An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba

by Nahla Abdo (Editor), Nur Masalha (Editor)

In 2018, Palestinians mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, when over 750,000 people were uprooted and forced to flee their homes in the early days of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even today, the bitterness and trauma of the Nakba remains raw, and it has become the pivotal event both in the shaping of Palestinian identity and in galvanising the resistance to occupation.

Unearthing an unparalleled body of rich oral testimony, An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba tells the story of this epochal event through the voices of the Palestinians who lived it, uncovering remarkable new insights both into Palestinian experiences of the Nakba and into the wider dynamics of the ongoing conflict. Drawing together Palestinian accounts from 1948 with those of the present day, the book confronts the idea of the Nakba as an event consigned to the past, instead revealing it to be an ongoing process aimed at the erasure of Palestinian memory and history. In the process, each unique and wide-ranging contribution leads the way for new directions in Palestinian scholarship.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics

324 pages, Hardcover

Published June 15, 2018

About the author

Nahla Abdo (Ph.D.) is an Arab feminist activist, Professor of Sociology at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She has extensive publications on women, racism, nationalism, and the State in the Middle East, with special focus on Palestinian women.

Reviews

[Mohammed Yusuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

لم تمُت النكبة لا تزال مستمِرة إلى اليوم ، لأن المُحتَل لم يحاول إبادة البشر فقط ، بل حاول إبادة الثقافة والذاكرة ، لحسن الحظ ظل التاريخ الشفوي شاهد عيان على تجربة الشتات والتهجير وإغتصاب الأرض وإرتكاب المجازر بحق السكان الأصليين ، التأريخ الذي هو بهذه الصورة فعل مقاومة أيضاً ، عبر الذاكرة الجمعية يثبت تاريخه الذي يحاول الإسرائيلي ان يُلغيه ويمحيه ، ومهما كان التاريخ الشفوي لديه نواقص كبر الرواة و الادلجة لكن يمكن قراءة الروايات عبر بعضها للخروج بسياق واقعي وبعد ذلك يعارض به النص الرسمي المضاد او النص الاسرائيلي عن التاريخ

يحاول المؤرخ الاسرائيلي بذكر الهولوكوست أن يقلل من مجازره وفظائعه ويبرر لعنفه ، و يضع حكايته في التاريخ القديم مقابل حق السكان الأصلي ، ينكر ذلك بسردية انه وجد الأرض بلا سكان والسكان بلا أرض و هنالك سردية ايضا ان الفلسطيني باع أرضه ، التاريخ الشفوي يبين كيف أن الفلسطيني قاتل ومات وتراجع عن أرضه تدريجياً لم يظن أنه سيراها لآخر مرة فهنالك من حمل مفتاحه معه وهنالك من ترك ذهبه مدفوناً وهنالك من وضع غطاءاً على طبق الطعام ، هنالك من عاد وقاتل بالقانون من أجل أرضه وهنالك من لم يستطع العودة ، التاريخ الشفوي يخلص التاريخ نفسه من سطوة القوة المهيمنة التي تحاول تشويه التاريخ

عانى من النكبة كل من الرجل والمرأة ، المسلم والمسيحي ، البدوي والحضري ، عانى منها الفلسطيني عموماً ، ولا زال حلم اهل الشتات بالرجوع ، يلقنون ابناءهم التاريخ املاً في مستقبل يعودون فيه ، هكذا نفهم باديو حين قال السلب هو روح التحرر ، برفض الوضع القائم نستطيع تغييره ، هذا ما يفعله الفلسطيني عبر الذاكرة كفعل ثوري ، والتحليل العاطفي affective analysis يحرك من يقرأ الكتاب عبره نرى مستقبل النظرية النقدية

فلسطين قصة عجز العربي اولا قبل الانسان ، و ها نحن نرى كل يوم من العرب من يجري للتطبيع مع هذا الكيان الغاصب ، وكيف بعد ان تقدمت الانسانية نعود للخلف ، فالعالم اليوم لا يطيق وجود الاستعمار الذي كان ربما مقبولاً قديماً ، وهل ننظر لمنظمات حقوق الانسان سوى أنها تثبت الوضع الحالي

[Muhammed Nijim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for those who want to see/read the other side of the Nakba from various Palestinian descending from currently occupied cities. The book is a repertoire of essays written by various scholars, mostly Palestinian about various Palestinian cities, villages, and towns that were ethnically cleansed by zionist terror organizations. Scholars rely on oral history and base their argument fully on testimonies provided by Nakba survivors. This work serves as an anti-narrative against the Israeli propaganda machine and fabrications about the establishment of their state. It also serves as legal proof that Palestinians are the Indigenous owners of the land and thus can use that for any legal confrontation with the occupier in international courts.

[Taylor Saalsaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two thirds of the book are incredibly dry and much more academic than I expected. The last few chapters were more interesting and actually share some stories from people that lived through 1948.

[Jonathan Sweedler]

From Ezra Klein 10/24/23 - Spencer Ackerman & Peter Beinart - The Jewish left is trying to hold two thoughts at once

[Cerinawithasea · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2018, Palestinians mark the seventieth anniversary of the Nakba, a mass eviction that saw more than 70,000 people uprooted and forced to flee their homes in the early days of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even today, the bitterness and trauma of the Nakba remains raw, and it has become the pivotal event both in the shaping of Palestinian identity and in galvanizing their resistance to occupation.

Efforts at preserving the memory of the Nakba have resulted in an unparalleled body of rich oral testimony, with which historians and other scholars have been able to tell the story of this epochal event through the voices of the Palestinians who lived it. This multidisciplinary collection uses oral history as a means of uncovering new insights both into Palestinian experiences of the Nakba and into the wider dynamics of the ongoing conflict. In drawing together Palestinian accounts from 1948 with those of the present day, the book also confronts the idea of the Nakba as an event consigned to the past, instead revealing it to be an ongoing process aimed at the erasure of Palestinian history and memory.

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