On Saturday, Nov. 1, UW-La Crosse hosted Fulbright scholar Heidi Morrison. Her presentation depicted the quest to fully grasp one of the most defining conflicts of the 20th and 21st century through the eyes of some of the most understudied persons in harm – the children.
Morrison completed a 10 month Fulbright scholarship in Palestine. While being granted a leave of absence by UW-L from her job as Associate Professor of Modern Middle East History, her research in this area of continuous conflict aimed at expressing the voices of children affected by the clash of Israeli-Palestinian views. Her presentation morphed from a flowing narrative to relatable coffee-shop conversation. The crowd consisted of mainly Fulbright Alumni. One spectator observed that this presentation illuminating the effects of ongoing conflict in the Middle East gathered the largest audience of Fulbright Scholars he had seen.
This growing conflict was sparked by a Zionist movement, which entailed Jews escaping Europe to find a new home, that being Palestine. The Zionist movement was unaware of any civilization that encompassed their new home, and coined Palestine as “a land without a people, for a people without a land.” The only problem with this slogan is that the area was not in fact a land without people, and Palestine, a place considered by Jews as their historic homeland, was already occupied by a majority of Palestinian Muslims and Christians. The differing ideals created the struggle for land and power that is still being fought today.
Morrison, who was taken aback by some of her experiences, elaborated on her research, “I seek to tell this story through the lens and perspectives of the voice of Palestinians who grew up during the second intifada,” a period of intensified conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians that lasted from 2000 to 2005.
This “harsh reality” that children in Palestine are subjected to, as Morrison stated, is the result of the wars waged by adults in noncombatant zones, which undoubtedly puts youth at increased risk. Through Morrison’s past few summers spent in Palestine, she was able to acquire different outlooks on Palestinian “dehumanization” of children and the staggering numbers of child deaths not only in Palestine, but worldwide.
“It’s been estimated,” Morrison said, “that 150 million children have been killed in wars since the 1970’s.”
Completing this research was anything but comfortable, and Morrison’s journey can provide insight on relatively unknown topics. As an American, she had difficulty entering Palestine on her three month visits, with constant fear of being denied a visa. Morrison left the occupied territories and successfully avoided the bag search by Israelis used to seek and destroy any information related to the Palestinian history or Palestinian National Movement. With uncovering information of this magnitude, her work is often subject to scrutiny.
“I see myself as just reporting what I see,” Morrison responded, “and even if you look at just 10% of the reality, you’re going to be affected and moved by what’s happening to these people.”
Morrison’s research has now appeared in leading international journals at Johns Hopkins and Cambridge. She is set to teach a course on the history of Israeli Palestinian conflict at UW-L this spring and awaits the release of her book, titled “Children and Colonial Modernity in Egypt.”