Palestinian Identity through the eyes of Defining historical moments

8/7/2019 Palestinian Identity through the eyes of Defining historical moments

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13 th Feb 2011 Tedros Addisalem Balema

Palestinian Identity

What is a Palestinian? For the past one hundred and fifty years, historical Palestine has been

under a wide range of rulers. From the 15 th century up to 1924 we see that Palestine was under

the Ottoman Turkish sultanate. From 1924 to 1948, Palestine was under a British mandate; a

euphemism for colonial rule. However due to subsequent wars after the 1948 partition, Israel

expanded its holdings in Palestine to the point where Palestine is left only with the Gaza strip

and the West Bank. In these dramatic years the identity of Palestinians and the question of what

does it mean to be Palestinian is brought into question. This leads me to my conjecture:

Palestinian identity is a product of adaption and evolution to points in history called defining

moments.

A defining moment is a moment in history which has had a significant impact on the

course of life in an area. Before one speaks of defining moments, one must look at the idea of

identity. The idea of identity is an ‘interesting’ concept merely because it is a completely

artificial construct which is constantly evolving. Going back to the Ottoman period, the area that

we today call Palestine and Israel was referred to as part of ash-Sham ( م ا ش (ل 1. Ash-Sham or

Greater Syria included the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian

Occupied Territories. What separates Palestine from the rest of the Levantine states? It isn’t

culture and neither is it language, nor habits, nor history. The ideas of a Palestinian and not a

common Shammiyye-Levantine-Ottoman identity would come not from within but from the

outside world. The first defining moment to me would be Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of

Egypt and the Levant from 1798 to 1801.

The French didn’t only expose the Egyptians and the Levantines to French military

power but also how large the gap was between the West and the Ottoman Empire as a whole.

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The invasion, however brief, sparked a fire in the Ottoman world. This was the immediate cause

of the era of the al-Nahda ( ة) ض ه ن ل2 . This was an intellectual renaissance in the Ottoman-Egypt

and the Levant. Scholars were sent from these regions to France to study sciences and political

thought. One important scholar to note at this period was Rifa'a al-Tahtawi. Al-Tahtawi, an

Egyptian imam sent to Paris with a group of students by Khedive Muhammad Ali, learnt French

and translated many works from French into Arabic. Tahtawi translated a wide range of texts

such the French Constitution and the Arabization of the French Civil Law 3. Such translations

from Tahtawi and other intellectuals brought a wide range of ideas from Europe into the

Ottoman realm. One such idea was the concept of the nation-state.

This idea of the nation-state and nationalism is vital to understanding many identities

formed in the past century. The nation-state means that the culture/ethnicity of the people living

an area defines the national character of a geographic area that they live in. The defined

geographical borders came in 1924, under the British Mandate for Palestine. After the First

World War, the central powers lost their empires including the Ottoman Turks. What was left of

the Ottoman Empire was partitioned between Britain and France, this mean that ash-Sham was

partitioned between France and Britain through the treaty of Sykes-Picot . Sykes-Picot basically

was two officers drawing up the modern-day borders of today’s Middle East. Under the Article 7

of the League of Nations Mandate , there was to establishment of a new, separate, Palestinian

nationality for the inhabitants 4. This article officially meant that the Palestinian people were

supposed to have an independent state, however when the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was read

out in 1920, 1500 Palestinians rioted and demonstrated in the streets of Jerusalem. Why were

they protesting, one would ask? The terms of the Balfour Declaration promise the

“establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” 5. This, naturally, was

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Palestinian Arabs which entailed: restrictions on the sale of land from Arabs to Jews, limitation

and regulation of Jewish immigration by the Arabs, and a state in the next decade governed

proportionally by Arabs and Jews. Although these aren’t exactly what many of leaders of the

1936-1939 revolt would have wanted, actually no Arab would accept such conditions since it

meant legitimising the Jewish presence, but it is a significant concession and a guarantee of

independence from the British in the next decade. One could say that the riots were the physical

birth and manifestation of the Palestinian national identity. There was a common idea among the

masses, a common enemy and the sentiment that those who were rioting/protesting were

resisting for their country and national identity. Once could say this was Palestine’s first fullscale nationalistic revolt. With this in mind I would give the definition of Palestinian identity for

the next seventy-five years in one word: resistance.

The 1948 partition plan was also a defining moment in the region. The partition plan

basically meant there was to the creation of a separate Jewish state and an Arab state. This

partition plan was not looked at positively by any of the parties involved. The Palestinians were

truly infuriated by this, since a disproportionate amount of land was given to the Jews. The Jews

by 1948 only legally owned 7% of the land but were going to get 56% of the land by the partition

plan and were a minority in the region 8. This unfair partition was totally unpalatable to the

Palestinian population since it infringed on their dignity as a sovereign people; with this in mind,

it was not surprising that the first Arab-Israeli war erupted. Although the fighting was

destructive, it was the consequences of the conflict that cause the Palestinians the most harm.

One consequence was the Yawm an-Nakba ( ة ب ك ن ل م و The Yawm an-Nakba, Arabic for ‘day .(ي

of catastrophe’, was the mass displacement of Palestinians from areas where the Israel had taken

over. There were quite a number of massacres in many of these Palestinian villages by the Israeli

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military or by paramilitaries. One such example would be the massacre at Deir Yassin in 1948.

These massacres and the subsequent exaggerations of the casualties of these massacres by the

Israeli authorities in the reports created a situation of panic for many Palestinians living in those

regions. Rumours of the Haganah coming to one’s village scared many Palestinians, since the

Haganah has earned a reputation for being brutal, causing many to flee from their homes. This

mass displacement of Palestinians leads to the formation of refugee camps. Although they are

exiled from their homes, which are now inhabited by mostly Israeli Jews, many exiled

Palestinians can remember exactly where their families lived before 1948 9.

This is a serious emotional connection, this links with an identity marker which I call the

Destitute Palestinian. The Destitute Palestinian is an identity of those who have lost their home

and lands to the Israelis and have virtually no hope of returning. One of the markers of human

dignity is that one has a home that they can live in with pride. The Destitute Palestinian doesn’t

have a home he can be proud of; he lives in the squalor of a refugee camp. There he lives in

squalor constantly lamenting the life he once had in his hometown/village before the Nakba. This

emotional identity has quite a number of symbols representing the Nakba such as olives; which

is the staple of the Palestinian fellahin and symbolises the loss of farm land. The other symbol is

the key, symbolising the day when the Palestinians would be allowed to go back to their homes.

This tragedy would forever be part of the Palestinian narrative and identity, where the feeling of

the loss of a home would the source of pain and anger towards the Israelis.

Moving away from the Nakda, we also see the second consequence: the division of

Palestine. Since Israel managed to expand its territories the Palestinians became split into three

different sorts of Palestinians based on geographic regions. The different sorts include: the West

Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians in Israel. The Palestinians from each other because the

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state of Israel has cut them off. In terms of identity, the Palestinians were defined by which

region they were living in. These regions were cut off from each other until 1967. The 1967 war

or the Six Day War connected the Palestinians. Although the Six Day War led to Israel taking

over the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, this

actually ends up connecting all the Palestinians together. Since all the Palestinian territories

(excluding the Sinai) are under Israeli jurisdiction, the Palestinians are able to commute between

regions. With the Palestinian state gone, the Palestinians now have a common absolute enemy.

With a common enemy we see a new common identity: the Palestinian trying to free his

homeland. Not only have the Palestinians lost their state, a second Nakba: Naksa occurs. TheNaksa meant a larger number of displaced Palestinians forced to live as refugees in neighbouring

countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.

What is also damaging is that the Six Day war was a humiliating defeat for the Arab

world. Palestinians also self-identify as Arabs as well, hearing that the Arab powers of the region

were single-handedly beaten by Israel is humiliating by any standard. This humiliation would

burn into the hearts of the Palestinians as unforgivable, not only does he feel that he must free his

land but it is also a matter of personal pride as an Arab. With the physical, psychological and

emotional damage from the Israeli victories the Palestinians have found another identifying

factor: the destruction of Israel (or at least getting Israel to return Palestine to 1948 borders). As a

result, quite a number of movements emerged as a result of the Israeli victories.

Ironically, although Israel had taken over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip it

reawakened Palestinian nationalism. Between the years 1948 and 1967, the Palestinians had to

rely on the neighbouring Arab states as places of refuge. Often Palestinians living in the

neighbouring Arab states would often be obliged take up the identity of the states they fled to, for

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example in Syria, many Palestinians became Baathists and in Egypt many became Nasserists 10.

However when the Arab states were defeated in the 1967 War, the Palestinians saw that the Arab

states weren’t capable to defeat the Israeli occupation and realized that the only way for Palestine

to be free of Israeli occupation has to be a Palestinian initiative. One identity that also died with

the Arab defeat was the Pan-Arabist. The Pan-Arabist was someone who believed in a unified

Arab world as a political, or at least as a social construct. Many Palestinians felt the nationalistic

urge to join the many Palestinian Liberation parties, such as Fatah, the Popular Front or the

Democratic Front and fight against the Israeli invader. One has to take note that these resistance

movements were, for the most part, secular. These movements were more accurately soft secular,meaning that the parties did have a religious flavour.

1987 was the year of the First Intifada, another defining moment in the history of

Palestinian identity. The first intifada was the first general Palestinian uprising against the Israeli

occupation. During the mid-80s the Israeli government was following a policy of the “Iron Fist”.

This policy included the economic integration and increments in number of Israeli settlements in

the Occupied Territories, including increased Israeli military which would assume a more de

facto form of annexation. When an Israeli tank transport ran into a group of Palestinian youths

from the Jabalya refugee camp, killing four and injuring seven, it was the trigger. This trigger

highlighted many of the grievances that many Palestinians have as a society had to endure under

Israeli occupation: extrajudicial killings, mass detentions, house demolitions, deportations, etc 11.

The repressive situation was so bad for the Palestinians that it was a crime, punishable by death

to even raise the Palestinian black, white, red and green Palestinian flag.

Alongside demographic and social-economic factors, the riots went underway. The

Intifada was not an armed uprising; it was mostly youths demonstrating against a brutal

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occupation. However the Israelis would not tolerate any disobedience from the Palestinians and

replied with excessive force. Although the Intifada didn’t produce any results, the consequences

were quite great. One consequence was that it showed that by engaging the Israelis directly,

rather than relying on the authorities or the assistance of neighbouring Arab states, the

Palestinians were able to demonstrate their identity as a separate nation. The unified stance of

resistance against a foreign oppressor contributes greatly to the Palestinian identity due to it

being an event of where Palestinians were rising up for the sake of their own dignity. For thirty

years the Palestinians have had to endure the humiliation of losing their homes, seeing the Arab

world virtually turn their backs on them and subject to the brutality of Israeli occupation. Thisalso ties into the identity of resistance that has been a prevalent theme throughout the modern

history of Palestine.

A more aggressive religious flavour was going to enter the dynamics of Palestinian

identity. Religion has always been part of the Palestinian identity. During the Ottoman period,

many Palestinians had overlapping identities where their religious identity (Christians, Muslim,

Druze and even Jewish) overlapped with their Shammiyye and Ottoman identities. Although

religiously inspired parties haven’t really been a significant rallying entity. The main religious

political parties in Palestine were mostly the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots; however

they never were popular until 1987.

In 1987 more aggressive Islamic movements grew out of the Israeli occupation. One such

movement was the Islamic Jihad, which has been in the picture since the late 70s. The other is

Hamas ( س ا ) an offshoot of the al-Ikhwan ,(ح و Essentially the two parties have very .(خ

similar ideologies: they believe in the destruction of Israel as a state and the restoration of the

“true faith” to the Muslim world. What separates them is the priority in which the two objectives

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take in their agendas. Hamas is far more popular in comparison since it takes the destruction of

Israel as a greater priority. To many Palestinians, already under the brunt of Israeli occupation,

the appeal of the destruction of the apparatus that oppresses them is very great. These parties

brought in the “jihad” element behind the Palestinian resistance-identity. Hamas as a major

military resistance movement was demonstrated in the defining moment of the year 2000: the

Second Intifada.

The Second Intifada was a far more violent uprising than the First Intifada. The Second

Intifada was the result of general Palestinian discontentment at the Oslo Accords of 1994,

although the Oslo accords didn’t treat the Palestinians as an independent sovereign people,

Palestinians expected the conditions of the Oslo Accords to be fulfilled. Some of the conditions

include the right to self-determination, the withdrawal of Israeli military personnel from the

Occupied Territories, regional development and economic cooperation. However the situation on

the ground was completely different, the Camp David II Negotiations had broken down. The

PLO, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance and other groups got the Palestinians to

violently riot against the Israeli government using tactics ranging from guerrilla warfare, to

suicide bombings, rocket/sniper attacks and direct demonstrations 12. The Second Intifada was

significant to the Palestinian identity since it was the first all-out violent uprising and military

confrontation against since the 80s. Although it ended with Israeli military victory, the Second

Intifada resulted in the Israelis leaving Gaza to Hamas and then blockading it but the feeling of

resistance was re-ingrained into the Palestinians, especially the youth.

In conclusion, the Palestinians have been through a lot in the past two centuries. They’ve

have seen invader, after invader, and although they have been under so oppression, the

Palestinian identity has never been compromised. The Palestinians have always felt they are

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Palestinians because of common experiences such as the Mandate, the Nakba, the Naksa, the

Israeli occupation and the Intifadas. At the moment, the Palestinians are under three main types:

West Bank Palestinians, Gaza Strip Palestinians and Israeli Palestinians. Besides the being

currently identified by where they’re living, they’re divided by what parties they’re affiliated

with. The Palestinians have no clear leader to lead them against the Occupation and because of

the conditions of the Occupation many have given up. However, despite the Occupation and their

current strife the Palestinians will remain to be Palestinian constantly adapting to the situation of

the times.

Bibliography

1. Salmon, Thomas, and Herman Moll. Modern History ; Or, the Present State of All Nations:Describing Their Respective Situations, Persons, Habits, Buildings, Manners, Laws and Customs, Religion and Policy, Arts and Sciences, Trades, Manufactures and Husbandry, Plants,Animals and Minerals. London: Printed for James Crokatt ..., 1725. Print.

2. Meisami, Julie Scott, and Paul Starkey. Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature . London:Routledge, 1998. Print.

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Palestinian Identity through the eyes of Defining historical moments

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