Foundations of Palestinian Nationalism with Nadim Bawalsa

Israel and Palestine: Joint Speaker Series Exploring Fundamental History

Since this fall, intense attention has turned to Israel and Palestine. Many on campus who are following events find themselves with basic questions about actors, geography, contested narratives and even the words used to describe what is happening. This speaker series aims to help fill some of these gaps. Jointly sponsored by the Middle East and North African Studies Program, the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies and the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, the initiative seeks to offer the Northwestern University community knowledge on this vital history from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Sessions feature renowned scholars from the U.S. and abroad from a wide range of personal and academic backgrounds, and are open to members of the Northwestern community. Learn more about the series >>

In the fourth talk of this joint speaker series, Nadim Bawalsa examined the emergence of Palestinian political consciousness on the eve of Britain's occupation of Palestine in 1917 and over the course of its 30-year mandate in Palestine. While Palestinians' confrontation with Zionism and British colonialism figured greatly in forging what it meant to be Palestinian in this critical period, the presentation makes clear that the notion of a specifically Palestinian national identity had its roots in local, regional and transnational debates and exchanges between Palestinians and Arabs well before the ouster of the Ottomans from Greater Syria. And despite disagreements and rivalries among Palestine's political leadership, the inability of the Palestinian nationalist movement to form a state during the mandate period must be understood to be a direct result of concerted British and Zionist efforts to subvert and prevent it from doing so in the leadup to 1948.

Nadim Bawalsa is a historian of modern Palestine and the author of Transnational Palestine: Migration and the Right of Return before 1948 (Stanford University Press, 2022), winner of both the 2023 Palestine Book Award and the 2023 Nikki Keddie Book Award. He currently serves as the associate editor for the Journal of Palestine Studies.