Paper short abstract:

The paper traces the history of the Afro-Palestinian community of Jerusalem. While the first generation arrived in a time of permeable borders, their descendants struggle with complicated regimes of nationality and statelessness.

Paper long abstract:

The Afro-Palestinian community of Jerusalem's old city consists of second, third and fourth generation Palestinians of African descent, who have migrated from such places as Chad, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. The first generation arrived in Jerusalem between the late 19th century and 1948 and they undertook the journey for a variety of reasons, with the majority travelling to complete the Muslim pilgrimage to Mekka. Travelling or migration was perceived as a catalyst for social mobility, either through education or economic advancement. The paper contrasts the stories of the first-generation Afro-Palestinians and other travelers from West Africa who passed through Jerusalem in the same period, with the struggles of the contemporary community with statelessness and the administrative regimes of citizenship of Israel and Jordan. Through contrasting these different narratives, the paper discusses shifting concepts of borders, citizenship and sovereignty. The paper is based on interviews with members of the community conducted in 2018, the works of German Africanist Rudolf Prietze who travelled to Tunis, Cairo and Jerusalem extensively between 1897-1914, as well as a few accounts in the very limited academic literature on the Afro-Palestinian community.