Catastrophe Remembered

Palestine, Israel and the Internal Refugees: Essays in Memory of Edward W. Said

Edited by Nur Masalha

The 1948 Palestine War is known to Israelis as 'the War of Independence'. But for Palestinians, the war is forever the Nakba, the 'catastrophe'. The war led to the creation of the State of Israel and the destruction of much of Palestininan society by the Zionist forces. Foir all Palestinians, the Nakba has become central to history, memory and identity. This book focuses on Palestinian internal refugees in Israel and internally displaced Palestinians across the Green LIne. It uses oral history and interviews to examine Palestinian identity and memory, indigenous rights, international protection, the 'right of return', and a just solution in Palestine/Israel.

Contributors include several distinguished authors and scholars such as William Dalrymple, Prof. Naseer Aruri, Dr. Ilan Pappe, Prof Isma'il Abu Sa'ad and Dr Nur Masalha.

Reviews

'This is a work of enormous significance by distinguished scholars of singular courage and integrity. The spirit and legacy of Edward Said are embodied in these papers that seek to rectify grave historical omissions and distortions pertaining to the plight and rights of the Palestinians, particularly in their displacement and exile. Such a narrative of affirmation, authenticity, and rectification is the essential antidote to the mendacious accounts of exclusion and denial that have perpetuated, and even justified, the continued victimisation of the Palestinian nation. The recognition of this grievous injustice, along with the admission of Israeli and global culpability, are the first steps in the quest for a just peace and hence for historical redemption'. - Hanan Ashrawi

'In this remarkable book, twelve writers brilliantly evoke the spirit of Edward Said to tell the unvarnished truth about Palestine and Israel'. - John Pilger

'This book offers an excellently comprehensive study of a relatively neglected sector of the Palestinian people, those who remained inside after the establishment of Israel, focusing particularly on the 'internal refugees', designated by Israeli law as 'Present Absentees'. It satisfies the need for 'facts' - statistics, dates, laws and categories - but enriches this scholarly apparatus with popular experience and memory garnered through oral history. A fitting tribute to Edward Said, who chided other Palestinians for their negativity towards the 'Palestinians inside.' - Rosemary

'..this book's assertion of the role of memory and nomenclature in upholding human rights, as well as international law and politics, is convincing.' - Viv Jackson, Red Pepper

'A valuable source to construct a clearer picture of what actually happened to the Palestinian people in the chaotic years of 1947-9.' - Political Studies Review

'A wide-ranging collection of invariably interesting essays...the less of Catastrophe Remembered, is that no two-state solution will be enough to give Palestinians in Israel the dignity denied to them for so long.' - Tom Hill, Tribune

'An excellent reader on the subject, bringing together as it does a wide range of essays...Israel's arguments against its critics often include the claim that it is the Middle East's only democracy. This book illustrates why that claim is so shallow, based as it is on a situation which denies full rights to a significant portion of Israeli citizens, denying them everything from adequate water supplies to the validity of their memories and history.' - Peace News

'Catastrophe Remembered makes a timely and useful ... contribution to an important and unfinished discussion.' - Neil Caplan, Midwest Jewish Studies Association

'Provides an important overview of a topic that is largely neglected in the media focus on the West.' - Dannyreview.com; www.shvoong.com

Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors

Forward: Edward W. Said, Scholar-Activist - Naseer H. Aruri
Introduction - Nur Masalha
Part I: Evolving Israeli Policies and Indigenous Resistance

1. Present Absentees and Indigenous Resistance - Nur Masalha
2. The State of Israel Versus the Palestinian Internal Refugees - Hillel Cohen
3. Patterns of Internal Displacement, Social Adjustment and the Challenge of Return
- Nihad Boqai'
4. Forced Sedentarisation, Land Rights and Indigenous Struggle: The Palestinian Bedouin in the Negev - Isma'el Abu Sa'ad
Part II: Palestinian Oral History and Memory

5. 'A Muted Sort of Grief': Tales of Refuge in Nazareth (1948-2005) - Isabelle Humphries
6. Kafr Bir'im - William Dalrymple
7. The Nakba, Oral History and the Palestinian Peasantry: The Case of Lubya - Mahmoud 'Issa
8. Unrecognised Villages: Indigenous 'Ayn Hawd Versus Artists' Colony 'Ein Hod - Jonathan Cook
9. The Nakba in Hebrew: Israeli-Jewish Awareness of the Palestinian Catastrophe and Internal Refugees - Eitan Bronstein
Part III: Human Rights and International Protection

10. The Real Roadmap to Peace: International Dimensions of the Internal Refugee Question - Ilan Pappé
11. International Protection and Durable Solutions - Terry Rempel

Index

About the Author:

Dr Nur Masalha is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Holy Land Research Project, St.Mary's College, University of Surrey, UK. He is Editor of 'Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal' (published by Edinburgh University Press). His books include: 'Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of â€˜Transferâ€™ in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948' (1992); 'A Land Without a People' (1997); 'Imperial Israel and the Palestinians' (2000); and 'The Politics of Denial' (2003).

Catastrophe Remembered

Palestine, Israel and the Internal Refugees: Essays in Memory of Edward W. Said

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