1948 period.
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