Refugee Status, Permanent Residency, and Citizenship: The re-making of categories among Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem.

This article ethnographically examines how young Palestinian refugees in Shu'fat refugee camp, East Jerusalem, navigate Israeli state institutions to strengthen their claims to permanent residency amid ongoing settler colonial pressures and residency revocation policies. It highlights their use of tactics such as paying Israeli health insurance, engaging with employment offices, and learning Hebrew to demonstrate their "centre of life" in Jerusalem, thereby attempting to mitigate the risk of forcible transfer. The article also explores the complex and pragmatic considerations behind some youths’ applications for Israeli citizenship (jinsiyya), viewed as a technical legal status distinct from national belonging, aimed at securing a more stable future despite the political and historical implications. These strategies reflect a re-imagining of refugeehood and citizenship beyond international legal definitions, emphasizing lived experience and agency within a context of structural insecurity and discrimination.