What it Means to be Palestinian

The book as the title suggests is not a text that deals with the historical or political roots of the Palestine issue. Rather, its primary focus is on the lives of the common Palestinians who have lived and experienced the ramifications and impact of this conflict on their lives. In a way, it is also a contemporary history of Palestine because Palestinians and the issue of Palestine cannot be separated from each other. They are so mired and entangled with each other that they overlap in any discourse on Palestine. In her Preface to the book, Dina Matar explains the problems faced while representing Palestinians: “First, that Palestinian history tends to be viewed solely in relation to Israeli history or narrative; and second that the story of the Palestinians, as ordinary human beings subjected to violent forms of power, remains a largely hidden one”. About the subject-matter of the book Dina explains: “This book seeks to ascribe agency to the Palestinians, not as helpless victims of forces beyond their control, as they have often been portrayed, but as actors at the centre of critical phases of their modern history”. (p. xii)