Dima Alsajdeya, doctoral student in international relations

Have you always been interested in the links between Egypt and Palestine ?

In my case, I'd say it's an accumulation of several factors that led me to these themes. I grew up in Palestine and lived through moments that have marked both the history of contemporary Palestine and my personal life. I was there at the time of the second intifada and then of the Palestinian division following the legislative elections in 2006. I therefore experienced Israeli curfews and military incursions. Throughout this period, Egypt and its mediation were omnipresent. At one point during the Egyptian revolution of 2011, notably during the commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba in May, I remember being struck by the sight of the Palestinian flag flying in the demonstrations. Analyzing the duality of Egyptian politics, sometimes hidden and sometimes apparent, has become a necessity for me.
I believe that interest is never the product of an instant. The reason that leads a researcher to engage in such sensitive terrain is either a scientific interest in the subjects dealt with, or in the countries concerned, or simply both. Sometimes it's also a desire to make a personal contribution to a cause.

How is your research work organized ?

My current research is divided into two main themes. The first focuses on Egypt's role in managing the Israeli-Palestinian question between 1981 and 2011, then during the revolutionary and post-revolutionary periods. I am interested in the moments of rupture and continuity in Egyptian policy towards the Palestinian question. More specifically, I focus on the influence and functions of Egyptian intervention on the issues of interpalestinian reconciliation and the " de-escalation " between Palestinian political factions and the Israeli authorities, and on the cross-cutting issue of the settlement of the Palestinian question. The second theme of my research concerns power in Palestine. I try to analyze the sources of power, its mechanisms and practices. Power and resistance to political domination have never really been the preserve of elites or institutions. On the contrary, they can be found in multiple and more complex forms and domains, sometimes even in the daily lives of Palestinians.

Which discipline do you belong to ?

I work at the Contemporary History of the Arab World Chair, headed by Prof. Henry Laurens. We're not all historians. Most of us come from a multidisciplinary background, combining history, political science, political sociology and international relations. My research is in the field of international relations. We work both on archives and on information gathered in the field, such as interviews, working documents, analysis of speeches and so on. History helps to inform and guide this empirical research.

How do you work with Prof. Laurens ?

At the moment, we're working together to prepare his next lecture - - on the crises in the East between 1949 and 1965. I usually assist him with this annual lecture, especially in providing documentation, but that's where my role ends. I'm more involved in the Chair's other activities, which concern the dissemination of research and the management of conferences, colloquia and study days. For example, we're planning several scientific events with different partners over the coming year.

How would you describe your day-to-day work as a researcher ?

The days depend on the time of year. Right now, most of my time is devoted to finalizing my thesis. However, depending on the time of year, I'm often called upon to prepare lectures, presentations at conferences, publications, and above all to organize all the activities I carry out within the Chair.

For your thesis, foreign sources are important. Isn't it difficult to access them ? Which documents are concerned ?

Access to Palestinian and Egyptian administrative and institutional sources is a major issue. There's no doubt that they would have been invaluable. However, access to them is extremely delicate. An investigation in Palestine is carried out not only under military occupation, but also in an authoritarian context. We are confronted with the superimposition of institutions, the lack of conservation of archives and sometimes their destruction by the Israelis. If we look at what's happening on the ground, we see the prevalence of security apparatuses, which puts Egypt and Palestine on the dangerous side. For me, there's another constraint : investigating at home is far from an easy mission, as proximity to one's own terrain implies other constraints and influences the sensory and lived experience.
For part of the thirty years of Hosni Mubarak's presidency, I based my research on French archives. I have therefore replaced these Palestinian and Egyptian documents with those of an actor, admittedly less involved, but who makes it possible to obtain the same, or similar, information incidentally. American and Israeli archives are also sometimes very interesting. There are, of course, interviews with inside and outside protagonists, whenever possible. I also looked at the Arab, French and English press. Finally, there's what's known as " grey literature ", corresponding to a range of documents produced by various players, both institutional and private. This is what can be done, even without access to direct sources.

What are the stakes and possible consequences of researching such topical events ?

I would think of this question more in terms of importance. I would say that the importance of the work we carry out at the Contemporary History of the Arab World chair can be measured on two levels. In terms of knowledge, it lies in our ability to document precisely what happened in a past that is actually very present. Although, of course, these analyses are likely to take a completely different direction. In countries where archives are almost non-existent, a detailed study of events can partially fill the gap.
The second plan, probably more practical, concerns the understanding of subjects that are part of people's lives in the Middle East. The majority of states in this geographical area are, let's not forget, authoritarian. The circulation and verification of information is sometimes an impossible task.
Accessible scientific research can help public opinion to grasp the country's stakes and the region's strategic issues. On a subject like that of my thesis, I think there is a duality in Egyptian politics that deserves to be understood in all its complexity.

What is your vision of Egypt's current place in the great geostrategic recomposition underway in the Middle East ?

I'd say that Egyptian politics, during the period of Hosni Mubarak's presidency that I'm studying, has seen moments of continuity and rupture, both on the Palestinian question and on other issues. There was adaptation and pragmatism in the decision-making process. The Egyptian regime's primary objective was to preserve its central position in the Arab world. This role was thwarted after the signing of the peace treaty with Israel in 1979, which led to its expulsion from the Arab League for ten years. What is interesting to note is that one of the main ambitions of the Egyptian state since the 1980s, over and above maintaining the regime, has been to maintain Egypt's prestige and its vocation as a regional power. Today, it is struggling to find a role that seemed to be "   " and "   " at one point in history.

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Dima Alsajdeya is a research associate at the Contemporary History of the Arab World Chair held by Prof. Henry Laurens. She is also a doctoral student at the Thucydides Center at theUniversité Paris - Panthéon-Assas, co-directed by Pr Julian Fernandez and Pr Henry Laurens. Her thesis focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian question in the Egyptian foreign policy of the Hosni Mubarak regime (1981-2011).

Photos © Patrick Imbert
Interview by Aurèle Méthivier