Lived Reality as a Palestinian
By
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
1 August
2023
What
It Means To Be Palestinian: Stories of Palestinian Peoplehood
By
Dina Matar
London, United Kingdom: I.B Tauris & Co. Ltd
Pp214.
ISBN: 9781848853638
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The problem
and issue of Palestine is one of the longest running in our contemporary
history. It is a legacy of the British Imperialism and attained a stature of
intractable conflict with the creation of Israel that happened by displacing
the indigenous native population of Palestinians in 1948. They remember this
tragedy as Nakba and they commemorate it on 14 May, each year. Since the first
Nakba that is synonymous with the unjust creation of Israel, the Palestinians
have witnessed similar Nakbas during different phases of their
contemporary history. The Nakba hasn’t stopped for Palestinians but they are
made to live and relive Nakba throughout their lives. Millions continue to be
homeless refugees in different Arab countries and those who inhabit the
occupied territories of West Bank and Gaza of what now has remained of
Palestine, live in a perpetual fear of being rendered homeless by the Israel.
Exile and homelessness aren’t the only issues that are baffling Palestinians
but illegal detentions, torture, blowing the homes and even assassinations are
the gruesome realities that are a part of their daily lives.
The book as
the name suggests isn’t a text that deals with the historical or political
roots of Palestine issue, but its primary focus are the lives of the common
Palestinians, who have lived and experienced the ramifications and impact of
this conflict on their lives. In a way it is contemporary history of Palestine too
because Palestinians and Palestine Issue can’t be separated from each other.
They are so mired and entangled with each other that they overlap in any
discourse about Palestine. In Palestine Political is Private and Politics has a
deep impact on the lives of individual Palestinians. This book is a testimony
of the same fact.
In her
Preface of the book, Dina Matar explains the problems that are beset while
representing Palestinians. “First that Palestinian history tends to be viewed
solely in relation to Israeli history or narrative; and second that the story
of the Palestinians, as ordinary human beings subjected to violent forms of
power, remains a largely hidden one”. About the subject matter of the book Dina
explains, “This book seeks to ascribe agency to the Palestinians, not as
helpless victims of forces beyond their control, as they have often been
portrayed, but as actors at the centre of critical phases of their modern
history”. (P-xii).
In her
Prologue, Dina describes the stories that are related in chronological order
which correspond to certain phases in history of Palestine. These stories begin
with the revolt of 1936 against British rule in Palestine and end with the Oslo
Accords (1993). The book is based on the in-depth interviews and conversations
with the Palestinians that are spread across various countries and those who
inhabit the occupied parts of Palestine. Thus, this book is a contribution to
the oral history of Palestine issue. It tries to capture the complexities of
Palestinian experiences through personal stories. It is a testimony towards
reliving memory and what memory can do. From these stories no conclusions have
been drawn and only an epilogue has been written at the end that keep the story
of Palestinians open ended.
The book is
divided into five chapters. The first chapter, On the Road to Nakba: Palestine
as a Landscape and a People, 1936-48, describes various stories of Palestinians
who have lived that experience and how some Palestinians who left as small
children, continue to harp deep imprints of the exile and still long to return
but that longing and perpetual exile never came to an end. The ethnic cleansing
of Palestinians started with the creation of Israel as thousands were expelled
from their villages and lands that were illegally occupied through military
might by the Zionists. Some of the personal stories describe how the everyday
problems were resolved within a clan by a head and there was no need to
approach the courts for arbitration. Courts were approached only when problems
arose over land between Jews and Arabs. Mutual co-existence with the Arab Jews
was normal but when the migrant Jews came the problems started then only. Thus
the creation of Israel changed the whole course of lives for Palestinians.
There were Palestinians who thought this displacement was temporary and they
would go back to their native land again, but that desire and dream never came
true.
The chapter
second is titled, Living the Nakba: In the ‘Perilous Territory of Not
Belonging’, 1948-64. It relates the stories of Palestinians whose severance
from their land and places structured and shaped their tragic experiences.
Their longing for their native land continued with the hope that they will
return back one day, but with each passing day the hopes and chances of
returning got diminished. This chapter also describes the stories of
Palestinians living in Israel and the writers living in Israel who contributed
to the Palestinian resistance.
Raising the
Fedayeen: Between Romance and Tragedy, 1964-70 is the title of the third
chapter. It describes the birth and evolution of Al Fatah as an armed insurgent
wing of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the romance gun and armed
insurgency brought with it. It describes the story of Laleh Khalid the young
guerilla who hijacked an aeroplane. This period witnessed a vibrant women
activism and their active participation in resistance movement. Becoming a
Fedayeen was romantic and dream of most youth. But this period wasn’t without
its downfalls. There were clashes and skirmishes between Palestinian guerillas
and Jordanian army. Resistance lost its vibrancy and women too were retrograded
to oblivion. Pessimism dawned on the resistance movement, and many resistance
cadres were arrested or detained. Now the survival in jails became a priority
and thus a new generation of children of resistance was born.
The fourth
chapter is titled as Living the Revolution: Living the occupation, 1970-87. It
describes the decadence and loss of the two decades of gains that Palestinian
resistance had achieved. It describes the trauma and memories associated with
this decadence. It describes the lives of Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon,
Israel and in occupied Palestinian territories. In a brutally honest manner, it
describes how the Palestinians were killed by Syrian army when they fell out
with PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat. The situation in Lebanon was no
different. Palestinians were killed and rendered homeless by Lebanese state
too. The common Palestinians were disillusioned with policies and stance of
Yasser Arafat who according to them left them in lurch and helpless in Beirut.
The Palestinians criticize the armed struggle for the miseries it brought in
its wake that included the internecine battles among various Palestinian
groups. The lack of empathy of Palestinians for each other added insult to
injury.
Children of
the Stones: Living the First Intifada is the last chapter of the book that
describes the resistance of new political motivated young generation of Palestinians
who resist the Israeli occupation through stones. It then describes the
culmination of what is known as the First Intifada in the form of Oslo accords.
A brief reference to suicide bombing that characterized the second intifada
with the Hamas coming to the fore and the armed insurgency became vibrant
option again, is too described at the end of this chapter.
Overall,
the book is an important contribution to the oral history of Palestinians and
it provides a rare insight in the lives of the ordinary and other important
Palestinian individuals. The author needs to be congratulated for her efforts
and pain sticking research in transcribing in black and white the experiences
that Palestinians went through over these many decades. Despite the book ending
at year 1993 and more than two decades have passed since then with many new
stories and oral history that needs to be documented now, but that doesn’t
reduce the worth of the book. It is an essential read for anyone having an
interest in Palestine conflict. The stories of the book meticulously describe
the impact, influence and ramifications the conflict of Palestine has over the
people of this land. It documents and analyses the different problems;
Palestinians face in different lands. It is truly a recommended read and any
student or scholar of Palestinian history can hardly afford to miss this
book.
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M.H.A.
Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir
URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/lived-reality-palestinian/d/130345
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