Seperti yang telah kita lihat di atas, kesedaran kebangsaan Palestin tidak muncul secara tiba-tiba pada awal abad ke-20. Ia tumbuh secara beransur-ansur sepanjang beberapa dekad, melalui perkembangan besar yang memberi kesan kepada Palestin dan rantau sekitarnya pada separuh kedua abad ke-19. Walau bagaimanapun, matlamat keseluruhan nasionalisme Palestin dalam tempoh selepas Perang Dunia Pertama telah berubah secara drastik, daripada autonomi dan kewarganegaraan yang sama rata di bawah kerajaan Uthmaniyyah kepada perjuangan antipenjajahan, pembebasan dan kemerdekaan dalam tempoh Mandat British.28

As we have already seen above, Palestinian national consciousness did not emerge out of the blue in the early 20th century. It emerged gradually across decades and through momentous developments which affected Palestine and the wider region in the second half of the 19th century. However the overall goals of Palestinian nationalism in the post-First World War period shifted radically from autonomy and equal citizenship under the Ottomans to anti-colonial struggle, liberation and independence during the British Mandatory period.28

Secara ringkasnya, menentang secara aktif ancaman eksistensi yang ditimbulkan oleh imigrasi Zionis ke Palestin dan penjajahan peneroka (settler-colonialism) ke atasnya pada zaman Mandat menjadi pusat kepada perjuangan nasionalis Palestin. Konteks Palestin selepas Perang Dunia Pertama telah berubah secara radikal. British, yang menduduki Palestin pada 1917‒1918, telah memberi komitmen kepada matlamat peneroka Zionis sebagaimana yang dirangka dalam Perisytiharan Balfour pada November 1917. Pada 1920, Persidangan San Remo oleh empat Kuasa Bersekutu Utama Perang Dunia Pertama memutuskan untuk memasukkan kata-kata Perisytiharan Balfour ke dalam teks Mandat British ke atas Palestin. Berhadapan dengan ancaman eksistensi daripada komitmen Perisytiharan Balfour yang pro-Zionis itu, gerakan nasionalis Palestin, pada peringkat awal, terpaksa bergelut dengan apa yang kemudiannya menjadi dilema berterusan: sama ada menekankan dimensi wilayah Palestin atau dimensi pan-Arabis bagi identiti Arab Palestin.

Crucially, active resistance to the existential threat posed by Zionist immigration to and settler-colonialism of Palestine during the Mandatory period became central to the Palestinian nationalist struggle. The context of post-First World War Palestine had changed radically. The British, who occupied Palestine in 1917‒1918, had committed themselves to Zionist settler goals as framed in the Balfour Declaration of November 1917. In 1920 the San Remo Conference of the four Principal Allied Powers of the First World War decided to include the words of the Belfour Declaration in the text of the British Mandate over Palestine. In coming face to face with the existential threat of the pro-Zionist Balfour Declaration’s commitments, the Palestinian nationalist movement, early on, had to grapple with what was to become a perennial dilemma: whether to emphasise the territorial Palestinian or pan-Arabist dimensions of Palestinian Arab identity.

Dilema ini telah menghantui politik nasionalis Palestin sepanjang separuh pertama abad ke-20 dan terus berlanjut hingga jauh ke tempoh selepas Nakba.

This dilemma bedevilled Palestinian nationalist politics throughout the first half of the 20th century and was carried forward well into the post- Nakba period.

Dalam tempoh selepas Perang Dunia Pertama, organisasi-organisasi penentangan nasionalis Palestin mula berkembang pesat. Persatuan Kebangkitan Palestin (al-Nahdah al-Filistiniyyah), sebuah organisasi nasionalis Palestin, ditubuhkan di Damsyik pada Mac 1919. Presiden pertamanya ialah Salim al-Tibi, yang pergi dari Baitulmaqdis ke Damsyik kerana menjangkakan pembentukan pentadbiran Amir Faisal di bandar itu. Al-Tibi pernah menjadi pegawai kanan dalam Tentera Arab Amir Faisal, dan bapanya ialah mufti Tulkarem. Beliau kemudiannya digantikan sebagai presiden persatuan itu oleh Salman ‘Abdel-Rahman, anak kepada datuk bandar Tulkarem (Tauber 2007: 95). Pemimpin lain persatuan itu ialah Muhammad ʿIzzat Darwazah dari Nablus, ‘Abd al-Qader al-Muzaffar dan Rushdi al-Shawa dari Gaza. Al-Shawa kerap bergerak antara Damsyik, Baitulmaqdis, Jaffa dan Gaza, menemani al-Muzaffar dalam lawatannya ke Palestin, menyeludup senjata dan menggalakkan pemberontakan terhadap British. Pada tahun 1919 dilaporkan bahawa beliau membawa 100 pistol dari Damsyik ke Baitulmaqdis untuk ahli-ahli al-Fida’iyyah (Tauber 2007: 94).

In the post-First World War period, Palestinian nationalist resistance organisations began to proliferate. The Palestinian Revival Society (al-Nahdah al-Filistiniyyah), a Palestinian nationalist organisation, was founded in Damascus in March 1919. Its first president was Salim al-Tibi, who went from Jerusalem to Damascus in the anticipation of the formation of Emir Faisal’s administration in the city. Al-Tibi had been a senior officer in the Arab Army of Emir Faisal and his father was the mufti of Tulkarem. He was later replaced as a president of the society by Salman ‘Abdel-Rahman, the son of the mayor of Tulkarem (Tauber 2007: 95). Other leaders of the society were Muhammad ʿIzzat Darwazah from Nablus, ‘Abd al-Qader al-Muzaffar and Rushdi al-Shawa from Gaza. Al-Shawa travelled frequently between Damascus, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Gaza, accompanying al-Muzaffar on his trips to Palestine, smuggling arms and encouraging an uprising against the British. In 1919 it was reported he took 100 pistols from Damascus to Jerusalem for the members of al-Fida’iyyah (Tauber 2007: 94).

Juga pada hari-hari awal tempoh Mandat, kepimpinan nasional Arab Palestin mengadakan Kongres Arab Palestin (al-Mutamar al-‘Arabi al-Filastini), satu siri kongres nasional yang dianjurkan oleh sebuah rangkaian jawatankuasa di seluruh negara dan persatuan-persatuan tempatan Islam dan Kristian Palestin; antara 1919 dan 1928 tujuh kongres telah diadakan di Baitulmaqdis, Haifa, Jaffa dan Nablus (Porath 1974). Dari tahun 1920 hingga 1934

Also in the early days of the Mandatory period the Palestinian Arab national leadership convened the Palestine Arab Congress (al-Mutamar al-‘Arabi al-Filastini), a series of national congresses organised by a nationwide network of committees and local Palestinian Muslim and Christian associations; between 1919 and 1928 seven congresses were held in Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa and Nablus (Porath 1974). From 1920 until 1934

Jawatankuasa Eksekutif kebangsaan Kongres, yang menyelaras penentangan Palestin terhadap Perisytiharan Balfour dan dasar pro-Zionis British di Palestin, diketuai oleh Musa Kazim al-Husayni, Datuk Bandar Baitulmaqdis antara 1918 dan 1920. Jawatankuasa Eksekutif dan jawatankuasa-jawatankuasa tempatannya mendapat sokongan rakyat yang meluas, tetapi tidak pernah diiktiraf secara rasmi oleh pihak berkuasa British. Resolusi Kongres Arab Palestin Ketiga yang diadakan di Haifa pada 4‒14 Disember 1920, yang kemudiannya dikemukakan kepada Setiausaha Kolonial British Winston Churchill pada awal 1921, telah diringkaskan oleh Ilan Pappe seperti berikut:

the national Executive Committee of the Congress, which coordinated Palestinian opposition to the Balfour Declaration and British pro-Zionist policies in Palestine, was headed by Musa Kazim al-Husayni, Mayor of Jerusalem between 1918 and 1920. The Executive Committee and its local committees commanded widespread public support but they were never officially recognised by the British authorities. The resolutions of the Third Palestine Arab Congress held in Haifa on 4‒14 December 1920, which were subsequently presented to British Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill in early 1921, were summarised by Ilan Pappe as follows:

Slogan persidangan itu ialah ‘Kesaksamaan dengan Mandat Iraq’.

The slogan of the conference was ‘Equality with the Mandate of Iraq’.

Teks mandat Iraq menetapkan bahawa negara itu akan mempunyai sebuah parlimen yang dipilih berdasarkan prinsip demokrasi, iaitu satu warganegara, satu undi. Ia turut mengakui Iraq sebagai watani (entiti kebangsaan) yang pada akhirnya akan menjadi merdeka. [Sheikh Suleiman al-Taji al-Faruqi] menjelaskan kepada mereka yang berhimpun bahawa ini adalah tuntutan yang paling asas, namun ia telah dinafikan kepada rakyat Palestin disebabkan Pengisytiharan Balfour. (Pappe 2010: 208)

The text of Iraq’s mandate stipulated that it would have a parliament elected on the democratic principle of one citizen, one vote. It acknowledged Iraq as a watani (national entity) that would eventually become independent. [Sheikh Suleiman al-Taji al-Faruqi] explained to those gathered that these were the most elementary demands, yet they had been denied to the Palestinians because of the Balfour Declaration. (Pappe 2010: 208)

Kongres Arab Palestin Ketiga:

This Third Palestine Arab Congress:

boleh dilihat sebagai tempat pembentukan gerakan nasional Arab Palestin, yang bermesyuarat di Haifa pada pertengahan Disember 1920, menyeru para penguasa baharu British supaya menubuhkan sebuah kerajaan "yang dipilih oleh rakyat yang bertutur bahasa Arab dan yang telah tinggal di Palestin sebelum bermulanya [perang dunia] itu". Ia menolak dengan tegas sepenuhnya tuntutan Yahudi [Zionis] ke atas Palestin. (Morris 2009: 88)

can be seen as the conceptive venue of the Palestine Arab national movement, meeting in Haifa in mid-December 1920, called on the new British rulers to establish a government ‘to be chosen by the Arabic-speaking people who had lived in Palestine before the beginning of the [world] war’. It completely, flatly rejected [Zionist] Jewish claims to Palestine. (Morris 2009: 88)

Kesinambungan dalam pemikiran kebangsaan Palestin moden dapat dilihat pada beberapa aspek institusi perjuangan kebangsaan Palestin pada zaman pra-Nakbah yang muncul semula pada era pasca-Nakbah. Sebagai contoh, pada tahun 1930, selepas Pemberontakan al-Buraq (Habbat al-Buraq) pada tahun 1929,

Continuities in modern Palestinian national thinking can be seen in some of the institutionalised aspects of the Palestinian national struggle in the pre-Nakba period which re-emerged in the post-Nakba era. For instance, in 1930, following the 1929 ‘al-Burraq Uprising’ (Habbat al-Buraq)

Di Palestin yang majoritinya beragama Islam, kepimpinan Palestin telah menubuhkan Tabung Nasional Arab Palestin (PANF). Ditubuhkan oleh Jawatankuasa Eksekutif Arab Palestin dan diketuai oleh Fouad Saba, seorang aktivis dan akauntan Palestin yang dilahirkan di Acre, PANF telah mengambil beberapa langkah kewangan praktikal untuk menghalang penjualan tanah kepada institusi nasional Zionis di Palestin. PANF merupakan pendahulu kepada Tabung Nasional Palestin (PNF) yang jauh lebih besar dan mempunyai pelbagai tujuan.

in Muslim-majority Palestine, the Palestinian leadership set up the Palestine Arab National Fund (PANF). Established by the Palestine Arab Executive and led by Fouad Saba, a Palestinian activist and accountant born in Acre, the PANF took some practical financial steps to discourage land sales to Zionist national institutions in Palestine. The PANF was the antecedent to the much larger and more multi-purpose Palestine National Fund (PNF)

ditubuhkan oleh PLO pada tahun 1964 (lihat di bawah).

set up by the PLO in 1964 (see below).

Memang difahami bahawa semasa zaman Mandat (penjajahan), beberapa tokoh terkemuka Palestin terus memandang identiti Palestin sebagai sebahagian daripada identiti Arab yang lebih luas di rantau al-Sham dan/atau identiti pan-Arab. Namun identiti pan-Arab atau al-Sham secara keseluruhan tidak dapat difahami secara berasingan daripada identiti-identiti pembentuknya yang tersendiri, iaitu identiti Palestin, Lubnan, Syria dan Jordan. Tambahan pula, ideologi pan-Arab atau al-Sham tidak boleh menafikan kewujudan Palestin bersejarah atau identiti Palestin yang berakar umbi, tersendiri dan khusus.

Understandably, during the Mandatory (colonial) period some leading Palestinian personalities continued to view Palestinian identity as part of wider Arab identity of the al-Sham region and/or pan-Arab identities. But pan-Arab or al-Sham identities as a whole cannot be understood in isolation from their constituent and particular (Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian) identities. Furthermore pan-Arab or al-Sham ideologies cannot negate the existence of historic Palestine or the deeply rooted, distinct and particular Palestinian identity.