Le temps de traverser le pont

Abstract

The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the territorial fragmentation it induces have multiple consequences : they disrupt the relationship to space, as well as the perception of time for Palestinians. This article aims at studying some of the effects of occupation on the relationship between time and perception of time for the Palestinians, through their experience of crossing the Allenby Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan. Relying on previous studies on the Israeli check points, stories of crossing and ethnographic observations, I show that Palestinians construct, through this crossing, a specific temporal experience, meaning the experience of the dispossession of their time. In particular, I focus on how they try to rationalize and reorder this temporal experience, which is also the experience of their own vulnerability.

Keywords

• temporalities
• waiting
• border
• Allenby Bridge
• Palestinians
• occupation