Contested Solidarities: Negotiating Transnational Solidarity Through Tourism in Palestine

This dissertation explores how tourism to Palestine functions as a contemporary mechanism for claiming what Edward Said (1984) called “permission to narrate.” Through contextual, placed-based analysis, the dissertation investigates how engaging with international visitors in Palestine presents Palestinians a unique opportunity to narrate by interweaving the visual, the tactile, and the discursive. While “solidarity tours” often operate under the assumption that “the facts” will speak for themselves, this research demonstrates that Palestinians are continuously narrating the political and material ramifications of “the facts.” Overall, the dissertation shows that engaging tourists is a strategic act of resistance embedded within a broader field of political struggle. I argue that while tourism can serve as a powerful medium for asserting Palestinian narrative and fostering solidarity, it also reveals the persistent hierarchies and complexities that shape who is granted “permission to narrate” on the global stage.