Introduction

"Palestinian history started in 1964." The one who uttered those words was not an Israeli, but a man with Palestinian roots. Mossab Yousef, the former Israeli spy, parroted the famous Israeli talking point in his Palestinian English accent. During the debate at Oxford University, Mossab didn't bother to present his case. He spoke with arrogance, using his Palestinian background as a sole authority on Palestinian history.

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The founding of the PLO in 1964

Arab leaders gathered to unify all Palestinians under a single organization, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Palestinians praised the event as a step toward unity and national recognition. The Israelis saw it as a conspiracy to invent a new nation from people who called themselves Arabs, not Palestinians. The PLO's role as the first official representative of the Palestinian people necessitated, among many other things, structuring existing concepts and identities. Defining ideas doesn't invent them. All modern countries formalized their national identities at some point. Palestinians didn't discover a new identity on May 28, 1964.

Palestinian identity before 1964

The British Mandate of Palestine (1920 - 1948) occasionally mentioned Palestinian Arabs in its reports. Famous figures like George Lee (1937) and Carlos Romulo (1948) described the community as “the people of Palestine”. A more rooted description appeared in the 19th-century writings of the Zionist leader, Ahad Ha'am, when he referred to Palestinian Arabs as natives. The term "Filastini" (Palestinian) itself appeared in the early 1900s in newspapers and literature. Khalid Beidas, a 19th-century writer, self-identified as Palestinian almost a hundred years before the PLO. Another Palestinian writer from the 17th century, Khairuldin Al-Ramli, described Palestine as "our homeland" three centuries before the creation of Israel.

Palestinian Arabs, the people of Palestine, natives, and Palestinians are titles that demonstrate a unique identity and land attachment long before 1964. 

The Palestinian Arab identity

Being an Arab does not negate someone's Palestinian identity. A New Yorker is also an American. People carry layered identities, each telling who they are from different perspectives. Palestinians are Arabs because of their heritage, and they are Palestinian because Palestine is their homeland. These identities do not compete but complement each other.

“Palestinians are Arabs by heritage and Palestinian by homeland.”

Palestinian unique culture

Arabic is the dominant culture in the Levant today, but zooming in on each Palestinian city reveals distinct food, such as Knafeh Nabulseyeh, which has flourished in the region since Ottoman times. Not only sweets, but the Palestinian stomp dance, known as dabkeh, is an ancient performance that evolved into today's folklore dance. Palestinians have their own traditional costumes. Nineteenth-century Palestinian brides wore unique, colorful attire, rooted in ancient styles. Even Palestinian Arabic sounds significantly different from other Arab dialects.

What is nationalism?

Nationalism is people’s political identity. Generally speaking, any socially bonded people living on their land who are united by a common purpose have the potential to become a nation, regardless of when and how their national identity evolved. Americans became a nation in part due to their opposition to British rule. Ukrainians were just Russians before the common struggle united them under a distinct identity. During the colonial rule, India had different regional identities. All nationalisms are human inventions. To accuse the Palestinians of inventing their nationalism is to imply that names and identities grow in nature. 

Ironically, Israeli nationality is the most bizarre in history. The 20th-century immigrants identified as Jews or as nationals of their original countries, when their diverse population revived a name from oblivion. Yet, Palestinians identifying with the name of the land where they have lived for centuries is bogus.

Conclusion

A narrative that does not stand on its own sells better on stage! The theatrical act of a Palestinian Arab who woke up to a false identity was the storyteller. It wasn't an academic or a historian, but Mossab Hassan— a man without credentials—who stood on the stage at Oxford.