Palestinian history

Sliman Mansour in his studio in Al-Bireh, occupied West Bank, July 25, 2024. (Thomas Dallal)

Farewell to the artist who connected Palestinians to themselves

Sliman Mansour was more than a painter: He created the visual language through which we learned to imagine our land, history, and peoplehood.

By Abed Abou Shhadeh August 27, 2026

A centuries-old Islamic tomb seen in front of the fence surrounding Mamilla Pool, Mamilla Cemetery, Jerusalem. (Timna Rose Perets)

In Jerusalem’s Mamilla Cemetery, an entire heritage is being erased

With an ancient pool slated for renovation, the Israeli authorities are more concerned about disturbing toads than centuries-old Muslim graves.

By Tawfiq Da'adli August 20, 2026

Smoke rises from the Mushtaha Tower, west of Gaza City, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike, September 5, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)

The destruction of Gaza City is a crime against history

Centuries-old mosques, churches, and ancient artifacts all face obliteration as the Israeli military systematically flattens what remains of the city.

By Baker Zoubi September 30, 2025

Latest

From the cover of "Daybreak in Gaza." (Courtesy)

Bearing witness to Gaza as a place of life

A new book shows a side of the enclave rarely seen in news reports — its vibrant history, culture, and people — to insist that Gaza speak for itself.

By Mohammed R. Mhawish March 13, 2025

Ribhi Kamal. (HaOlam HaZeh)

The Palestinian intellectual who loved Hebrew and fought Zionism

Ribhi Kamal was one of a handful of Palestinian elites who mastered Hebrew before 1948. After his exile to Syria, he deployed it as a weapon against Israel.

By Caroline Kahlenberg April 21, 2023

A still from "Farha," the new film from director Darin J. Sallam. (Talebox)

One Palestinian film and the colonizer’s endless anxiety

‘Farha’ holds up a mirror to Israelis and their victimless narrative about the 1948 war — and they don't like what they see.

By Shaul Magid February 2, 2023

Palestinians from Tantura are expelled to Jordan, June 1948. (Benno Rothenberg/Meitar Collection/National Library of Israel/The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection/CC BY 4.0)

The Tantura massacre’s perpetrators confessed. Its survivors have this to say

Decades after Israeli soldiers killed over 100 Palestinians in a northern village during the Nakba, a new film is spurring demands for historical redress.

By Baker Zoubi December 13, 2022

A still from the film.

Looted from Beirut 35 years ago, now on display in Tel Aviv

‘Looted and Hidden’ digs through the archive of films taken by the Israeli army in 1982, and shines light on more property stolen by Israel: the history of Palestinian cinema. Rare images from the archive of Palestinian films and photographs, documenting decades of Palestinian history from before 1948 and after the Nakba, are finally seeing…

By Rami Younis December 4, 2017

Prime Minister Netanyahu making a recorded public address. (YouTube) screenshot)

No Bibi, Palestinians succeed despite Israel — not because of it

By urging Israel’s Palestinians to take a more active role in civil society, Netanyahu erases an entire history that existed in this land before Zionism. It is not entirely clear what drove Prime Minister Netanyahu to use this moment and release a video directed at Israel’s Arab citizens. It clocks in at just over three minutes, and…

By Orly Noy July 26, 2016

Palestinian and Jewish men speak at protest against settler violence in Jaffa. December 5, 2008 (Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Jaffa is neither Palestinian nor Jewish: A response to Rami Younis

What kind of democratic struggle excludes people based on their ethno-religious or national identities, and what kind of liberation is really possible when it concerns only one nation and its nationalism? By Benjamin Birely On the evening of May 1st, 1921 the Jaffa-based Socialist Workers Party (MPS), later the “Palestine Communist Party” and a forerunner…

By +972 Magazine June 24, 2014

On the ‘invented’ Palestinians—and other absurd comments

Republican candidates in the 2012 primary race have topped each other in inflammatory remarks regarding Palestinians. Ever so often I am bombarded by so many words that almost none come at all and I pass up the opportunity to tackle a certain subject. This was the case recently with a spate of utterly ridiculous—almost comical—statements…

By Omar H. Rahman December 11, 2011