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Khaled Nusseibeh
Palestinian Jerusalemites do indeed have a sense of the past.
Arguably, any people do. How can we begin to define the
Palestinians’ sense of history? And can we speak about the existence
of a collectively shared sense of the past?
In a
sense, it is an objective statement to say that Palestinians are a
people with historical belonging to the land of Palestine. It is,
moreover, objective to observe that Palestinians share the Arabic
Language and an experience of history that dates to biblical and
pre-biblical times.
The mistake is sometimes made whereby Palestinian history is viewed
as having a beginning in the Arab-Islamic conquest of the lands of
Syria and Palestine in the 7th century. Perhaps the
processes of conversion to Islam and cultural Arabisation began
then- yet Palestinian history by no means started then.
Palestinians are an Arab, predominantly Muslim people with varied
ethnic and cultural genealogies and who have inhabited Palestine for
countless centuries (1). The various ethnic and cultural genealogies
are attested to by the names of its hamlets and towns and through
the archeological ruins that communicate a dazzlingly rich history
of awesome and modest happenings alike.
The
Palestinian, irrespective of his/her level of education, has a
sense- intensified by the assaults on his/her land and identity- of
belonging to a national community. But this national community
accommodates other affiliations and identities such as the Jordanian
national identity, the Lebanese national identity, the American
national identity, etc.
This
writer belongs to a segment of Palestinians who are aware of their
being Arab and Palestinian, but who equally underpin this national
belonging to a belonging to the community of Islam or the Ummah of
Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him).
What does
belonging to the Ummah of Islam mean? It means respecting,
cherishing, and honoring one’s homeland and the near and distant
kinship ties. However, it also means feeling a sense of brotherhood
with all who profess the faith of Islam and who bear witness that
there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger.
This sense
of brotherhood/sisterhood transcends the boundaries of politics,
ethnicity, geography, language, social standing, etc. Because it is
a communal belonging that is based on the sense of our divine
origin, the God who created mankind, the universe, the homeland, and
history.
The
Palestinians are a people with a land, with a history, with a faith,
with a struggle, and with a future (God Willing).
Bibliography
(1)
Nakhleh, Issa; Encyclopedia of The Palestinian Problem;
Intercontinental Books, NY, V. 1; 1991; p. 1
June
5, 2000
Mr.
Khaled Nusseibeh is a translator and writer. He currently manages
the Ubada Center for Writing and Translation Services in Amman. Born
in Amman in 1961, he obtained his BA and MA from Columbia and
Princeton Universities, respectively. Mr. Nusseibeh, who originates
from Jerusalem, specialized in Near Eastern Studies with a focus on
Islamic thought and studies.
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