Being Palestinian

'These thoughtful, poignant reflections bring forth vividly some of the human dimensions of one of the great tragedies of current history, the forced dispossession of Palestinians from their homeland.' Noam Chomsky 'This handsome collection speaks in a multiplicity of voices and textures that capture the enduring presence of the homeland in every Diasporic home. Palestinians and non-Palestinians will be moved by it in equal measure.' Azmi Bishara How does it feel when you cannot find Palestine under 'P' in the encyclopaedia your father brings home? Why cultivate fig and orange trees in the Arizona desert? What does it mean to know every inch of a village you have never seen, a village that no longer exists? In this groundbreaking volume, 102 Palestinians in North America and the United Kingdom reflect in their own words on what it means to be Palestinian in the diaspora. Men and women, young and old, Christians and Muslims, including well-known academics, poets, writers, faith leaders and singers, reveal their tangled ties to 'home' and 'homeland', exploring how Palestine in the diaspora can be both lost and found, bereaved and celebrated, lived and longed-for. Touching, often troubling, but full of character and wit, the reflections in Being Palestinian offer a radically fresh look at the modern Palestinian experience in the West. And the time-honoured issues of identity, exile and diaspora give acute sense to these very personal reflections. Yasir Suleiman is His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa'id Chair of Modern Arabic Studies and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. His many published works include Arabic in the Fray: Ideology and Cultural Politics (2013), Arabic Self and Identity: A Study in Conflict and Displacement (2011), A War of Words: Language and Conflict in the Middle East (2004) and The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology (2003). Cover image: Sinan Malley (c) Kate Robertson. Jerusalem Old City and The Noble Sanctuary (c) Rostislav Ageev/shutterstock.com, Edinburgh city skyline from Calton Hill (c) David Bostock/shutterstock.com Cover design: Kit Foster. Design concept by Yasir Suleiman

Professor Yasir Suleiman is the first holder of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa'id Chair of Modern Arabic Studies and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. His many published works include A War of Words: Language and Conflict in the Middle East (2004), The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology (2003), The Arabic Grammatical Tradition: A Study in Tal'liil(1999), Literature and Nation in the Middle East (edited with Ibrahim Muhawi, 2006), Language and Society in the Middle East and North Africa (editor, 1999), Arabic Grammar and Linguistics (editor, 1998), Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa (editor, 1996) and Arabic Sociolinguistics: Issues and Perspectives (editor, 1994).