Higher education for Palestinian Muslim female students in Israel and Jordan: migration and identity formation

Abstract

The article investigates the migration of Palestinian Muslim women, citizens of Israel, to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem or to Jordanian universities for academic studies, and the influence of this migration on their norms, behavior and identity. Narrative interviews were conducted with Palestinian Muslim women graduates: eight from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and eight from Jordanian universities. Findings revealed that the women’s migration from their home communities to academic campuses involves issues of affiliation and identity; studies in Jordan constitute temporary cyclic emigration between two safe spaces, while studies in Jerusalem often involve alienation and foreignness. In both cases, higher education is a powerful force shaking up women’s lives. Following graduation, Hebrew University graduates remain in Jerusalem’s environs and migration to Jerusalem may become permanent. Higher education enables these women to engage with and confront identity issues, empowering them to reconsider their value and belief systems and relations with others.

Keywords:

• Palestinians
• Jordan
• higher education
• gender
• migration
• identity