Researcher Annelien Groten, from CEI-Iscte, recently published an article in the Journal of Peasant Studies entitled “Fishing in Gaza: Between Cultural Endurance and Everyday Resistance”.
The article explores the fishing sector and the life of fishing communities in the Gaza Strip before the genocide, analysing their rich culture, forms of organisation and the obstacles they face in maintaining their livelihoods and ways of life. Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City between 2019 and 2021, the author demonstrates that, for decades, the daily struggle of fishermen and fisherwomen to remain at sea and preserve their lifestyles and traditions has been a form of daily resistance to Israeli oppression — an expression of the Palestinian concept of sumud (perseverance).
Through first-hand accounts, the study not only offers an in-depth insight into a hitherto little-explored topic, but also contributes to documenting and preserving Palestinian ways of life and traditions on the verge of disappearing.
The full article can be read here.