Was there ever a Palestinian 'nation'?
Palestinians lack true national identity as theirs mostly characterized by
hatred towards Israel
Ofir Haivry YNET Published: 06.29.07, 06:54 / Israel Opinion
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3418074,00.html

The growing political and cultural rift between the Arabs of the Gaza Strip
and those residing in Judea and Samaria has stirred debate about the
possibility of establishing two separate political entities and the future
of Palestinian nationalism in general. Yet perhaps we should be asking
whether there ever really was a Palestinian "nation"?

In many places in the world, arbitrary borders set by colonialist powers
define a "nation" that do not exist in practice. Is there such thing as a
Sudanese "nation" or Iraqi "nation"? Or are we talking about a collection of
tribes, groups, and even nations possessing vastly different ways of life,
religions, and values that has been gathered together by chance and who are
paying a bloody price for this to this very day?

The borders of British Mandatory Palestine too were set, just like the case
with its neighbors, on the basis of colonial interests. In many areas, the
border was drawn in a rather random manner. Had it been performed a little
differently, would the Arabs of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon become
Palestinian? Would the Arabs of Tarshiha in the Galilee be Lebanese? Are
residents of Trans-Jordan, which was initially part of Mandatory Palestine
and a few years later became the Kingdom of Jordan, Palestinian or
Jordanian?

During the less than 30 years of the existence of this Mandate, from which
the Palestinians draw their name, no significant indications were to be
found of a united national identity of their own. The leader of Mandate
Arabs was the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, who viewed himself as a pan-Arabic
leader, imposed his rule through the persecution and assassination of his
rivals, and headed a loose alliance of clans, tribes, and local interests
that were mostly united by hatred towards the Jews, and to a lesser extent
towards the British.

Illusion of national identity

Hence, in the bloody clashes of 1936-1939, where the Arabs seemingly fought
the British (and of course massacred the Jews,) more people were killed in
intra-Arab violence than at the hands of the British. Similarly, in
1947-1949, the Arabs fought against the establishment of the Jewish state in
a disorganized and separate manner, in various locations, such as the
Jerusalem mountains, the Galilee, Jaffa, and so forth.

Following the Mandate's end, it is even more difficult to find a united
national activity or perception, aside from the hatred of Israel. Under
Egyptian rule in Gaza and Jordanian rule in Judea and Samaria, there were
neither substantial cultural development attempts nor national activity or a
demand for the establishment of a state in those areas. The only objective
that aroused support and stirred activity - and saw the establishment of
Fatah and PLO to that end - was the establishment of an Arab country in
place of Israel.

After 1967, the unification under Israeli rule created an illusion of
national identity. Yet the characteristics of Arafat's leadership replicated
those of the Mufti - one-man rule focused on hostility to Israel, and based
on regional and clan calculations alongside the persecution and
assassination of rivals.

Arafat's death and Israel's withdrawal from Arab population centers revealed
that forced unification and hostility towards Israel are apparently the only
characteristics of the Palestinian "nation." Perhaps when a state existing
within superficial borders has been in place for a long period of time,
there is a point in maintaining it without genuine national identity. Yet
Mandatory Palestine ceased to exist about 60 years ago and hatred towards
Israel is no substitute for national identity.

This conclusion should prompt us to ask new questions regarding the
conflict's essence, ways of addressing it, and possible objectives.
----------
Dr Haivry is a fellow at the Shalem Center's Institute for Philosophy,
Politics, and Religion