Detailed and measured, The Question of Palestine is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the case for Palestinian statehood
Feature image credit: Text Publishing
Posthumously published, this new edition of The Question of Palestine includes a foreword by author Edward Said’s nephew, Professor Saree Makdisi. When one considers that this text was first printed in 1979 (with a subsequent reprint in 1992), it is distressing to reflect on the length of time for which the Palestinian people have been ignored. Decades later, the book remains relevant and the situation, still unresolved. As a reader, it’s upsetting enough, but on a human level, I find it impossible to imagine how it must be for the Palestinian people.
So, for whom was this book written? According to the introduction in the original 1979 publication, Said’s aim in publishing was to put before the Western reader a Palestinian position, to try and interest the West in the justice of their cause. Much of this book was written in 1977, a decade after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. As such, the work covers the period up until 1977 — no doubt with the primary focus being the years 1948 to 1977.
Within this historical context, Said identifies three types of Arab Palestinians, each with a slightly different position: those living within what became Israel in 1948 (technically ‘citizens of Israel’); those in the Occupied Territories (West Bank and Gaza), living under military occupation since 1967; and those displaced outside of Palestine in 1948 or 1967 — many of whom reside in nearby countries such as Jordan and Lebanon.
Said himself is from the first group as his family fled Palestine in 1947; consequently, he was educated in the West, studied at Harvard, and later, became a professor at Columbia University. His lived experience is referred to in the text and gives it a unique perspective as he speaks to Western readers in their own intellectual language (there is a stack of resources and chapters notes in the back). At the same time, he refuses to accept the dominant political narrative of the West, which has long denied Palestinian voices in their discourse.
Although his approach is somewhat measured and scholarly, his own lived experience demonstrates how those in exile are still deeply connected to their homeland. Furthermore, he highlights how despite the existence of a collective Palestinian identity, it is fragmented by the historical experience of war, exile or occupation. These concepts can be hard to grasp the first time around without some type of prior knowledge of Palestinian history so could be overwhelming for some readers.
The structure of the book is split into parts focusing on this collective identity rather than the individual experience of each group, and is also information-dense; at times, names, years and political details become a blur. There are four main sections. The first part addresses Palestinians as a whole, and how the West has represented them. The second and third parts are self-explanatory with the titles ‘Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Victims’ and ‘Toward Palestinian Self-Determination.’ The book ends with the complexity of the way forward. As this is a later edition republication, there also includes an Epilogue and Editor’s note.
If you want some real insight into the historical bias of the West in favour of Israel, this is essential reading. I found there was a strong parallel in how Orientalism was used to justify the conquest and domination of Arab peoples, much like Social Darwinism was used in Australia to justify the treatment of Aboriginal people. Although the theories are not the same, intellectually and politically their functions seem similar: First, cultures are misrepresented and silenced, then controlled and dispossessed.
As I read of some more decisive action in the media, with Australia joining New Zealand, Norway, Canada and the UK in sanctioning two far-right Israeli government ministers (Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich), and in doing so, deviating from the US stance, I ask myself whether things are finally changing for the Palestinian people, and is it really enough to stop the current conflict? Do these acts translate into lasting justice or solutions for the Palestinians? Or will it remain unresolved like back in 1979, when this book was first published?
Reviewed by Rebecca Wu
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The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Text Publishing
Released: May 2025
RRP: $36.99
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