Witness and martyrdom: Palestinian female martyrs' video-testimonies. Issue 3 (3rd July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hamamra, Bilal Tawfiq
• Is Part Of: Journal for cultural research. Volume 22:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 224
• Page End: 238
• Publication Date: 2018-07-03
• Subjects: Video-testimony -- martyrdom -- witness -- audience -- religion -- immortality; Ethics -- Periodicals; Values -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals; Intellectual life -- Periodicals; 306
• DOI: 10.1080/14797585.2018.1511941
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1479-7585

Abstract

ABSTRACT: During the second Intifada which started in 2000 and ended sometime in mid 2000s, Palestinian male and female martyrs used video testimonies, records and documents of death, using the first person pronoun so as to articulate their missions and justifications for carrying out their acts of martyrdom. This study, which focuses on Palestinian female martyrs' video-testimonies, investigates the elusive relationship between martyrdom and witness. I contend that the female martyr is a witness to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to the oppression and dehumanisation to which Palestinians are subject. Palestinian female martyrs are also witnesses to Arab leaders' weakness and their inability to defend Palestine. The act of martyrdom is a collective one, involving the martyr, the agent of narration and the audience. The audience, who bears witness to the martyr, is necessary for martyrdom to be recognised and to take place. I argue that the end of the martyr's speech marks out her silence and her transformation into an icon of resistance, heroism and sacrifice. The corpse of the martyr is transformed into the corpus of martyr's speeches and images that are disseminated by the audience who bear witness to the acts of martyrdom.