The Setting: Bourj   Al   Shamali   was   founded   in   1948   as   a   temporary   camp   for   Palestinian   refugees   coming   mainly   from   the   agricultural   regions   of   Tiberias   and Hawla.   Now,   over   half   a   century   later   and   housing   22,000   people,   it   has   taken   on   the   air   of   an   overcrowded,   unplanned,   permanent   city,   with   five times   the   original   inhabitants   occupying   the   original   site   run   by   the   UN.   The   dogma   of   its   temporariness   remains   unquestioned   even   among   its third-   and   fourth-generation   residents,   who   dream   still   of   returning   to   their   villages   and   farms   in   Palestine,   now   Israel   –   for   some   just   35   kilometers away   from   the   camp   where   they   reside.   This   insistence   on   the   camp’s   temporary   nature,   central   to   the   status   of   a   refugee,   has   for   more   than   six decades yielded a long and persistent refusal to create any urban amenities in the camp. Though   the   inhabitants   of   Bourj   Al   Shamali   regard   themselves   as   an   agricultural   people   -   as   evidenced   by   the   many   painted   murals   in   the   camp   - there   are   no   public   green   spaces   there,   nor   do   they   plant   crops   that   might   supply   some   of   the   camp’s   food   needs   and   thereby   sustain   their traditional   link   to   the   land.   Few   plants   are   grown,   even   for   pleasure,   and   the   only   green   spaces   are   a   few   trees   scattered   in   a   sea   of   concrete.   The lush   private   fields   where   many   camp   residents   work   as   seasonal   workers   all   lie   beyond   the   camp's   perimeter.   The   feeling   in   Bourj   Al   Shamali   has long   been   that   the   planting   of   crops   or   trees,   which   literally   involve   the   act   of   putting   down   roots,   would   seem   to   imply   an   acceptance   of   the   camp’s permanence.   Yet   the   tragic   consequence   of   this   is   that   the   camp   has   become   an   unrelievedly   dense,   increasingly   unlivable   urban   environment, while   each   successive   generation   of   camp   dwellers   has   had   an   ever   weaker   connection   to   the   agricultural   life   that   remains   so   centrally   enshrined   in the   community’s   self-image.   In   a   symbolic   way,   they   are   undermining   their   right   of   return:   if   they   were   ever   to   be   restored   to   the   land   they   cherish, they   would   not   know   how   to   look   after   it.   As   a   collateral   consequence,   diets   are   worsening   and   cases   of   malnutrition   have   increased.   To   add   a further   level   of   complexity,   large   numbers   of   Palestinian   refugees   from   Syria   have   now   moved   into   Bourj   Al   Shamali.   The   arrival   of   these   twice-over refugees   has   resulted   in   a   deterioration   of   the   already   overcrowded   living   conditions,   and   raised   new   questions   in   the   camp   about   different   notions and identities of being a Palestinian refugee.

Students:  Helene Denise, Marie Høgevold, Mette Kristoffersen, Miriam Kvaleberg, Emilie Mendiboure, Ola Mo, Stian Nærøy, Adèle Pariset, Andrea Rosengren, Ingeborg Svalheim, Xiaoxiao Zhang, Zheng Zhou, Oreste Kamanzi, Noah Stutchbury, Mikala Kjær, Illia Marynin Staff: Christian Hermansen Cordua, Solveig Sandness, Tone Selmer-Olsen, Håvard Breivik