PYC · Palestinian youth at the crossroad: comparative perspectives on Palestinian transnational youth politics

This research project explores the political potential of contemporary Palestinian transnational youth activism in the United States and Europe. It compares student political engagement namely by examining the formation and development of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) during what is regarded as the “golden age” of the Palestinian revolution (1960s-1970s) with contemporary initiatives, efforts and strategies of mobilization amongst Palestinian youth in Diaspora. By implementing both cross-generational and transnational comparative frameworks, this project provides a comprehensive mapping of youth and student experiences in the U.S. and Europe in order to evaluate what kind of initiatives are emerging and what capacity they hold in re-structuring the Palestinian national movement. By looking to the past through a historical continuum that has molded present day Palestinian youth activism, this project proposes that new futures can only be made through methodologies that tether together time and space. How have Palestinian new generations responded to the political transformations that have informed the Palestinian as well as the regional and international scenarios? Is there space for Palestinian youth to contribute to the revitalization of a paralyzed national movement, within a transnational framework able to appreciate the diverse socio-political, economic and cultural backgrounds that characterize contemporary Palestinian society?This project address these questions by providing a comparative analysis of two different political moments of Palestinian history, the pre-Oslo and the post Oslo periods. This comparison allows the understanding of how youth politics has evolved over time and across space and what mechanisms can or cannot be reproduced within the broader Palestinian political context. In doing so, the study will allow new, empirically-based, deductions on the general state of Palestinian politics and its future perspectives