Certain basic social characteristics are unique to all Palestinian society, regardless of religion or domicile. Undoubtedly, the family is the primary social unit, but not just a nuclear family; it is always a family which is extended in the plural: the appropriate term for this extended family is hamula, a veritable family network whose members can be very distantly related.

Members of a hamula who identify themselves as being of the same family often number in the thousands. Social ceremonies such as weddings and funerals serve to bind members of the hamula together, as do economic ties. On the level of a single family, bonds are solid and it is rare for children to leave home before marriage. Usually, one of the sons stays with his parents while the others settle down nearby, adding additional housing to the family home. The women, on the other hand, join the husband’s family, very often relatives, members of the same hamula, or at least from the same village or neighbourhood. Most homes house one family (parents and children); however 28% of the families in the West Bank are extended ones, in which case the paternal grandparents, and single brothers or sisters, as well as widows or widowers, live in the same house. This is especially common in villages, where traditional structures are stronger.

The Palestinian society is young: the average age is 16. Couples have an average of 6 children per couple (5.4 in the West Bank and 7.4 in the Gaza Strip) and on average more than 7 people live in one household. The birth rate is variable from one city to another and sometimes from one neighbourhood to another. Jerusalem has the lowest birth rate (3.9 children per family), while the highest rate is 6.8 children per couple in the cities of Gaza and Hebron. Traditionally, there is a preference for boys.

The eldest son guarantees the continuity of his family line and gives his parents a new social status. If a boy’s name, for example, is Khaled, his father is called Abu Khaled, the father of Khaled; his mother is called Um Khaled, the mother of Khaled. In Muslim families, people recite the call for prayer (athan), which includes the profession of faith, in the ears of the new-born baby. A few hours or a few days later, boys are circumcised. It is also quite usual for Christian families to have their children circumcised, too.

Important ceremonies

Marriage is a major event in Palestinian society. The decision is mainly made by the future spouses, but members of the family (parents, brothers and sisters) also express their opinion. This consultation is usually a formality, but it must not  be neglected. Other practices are, in contrast, dying out; this is the case of double marriages (badal), when a man (A) marries a woman (B) and that woman’s brother (C) marries B’s sister (D), i.e. a brother and sister marry the brother and sister of another family. One other such marginalized tradition is polygamy: this concerns less than 4% of all couples, while this was common two generations ago. Nowadays, polygamy is more a subject for ridicule than a current practice.

When a death takes place, the muezzin announces it from the top of a minaret, even if the deceased person no longer lives in the country. The ritual which accompanies death reunites the whole family, as they come together. For three days, the family receives relatives, friends and neighbours (’aza). The women receive their visitors in the residence of the deceased while the men get together at the home of a close relative (a son or a brother). When the time comes for the funeral, only the men (Muslim or Christian) take the deceased to the cemetery. On the fortieth day, there is a special ceremony to mark the end of the period of mourning (ta‘bin).