Paper short abstract:

My presentation will explore daily life of Palestinians migrants in Istanbul. Vigorous support for the Palestinian cause by the AKP leadership disguises Turkish distrust of Palestinians who are equated with Syrians, scapegoats for local problems. How do Palestinians act to overcome such ostracism?

Paper long abstract:

Nowadays, the city of Istanbul lies at the intersection of different migration waves and religions, and which shapes people's subjectivities. Since 2010, the number of Palestinians is increasing quickly since the AKP leadership presents itself as the "natural" defender of Palestinians in the name of Islam, and therefore vigorously opposes current European, American, and Israeli policies. Most Palestinians in Istanbul are students, but they are also restaurant owners or workers who contribute to the "Arabization of the city."

As migrants in Istanbul, Palestinians have set up a certain number of solidarity and mutual aid networks with Arab population that influence their choice of homes, places to visit, friendships to cultivate, or employment to pursue. Certainly, these coalitions are the consequence of the local population's ostracism and racism. At the same time, Istanbul emerges as a place of fluctuation, where discourses and practices are both "contested, tilted and represented" (Foucault 2004, p. 15). Caught between a sense of belonging, a distancing, and an exclusion, young Palestinian migrants use Istanbul's social geography to forge new spaces where they can distance themselves (even if only partially) from the social, sexual, and religious norms of their community. Through these processes, forms of solidarity take root in some urban spaces, such as sociability or public spaces and organizations. Solidarity forms are not strictly based on origins but also on other affiliations, and they are profoundly rooted in the social structure/divides of Istanbul, involving Turkish sexual or ethnic minorities.