Politics of Nationalism and Identity in Palestine

摘要

Throughout the developing world there is a struggle over which view of nationwill triumph. Will the emerging countries create states, such as the liberal democracies of the West, in which citizenship is independent of race, ethnicity, language, and religion, or will they create states based on nationality, which is defined precisely by the above.' This struggle to define the nation is largely internal but is a prerequisite to the resolution of external conflicts With this thesis we will consider the meaning of nation, state and nationalism and the academic terminology that is used. We will review the characteristics of nationalism and its development in both Western and Near Eastern contexts, as crystallized in religious versus secular views. From the nexus of the previous two, we will consider the ideologies that are competing to define Palestinian national identity, such as pan-Islam, Arab Nationalism and Palestinian nationalism. Finally, we will examine some potential problems, such as weaknesses within the Palestinian leadership, questions of Islam's compatibility with the modern state and concerns of regional actors such as Jordan and Israel. The external Palestinian-Israeli conflict is also the forum for internal Palestinian struggles over nationalism and identity. Those struggles will determine the nature of any future Palestinian state. Resolution of the internal Palestinian debate, not the creation of an independent state, is the prerequisite for regional stability.