Transgenerational trauma and collective resilience: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of settler-colonial violence among three generations of Palestinian refugees

Abstract

Background: Palestinian people have endured collective dispossession and social suffering for 74 years from the so-called Al-Nakba (Palestinian catastrophe). Aims: The present exploratory work sought to analyze experiences of settler-colonial violence over three generations of Palestinian refugees. Methods: Forty-five participants (Mage = 44.45; range 13–85) were recruited via snowball sampling and interviewed to explore their understanding of transgenerational and collective trauma. Interviews were analyzed through thematic content analysis, resulting in four emerging themes distributed among the three generations. Results: The four themes encompassed (1) The impact of Al-Nakba, (2) Hardships, challenges, and quality of life, (3) Coping strategies, and (4) Dreams and hopes for the future. The results have been discussed using local idioms of distress and resilience. Conclusions: The Palestinian experience of transgenerational trauma and resilience depicts a portrait of extreme trauma and endurance that cannot be reduced to the mere nosographic collection of Western-informed psychiatric symptoms. Instead, a human rights approach to Palestinian social suffering is most recommended.

Trauma predicts the desire to migrate and psychological well-being via belongingness and quality of life among Palestinians.

“…Mainstream research looks at belongingness as a buffer to trauma symptoms, while in our sample case, trauma symptoms appeared to compromise both general belongingness and quality of life as well as belonging to the place. Thus, community, family and ethnic systematic separation and removal constitute one of the aggravating factors for Palestinian individual and collective trauma (Veronese et al, 2023). The West Bank to Israel separation wall, the territorial jeopardization due to settler-colonial violence, and the separation between the three main occupied Palestinian territory (West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem) contribute to instilling a colonial and historical trauma that diminish the sense of belongingness to a Palestinian identity undermining such a sense of unity that might constitute MAHAMID, VERONESE, AND BDIER 6 an essential buffer for mental well-being (Menzies, 2019;Sousa et al, 2019).…”

“…Mainstream research looks at belongingness as a buffer to trauma symptoms, while in our sample case, trauma symptoms appeared to compromise both general belongingness and quality of life as well as belonging to the place. Thus, community, family and ethnic systematic separation and removal constitute one of the aggravating factors for Palestinian individual and collective trauma (Veronese et al, 2023).…”