Palestinians In Syria: Nakba Memories Of Shattered Communities
by Anaheed Al-Hardan /
2016 / English / EPUB
1.7 MB Download
One hundred thousand Palestinians fled to Syria after being
expelled from Palestine upon the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948. Integrating into Syrian society over time, their
experience stands in stark contrast to the plight of Palestinian
refugees in other Arab countries, leading to different ways
through which to understand the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, in
their popular memory.
One hundred thousand Palestinians fled to Syria after being
expelled from Palestine upon the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948. Integrating into Syrian society over time, their
experience stands in stark contrast to the plight of Palestinian
refugees in other Arab countries, leading to different ways
through which to understand the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, in
their popular memory.
Conducting interviews with first-, second-, and third-generation
members of Syria's Palestinian community, Anaheed Al-Hardan
follows the evolution of the Nakba―the central signifier of the
Palestinian refugee past and present―in Arab intellectual
discourses, Syria's Palestinian politics, and the community's
memorialization. Al-Hardan's sophisticated research sheds light
on the enduring relevance of the Nakba among the communities it
helped create, while challenging the nationalist and patriotic
idea that memories of the Nakba are static and universally shared
among Palestinians. Her study also critically tracks the Nakba's
changing meaning in light of Syria's twenty-first-century civil
war.
Conducting interviews with first-, second-, and third-generation
members of Syria's Palestinian community, Anaheed Al-Hardan
follows the evolution of the Nakba―the central signifier of the
Palestinian refugee past and present―in Arab intellectual
discourses, Syria's Palestinian politics, and the community's
memorialization. Al-Hardan's sophisticated research sheds light
on the enduring relevance of the Nakba among the communities it
helped create, while challenging the nationalist and patriotic
idea that memories of the Nakba are static and universally shared
among Palestinians. Her study also critically tracks the Nakba's
changing meaning in light of Syria's twenty-first-century civil
war.