Occupied from within: Embodied memories of occupation, resistance and survival among the Palestinian diaspora

This article explores the relationship between the body, memory and past violence. Drawing on the narratives of Palestinians who grew up in the occupied Palestinian territories, but who are now living in Poland and the UK, it examines how their bodies serve as vehicles for remembering their life under occupation. These memories of harassment, control and fear, which are mediated through their bodies, reveal the all-encompassing character of the Israeli occupation that has accompanied them through their childhood and adolescence. This article examines how these ‘body memories’ continue to affect participants' present, arguing that the memories of past violence need to be considered when analysing how migrants transition to new environments. The article closes with a reflection on the subversive potential of migrants' affective bodies as sites of ‘counter-memories’ that speak against the ongoing practices of Palestinian dispossession. These arguments are based on a two-year, multi-sited ethnography, which included oral histories from three generations of Palestinian refugees and migrants, as well as their descendants, who are now living in Poland and the UK.