In the 20 years that I have worked in research in the occupied territory with Palestinians, the stories of frustration and despair, as well as, at times, resignation and hopelessness, have been a constant.
Other recent articles on The Conversation have shown that the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is desperate and creates a great deal of despair.
Ali (not his actual name), a newlywed man living in a refugee camp in the West Bank, said to me during my last fieldwork in 2023: “We have no more to lose.”
Ali told me his grandparents lost their land and all their belongings in 1948 when the state of Israel was created and many hundreds of thousands of
The camp is overcrowded. In the summer, there is often a lack of water and, in winter, electricity. I’ve heard of Israeli soldiers raiding camps to find militants and shooting or arresting people. I’ve also seen graves. Western media reports on such occurrences.
In my research, I noticed that checkpoints surround Ali’s settlementAli’s. Ali’s Palestinian ID card means that he cannot work in Israel unless he is granted a difficult-to-obtain work permit. Ali’s only option is to look for work locally and accept a low-paying job if he can find one.
Ali was too young to vote in the 2006 national Palestinian election.
My research indicates that people who are threatened by a future they do not want to see are not without ambition. In fact, an overwhelming sense of resignation can create hope, which may appear improbable to outsiders or even as a fantasy.
In the words of social anthropologist Michael Jackson, “When any society […] does not offer hope, cares for its members, and actively prevents them from participating in it, those people will withdraw their interest and investment, and look elsewhere to find an illusion.”
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu coined the term “illusio,”” which refers to an interest in a game. Bourdieu believes that illusion is what gives life meaning (and direction) by encouraging people to invest in the game they are playing and the future. People are often not rational actors but “passionate gamers.””
Illusio refers to a controlled or limited uncertainty. The actor must have a chance of winning, but it cannot be total or nil. In a West Bank camp, my previous research found that certain activities involved investments and hope. For example, reading Koranic verses to predict a future Palestinian win or imagining a return to villages that seemed politically impossible.
A man stands next to a damaged building in the West Bank, which was caused by Israeli forces in September 2023. Zuma/Alamy
Illusio can also be expressed through violent acts. You can speak of illusion violence, which is a gamble with your own life or that of others to gain symbolic capital, such as self-respect and dignity.
Social anthropologist Ghassan Hague has, for example, described Palestinian suicide bombers as individuals who gain personal status, honor, and recognition through self-destruction. Illusio can help us understand how Palestinians cope with despair.
People who gamble with their lives or the lives of others rely on a false sense of violence. They hope that by using violence, they can bring about change, even if there are few chances to win. Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades can also be involved in gambling, as they risk their own lives by shooting at Israeli soldiers, throwing Molotov cocktails at them, or destroying Israeli checkpoints and settlers’ cars.
Risk-taking replaces hopelessness
We must understand but not excuse their actions. The hopelessness in Gaza may have led to people taking risks to try to gain self-respect, even though they had little chance of success.
The Al-Qassam Brigades rocket attacks and military invasion that killed hundreds of Israelis on October 7 may appear irrational. This is because of the enormous power imbalances between Israel’s army and Palestinian armed groups.