Fieldnotes from Jerusalem and Gaza, 2009–2011

Written by a humanitarian aid worker moving back and forth between the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem over a two-year period (May 2009– June 2011), the observations in these “fieldnotes” highlight the two areas as opposite sides of the same coin. Israel “withdrew” from Gaza and annexed East Jerusalem, but both are subject to the same degree of domination and control: by overt violence in Gaza, mainly by regulation in East Jerusalem.

ELENA N. HOGAN has been active with fair trade and humanitarian aid work in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2002. In 2006–2007, she lived in Ramallah, where she worked as an nongovernmental organization project coordinator while completing field research with the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy. From 2009 to 2011 she worked in the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as a humanitarian aid operator. She is currently based in Bologna.