ON THE BORDER: A Palestinian–Bedouin Woman in War and Academia

Two kilometers from Gaza, a Palestinian–Bedouin professor begins her mornings in quiet prayer, tending to her garden as rockets arc across the sky. By afternoon, she is in a classroom, teaching Jewish and Arab students in one of Israel’s most politically charged academic spaces. By night, she is a mother and grandmother, carrying memories of Rafah, tribal traditions, and a childhood shaped by crossing invisible lines.

In On the Border, she tells the story of a life lived in tension, between tribe and state, between loyalty and suspicion, between war and scholarship. Accused of betrayal by some and normalization by others, she refuses the simplicity of choosing sides. Instead, she insists on complexity, on dialogue, and on the moral courage to hold multiple truths at once.

Through vivid scenes of childhood in Gaza and her fight to enter university in a society that told her girls should stay home, her rise to become one of the first Bedouin women professors in Israel, and her experience of October 7th from the edge of war, this autoethnography reveals the intimate cost of living at the seam of history.

At once deeply personal and politically urgent, On the Border is a story of resilience, intellect, motherhood, and the quiet strength required to remain human when every side demands allegiance. It is a rare and necessary portrait of what it means to live and to think between worlds.

Author

Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail, Ph.D., is a Professor of Social Work at Sapir Academic College and a leading scholar on Bedouin society, gender, social justice, and conflict. She serves as Chair of the Committee for the Advancement of Arab Students and the Promotion of Fairness and Partnership between Arabs and Jews on the Sapir campus, and heads the National Center for Knowledge, Policy, and Research on Bedouin Society in the Negev. Dr. Alhuzail is also a Board Member of the European Social Work Research Association and an international lecturer with the Israel Institute. 

PRAISE FOR ON THE BORDER

On the Border is a compelling and thoughtfully written account that weaves personal narrative with scholarly reflection to illuminate questions of identity, education, and perseverance under constraint. With clarity and nuance, the author traces a life shaped by family, culture, and academic pursuit, resisting simplification while holding multiple truths in productive tension. This book will resonate strongly with readers interested in education, gender, and the lived realities of academic life in contexts of marginalization.  Collins B. Bugingo, Assistant Professor, Seed Biology & Technology Program, Cornell University, USA

Professor Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail opens up new perspectives on the lived experience of Palestinian-Bedouin women in Israeli society and the academy. The book is rich in its exploration of the complexity and ambivalence of emotions, experiences and thoughts surrounding the social work in a time of ethnic cleansing and genocide.  On The Border militates against simplistic narratives through the depth of its reflection on the connection between the personal and the structural. Kris Clarke, Professor of Social Work in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland

This book is an indispensable and timely addition to the ongoing debates of the causes, impacts, and solutions of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. As a member of the Bedouin society in Israel, her personal account of growing up in Gaza as a woman provides a unique perspective on Israeli-Arab living experiences in this contested land. Readers who seek to understand viewpoints from Israeli people of different ethnicities and their approaches to interpreting and coping with daily events at this historical juncture will benefit from her authentic and vivid narratives. Kenneth C. C. Yang, Professor, Department of Communication, The University of Texas at El Paso, USA

I often found myself wondering what it truly means to live as a woman in Bedouin society in Israel—beyond headlines, beyond assumptions. I did not have a clear answer. I do now. On the Border offers a rare and deeply insightful window into that reality, capturing the intersections of gender, culture, education, and conflict with honesty and intellectual depth. It is a powerful and necessary work that will inform and endure. Krishna Bista, Professor, Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership and Policy, Morgan State University, USA

“A unique and enlightening perspective on the journey of a Bedouin woman navigating a changing and challenging society.” Alan Frazier, Professor in the Department of Aviation, University of North Dakota, USA 

The world is increasingly familiar with representations of what it means to be an Israeli or Palestinian during past and current conflicts. What is missing from such accounts is the positioning of minority groups who co-exist in these circumstances but whose histories are often missing from conventional narratives. This collection successfully addresses this issue by focusing on the experiences and roles of Bedouin women in Israeli society. What emerges are moving, insightful personal and social observations that highlight important intersections between gender, age, ethnicity and religion and a critical time of conflict and societal challenges and change. The book will be essential reading to students and scholars who want to understand these largely hidden life stories, to gain a more comprehensive account of Israeli society.' Jim Campbell, Emeritus Full Professor of Social Work, University College Dublin, Ireland

On the Border  is an important and timely contribution that combines personal narrative, scholarly insight, and lived experience with remarkable depth and authenticity. Rooted in memory, culture, and place, the book offers a compelling account of resilience shaped by the complexities of identity, gender, education, and conflict. Through honest and nuanced reflections on her journey from childhood in Gaza to becoming one of the first Bedouin women professors in Israel, Alhuzail illuminates the challenges of navigating multiple social, cultural, and political worlds while remaining committed to scholarship, family, and community. What makes this work especially powerful is its refusal to simplify difficult realities; instead, it embraces complexity and humanity in ways that will resonate deeply across disciplines Krish Jayachandran, Distinguished University Professor and Co-Director of Agroecology Program Earth and Environment, Florida International University, USA

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