Description
Book SynopsisConducting 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.
Trade ReviewPalestinians in Syria is an original exploration of the evolution of memories of the traumatic events of the Nakba which affected the entire Arab population of Palestine in 1948. It skillfully traces how understanding of the valence and meaning of these events has changed over time. This book also constitutes the first major study of the Palestinian community in Syria, and it takes on added importance in light of the violent displacement of most of this community during the bitter fighting in and around Yarmouk camp near Damascus. -- Rashid Khalidi, author of Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness This extremely important and timely book provides a vivid portrait of the Palestinian refugee community in Syria-a community now dispersed by the war in that country. In its detailed analysis of Palestinian memories and histories of the devastating events of 1948, this study succeeds in demonstrating how the socially and economically integrated Palestinians in Syria were somehow different from other Palestinian refugees in the region. Although this book is about the Catastrophe of 1948, it is also about the Palestinian catastrophe in Syria today. -- Dawn Chatty, author of Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East What drives Palestinians in Syria is not the events of the Nakba but rather Nakba memories transferred through three generations, from those who experienced it up to the young of today. Anaheed Al-Hardan places her own identity as a third-generation refugee at the center of her thinking about uprooting and of her interactions with participants in her study, and she reflects critically on how this affected her research. She also carried out her research in a Palestinian exile region hardly touched by other researchers and has managed to incorporate effects of the ongoing civil war that has re-displaced thousands of Palestinian refugees in a new uprooting. -- Rosemary Sayigh, author of Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries An important and timely addition to the growing body of Nakba scholarship. Middle East Eye Provides a fascinating insight into a community now almost completely obliterated. Middle East Media and Book Reviews Online Especially in view of the impossibility of doing comparable research today, this book will be a valuable reference for years to come. -- Sally Bland The Jordan Times Palestinians in Syria is a well-researched, timely contribution to scholarship on refugees,memory, and the nakba. International Journal of Middle East Studies Palestinians in Syria is a must-read for scholars of Middle Eastern and Palestine Studies and an essential contribution to these fields for several reasons. Firstly, it is groundbreaking by its very nature as this is the first comprehensive academic monograph dedicated to the Palestinian community in Syria. Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies
Table of ContentsNote on Transliteration and Names Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: The Catastrophe of 1948, the Catastrophes of Today 1. The Nakba in Arab Thought 2. The Palestinian Refugee Community in Syria 3. The Right of Return Movement and Memories for the Return 4. Narrating Palestine, Transmitting Its Loss 5. The Guardians' Communities and Memories of Catastrophes 6. Second- and Third-Generation Postmemories of Palestine and Narratives on Nakba Memory Conclusion: The Catastrophes of Today, the Catastrophe of 1948 Notes Bibliography Index
