The maintenance of identity and transnational family ties across generations: The role of Palestinian mothers in Turkey

This thesis explores the practices and strategies Palestinian mothers use to maintain their Palestinian identity in Turkey and to continue doing family with their transnational family members. This thesis also focuses on the mothers' role in encouraging their children to preserve their sense of being Palestinian and to keep ties with their transnational family members. This thesis engages in discussions related to the literature on ethnic identities and transnational families by investigating these issues from the perspective of mothers. In this qualitative study, I employed semi-structured in-depth interviews with sixteen mothers who reside in Istanbul. I recruited these mothers through convenience sampling. These mothers vary in their birth country, the number of years they spent in Turkey, and their citizenship. I use the grounded theory approach to analyze the data I collected from these interviews. I then organized the finding into two sections, one related to the Palestinian identity and the other related to doing family. Regarding Palestinian identity, mothers used some strategies emphasizing the heritage Arabic language, Islamic identity, Palestinian food, and traditional clothes to preserve their and their children's sense of ethnic identity. Mothers also reported the practices through which they maintained communication with their family members outside Turkey mainly by using ICTs. They also reported many forms of support they exchange with their transnational family members. This study reveals some important aspects of the Palestinian community in Turkey and gives insights into the second generation of Palestinian immigrants.