Everyday life in the face of conflict: Sumud as a spatial quotidian practice in Palestine

By drawing from the engagement with the empirical case of sumud (Arabic: steadfastness) in Palestine, this article focuses on the social and political implications of everyday life in conflict settings. Proposing an alternative perspective on conflicts, this article argues that it is important also to focus on normalcy of everyday life in conflict settings and how this transforms conflict dynamics. Hence, contrary to the assumption that there is an opposition between the normalcy of everyday life and violent conflicts, this article argues that everyday life is not disrupted but that it goes on also in the face of conflicts, it only has to adapt to it. Building on Stephen Lubkemann’s concept of ‘culturally scripted life projects’, this article will show how the attempt to pursue a regular life unfolds in an everyday setting in order to escape the predominant conflict/resistance frame. In addition to sumud as an individual practice this article highlights the broader social and political role this concept assumes in the context of Palestinian nationalism. In order to illustrate this argument, this article presents sumud as a spatial quotidian practice which is primarily aimed at realising culturally scripted life project in the face of the Israeli occupation.