Abstract
As a requirement of life conditions today, many nations around the world speak several languages. This creates multi-social, cultural, and linguistic identities which bring about multilingualism. Multilingualism creates plurality within different societies and opens several doors in the world. Being with multiple identities also promotes awareness of multiple life perspectives and cultures of Palestinians, Bedouins, and Israelis. This diversity is explored through the narrative approach of autoethnography which serves to lay the foundation of this narrative. This approach mainly explores the life stories and personal experiences of an Arab Muslim Bedouin Palestinian Israeli girl, who speaks Arabic, Hebrew, and English. In this sense, this narrative illustrates the experience of a multilingual/plurilingual female whose literacy becomes a rich material for different audiences who might find this narrative a valuable lens to different contexts, geographical areas, gender, and age. This chapter is a valuable contribution because it overcomes various prejudices through life stories that develop an understanding and empathy for the lives afar, and eventually their lives matter.
TopChallenges Of Entering A Palestinian Elementary School
I was born to Awad, an Israeli Arab Muslim Bedouin father, and Hameeda, a Palestinian Muslim non-Bedouin Fallahi mother who loved learning although she could not write or read, except by writing her name. My father came from a very masculine conservative community while my mother came from an open-minded community, which believed that girls must be educated. I was lucky that this combination brought me to life to start my mission and journey that I was meant to fulfill. It was a blessing from God because I was raised differently with two different life styles and mentalities.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Bedouin: Is used to describe people who live in the Negev desert where their lifestyle is based on raising animals like sheep, goats, camels, and many domestic animals.
Intifada: Is an Arabic word that means shacking off. The concept is used to describe the Palestinian civil uprising that started its sparks in 1987.
Fallahi: Is an Arabic word that is used to describe villagers or persons who work in agriculture and who have fields from which the products provide the family with vegetables and fruit.
Numeric Banking System: Is a system used to enable students to collect extra points for purposes of learning and behaviour situation in the classroom.
Checkpoint: Is a location on the border between the Israel and Palestine where Palestinian passengers in particular are being inspected before entering the Israeli border.
Multilingualism: Is the knowledge of more than two languages that are spoken by a person who lives within two societies of more for the purpose of effective communication.
Plurilingualism: Another terminology for multilingualism that is based on the practice of mastering more than one language that is used to switch between multiple languages for different contexts for the purpose of communication on a daily basis.