Nell Gabiam

Nell Gabiam is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Political Science at Iowa State University. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology in 2008 from the University of California, Berkeley. From 2004 to 2006, she conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the Palestinian Refugee Camps of Ein el Tal, Neirab, and Yarmouk in Syria. More recently she has conducted fieldwork in Lebanon, Jordan,Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Sweden on Palestinians who have been displaced by the ongoing war in Syria.

Focus Refugees

Focus On: Palestinian Refugees

May 13, 2017

This collection of some of the most compelling pieces Al-Shabaka has published contextualizes and discusses the unique difficulties of Palestinian refugees displaced across the Middle East – from becoming refugees a second or third time due to the ongoing Syrian civil war to over-researching camps “famous” for tragedy while under-researching other refugee situations and exile communities.

Policy Brief Refugees

Palestinian Refugees From Syria: Stranded on the Margins of Law

October 19, 2015

Al-Shabaka policy analysts Mai Abu Moghli, Nael Bitarie, and Nell Gabiam analyze the effects of the war in Syria on Palestinian refugees through a succinct, country-by-country analysis of the legal and social obstacles they face. They examine the discriminatory legal framework that is being applied to the Palestinian refugees from Syria by Arab countries as well as by the international community, and underscore that the Israeli government’s denial of the right of return of Palestinian refugees – in violation of international law - is a major factor in the current vulnerability of the Palestinians of Syria.