ABSTRACT
One of the most complex and seemingly intractable political controversies at this time is the Arab-Israeli conflict At the center of this conflict lies the Palestinian question. Although relevant history stretches back more than a thousand years, this article begins with a brief sketch of the specific events that forced Palestinians to leave their homeland and become refugees in 1948, as well as pertinent history to the present. One woman refugee's story focuses on the transformation of her refugee identity over time: the initial coming to awareness as stigmatized refugee, accepting the refugee identity, developing refugee pride, and finally the death of her refugee identity as replaced by a growth of identity as a Palestinian woman with a right to and determination for statehood. Last, current refugee (and non-refugee) life under Israeli occupation is described. Women and girls of the Occupied Teiritories have been empowered by participation in the intifada, the Palestinian uprising, which has also served to transform their identities from victim to survivor.
