The Enkidu Summer Conference 2008: Storytelling, Memories and Identity Constructions

México City, 3 - 7 July, 2008

Sartre and Beauvoir in Galilee

Magid Shihade

University of California at Davis

Sartre and Beauvoir are often associated with Europe and the West in general. Most importantly, they are hardly known for their involvement in the Arab politics and society. They are both known for their socialist, progressive and feminist theorizing and activism. Yet, there is little know about their visit and trip to a small village in Galilee, Israel. In the wake of news about a Palestinian Arab village in Galilee that performed a non-violent resistant to Israeli military in the 1950s and 1960s, both Sartre and Beauvoir among other European intellectuals and activists visited the village of Kafr Yassif to learn about the status of Arab citizens in Israel. They spent few days in the region and met with local leaders and residents and discussed the local conditions of the community, the Arab-Israeli conflict and other political issues.

This paper aims at telling the story of the incident and the history of the village as well as the larger community, and what made both intellectuals and activists visit the village, as well as their impressions on the local and the regional condition. This work is part of my research on the Palestinian Arab community in Israel, and it is based on field work that I conducted over the last few years that included archival work, as well as interviews with local leaders and residents.

The two issues that will be highlighted is the history of that community that is often misrepresented in the West within the academy and beyond, and to discuss the transnational and international involvement of Sartre and de Beauvoir in the Arab society—in Israel/Palestine in particular.

About Magid Shihade

Magid Shihade had pursued his academic studies in Israel, Germany, and the United States He has completed his B.A. in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, M.A. in International Studies at the University of Washington, and Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Middle Eastern Studies. His research interests are sectarian violence, nationalism, and colonialism in the Arab World and in the Arab American Communities and the transnational linkages between the U.S. and the Middle East. He teaches a course on Modern Middle East at Berkeley City College, Naval Postgraduate Academy, Monterey, and course on 9/11 at the UC-Berkeley. He has published articles in the Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), and in publications such as Men of the Global South, among other places. He is member of Resistance Studies Network, and serves on the editorial board of Resistance Studies Magazine.