Palestinian Values

Family Solidarity 

The Palestinians’ political experience and reality have served to further strengthen family ties. With no real government-sponsored social safety-net, and with the lack of a functioning economy or enough independent government institutions or even enough banks to provide home or student loans, Palestinians have had to rely on family and neighbors to fill the gaps. The family serves as the primary source of identity and extended families live together in compounds or villas divided into apartments for all male sons and their families.

Family identification and solidarity can be seen as the one traditional structure to have survived the Nakba. Even in refugee camps, far from their villages or towns of origins, Palestinians continue to live, work and socialize within the confines of the family. Many men from the Occupied Territories or refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries often leave behind wives and young children to work in the oil-rich Gulf States. They send money home to support the extended family. And these extended families pool their resources and provide for each other when money is needed for medical reasons or for college expenses.

Palestinian children are raised with a keen sense of responsibility to family members. Older parents and grandparents rely on the financial support and care of their children and grandchildren. Though this responsibility usually lies with the eldest son, it can typically be borne by those who are most financially able or by the family as a whole.

Hospitality

A guest in a Palestinian home will never want for food or warmth.
Palestinians place a high premium on generosity and hospitality, as does Arab culture in general. Palestinian homes are always ready to receive an unannounced guest with food, sweets and Arabic or Turkish coffee. Visits with family and neighbors are commonplace, often occurring once or twice a week.

Honor

As in other traditional societies, a family’s honor is often reflected in the virtue of its women. Modesty and chastity among women are key values. But this notion has changed over time. Education, highly valued in Palestinian society for both men and women, brings honor to a family. Connection with the land, a prized and diminishing resource, is another source of honor. Steadfastness and service to the people and the cause of Palestine are perhaps the greatest source of family honor today.