ABSTRACT
The social determinants of health indicate that health and wellbeing is directly related to social factors such as stress, social exclusion, unemployment and opportunity for movement. In this chapter, miasma theory is applied to the context of Palestine where the geographical effects of occupation on children and families' wellbeing has been under-examined. Interviews with 18 Palestinian families revealed four factors contributing to the miasma of occupation in their neighbourhood communities: increasing settler violence, a childhood culture of conflict, distrust between Palestinian neighbours and the politicisation of neighbourhood communities. The history of the Oslo Accords epitomises the politicisation of neighbourhood communities. The first Palestinian intifada ended in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The chapter argues that these elements constitute the miasma of occupation, illustrating the damaging effects of structural inequalities on Palestinian children and families.
