Kwa mara ya kwanza kurekodiwa katika kipindi cha mwishoni mwa Enzi ya Shaba, takriban miaka 3200 iliyopita, jina Palestina (Kigiriki: Παλαιστίνη; Kiarabu: فلسطين, Filastin), ni jina la kawaida linalotumika kati ya mwaka 450 KK na 1948 BK kuelezea eneo la kijiografia lililoko kati ya Bahari ya Mediterania na Mto Yordani, pamoja na ardhi mbalimbali zilizo karibu nalo. Kitabu hiki kinachunguza mabadiliko ya dhana hii, historia, utambulisho, lugha na tamaduni za Palestina kuanzia Enzi ya Shaba ya Mwisho hadi zama za kisasa. Zaidi ya hayo, historia ya Palestina mara nyingi hufundishwa Magharibi kama historia ya ardhi, si kama historia ya Wapalestina au historia ya watu. Kitabu hiki kinapinga mtazamo wa kikoloni kuhusu Palestina na hadithi potofu yenye madhara ya ardhi isiyo na watu (Masalha 1992, 1997), na kinahoji kwamba historia ya Palestina isomwe kwa macho ya wenyeji asilia wa Palestina.

First documented in the late Bronze Age, about 3200 years ago, the name Palestine (Greek: Παλαιστίνη; Arabic: فلسطين , Filastin), is the conventional name used between 450 BC and 1948 AD to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River and various adjoining lands. This work explores the evolution of the concept, histories, identity, languages and cultures of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the modern era. Moreover, Palestine history is often taught in the West as a history of a land, not as Palestinian history or a history of a people. This book challenges colonial approach to Palestine and the pernicious myth of a land without a people (Masalha 1992, 1997) and argues for reading the history of Palestine with the eyes of the indigenous people of Palestine.

Wapalestina ndio wenyeji asilia wa Palestina; mizizi yao ya kienyeji imejikita kwa kina katika udongo wa Palestina, na utambulisho wao wa kiasili pamoja na urithi wao wa kihistoria ulitangulia kwa muda mrefu kuibuka kwa harakati changa ya kitaifa ya Kipalestina katika kipindi cha marehemu cha Dola ya Ottoman, na kuja kwa ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni kabla ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia.

The Palestinians are the indigenous people of Palestine; their local roots are deeply embedded in the soil of Palestine and their autochthonous identity and historical heritage long preceded the emergence of a local Palestinian nascent national movement in the late Ottoman period and the advent of Zionist settler-colonialism before the First World War.

Friedrich Nietzsche alisema kwamba historia daima huandikwa kutoka na kwa mtazamo fulani, na kwamba zamani huonekana tofauti kutoka mitazamo tofauti, ingawa baadhi ya mitazamo ni ya kweli zaidi kiuzoefu au yenye upotoshaji mdogo kuliko mingine. Kazi hii haikusudii kuunda simulizi kuu au metasimulizi kwa ajili ya Palestina, kama njia ya kuiga au kuakisi hadithi za msingi za Uzayuni. Hata hivyo, kuzingatia mitazamo mbadala na ya kikosoaji, pamoja na kutafuta ushahidi na uthibitisho wa kiuzoefu, pia ni mambo ya msingi katika uandishi wa kihistoria wa kikosoaji. Kwa kutumia aina mbalimbali za ushahidi, ushuhuda na vyanzo vya kisasa, kitabu hiki kinatumia mbinu ya mitazamo mingi kwenye historia ya Palestina katika vipindi mbalimbali vya wakati, huku kikizingatia daima uhalisia wa nchi hiyo na watu wake wazawa. Aidha, kinahoji kwamba mageuzi ya mistari mingi ya uzoefu wa dhana ya Palestina, pamoja na mizunguko yake isiyotarajiwa kwa muda na mahali, yanajikita katika mawazo ya jumla na halisi yanayowakilisha sifa za kihistoria na za msingi pamoja na uzoefu wa maisha wa Palestina na watu wake wazawa.

Friedrich Nietzsche argued that history is always written from and with a particular perspective and the past looks different from different perspectives, although some perspectives are empirically more truthful or less distorting than others. This work is not aimed at creating a grand narrative or a metanarrative for Palestine, as a way of mirroring or mimicking the foundational myths of Zionism. However, considering alternative and critical perspectives and looking for proof and empirical evidence are also central to critical historical writing. Using a wide range of contemporary evidence, testimony and sources, this book applies a multiple-perspective approach to the history of Palestine across time, while always keeping in mind the realities of the country and its indigenous people. It further argues that multi-linear evolution of the conceptual experience of Palestine, with its unanticipated twists and turns over time and space, centre on the general and concrete ideas which represent the historical and fundamental characteristics and lived experiences of Palestine and its indigenous people.

Kitengo cha kijiografia-kisiasa na taswira zilizofungamana na muktadha (pamoja na mtazamo wa wenyeji asilia) wa Palestina vimekita mizizi katika fahamu ya pamoja na uzoefu halisi wa watu asilia wa Palestina, pamoja na historia ya kale ya tamaduni nyingi zilizoshirikiana.

The geo-political unit and contextualised representations (and indigenous framing) of Palestine are deeply rooted in the collective consciousness and empirical experiences of the indigenous people of Palestine and the multicultural and shared ancient past.

Jina la Palestina ndilo linalotumika zaidi tangu Enzi ya Shaba ya Marehemu (kuanzia mwaka 1300 KK) na kuendelea. Jina hili linaonekana katika historia nyingi, katika maandishi ya Kiabbasi kutoka mkoa wa Jund Filastin (Elad 1992), katika ushahidi wa sarafu za Kiislamu na ramani (ikiwa ni pamoja na "ramani za dunia" zilizoanza tangu Enzi ya Kale ya Kigiriki na Kirumi), na katika sarafu za Wafilisti kutoka Enzi ya Chuma na Enzi ya Kale, pamoja na idadi kubwa ya sarafu za Kiumayyad na Kiabbasi za Palestina zenye jina la mji wa kutengenezea sarafu la Filastin. Kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, hati za Genizah za al-Fustat (Kairo ya Kale) za zama za kati pia zilirejelea mkoa wa Kiarabu wa Kiislamu wa Filastin (Gil 1996: 28‒29). Kuanzia Enzi ya Shaba ya Marehemu na kuendelea, majina yaliyotumika kwa eneo hilo, kama Djahi, Retenu na Cana'an, yote yalitoa nafasi kwa jina Palestina.

The name Palestine is the most commonly used from the Late Bronze Age (from 1300 BC) onwards. The name is evident in countless histories, ‘Abbasid inscriptions from the province of Jund Filastin (Elad 1992), Islamic numismatic evidence maps (including ‘world maps’ beginning with Classical Antiquity) and Philistine coins from the Iron Age and Antiquity, vast quantities of Umayyad and Abbasid Palestine coins bearing the mint name of Filastin. As we shall see below, the manuscripts of medieval al-Fustat (old Cairo) Genizah also referred to the Arab Muslim province of Filastin (Gil 1996: 28‒29). From the Late Bronze Age onwards, the names used for the region, such as Djahi, Retenu and Cana’an, all gave way to the name Palestine.

Katika kipindi chote cha Kale ya Kati na Kale ya Mwisho – neno linalotumiwa na wanahistoria kueleza kipindi kati ya karne ya 3 na ya 8 BK, kipindi cha mpito kutoka Kale ya Kigiriki-Kirumi hadi Zama za Kati katika ulimwengu wa Mediterania, Ulaya na Mashariki ya Karibu – jina Palestina lilibaki kuwa jina lililotumika zaidi. Aidha, katika kipindi cha Warumi, Wabyzantium na Waislamu, dhana na jiografia ya kisiasa ya Palestina ilipata hadhi rasmi ya kiutawala. Kazi hii inalenga kueleza na kuweka katika muktadha mianzo mbalimbali na mabadiliko ya dhana ya Palestina, kijiografia, kitamaduni, kisiasa na kiutawala. Pia inalenga kuonyesha jinsi jina ‘Palestina’ lilivyotumika kwa kawaida zaidi na rasmi zaidi katika historia ya kale. Inasema kwamba hadithi ya ‘ushindi wa Waisraeli wa Kanaani’ na masimulizi mengine makuu ya Agano la Kale (au ‘Biblia ya Kiebrania’) – maktaba ya vitabu iliyokusanywa kwa karne kadhaa – ni masimulizi ya kimithiolojia yaliyoundwa ili kuimarisha fahamu za uongo, na si historia inayotegemea ushahidi ambayo inakuza ukweli na uelewa. Zaidi ya hayo, inasema kwamba mitaala ya kitaaluma na ya shuleni ya historia inapaswa kujengwa juu ya ukweli wa kihistoria uliowekwa katika muktadha, ushahidi wa kimajaribio, ugunduzi wa kiakiolojia na kisayansi, si juu ya maoni ya kawaida wala masimulizi ya kubuni ya Agano la Kale na mafundisho ya kidini-kisiasa yanayorudiwa mara kwa mara kwa maslahi ya tabaka tawala lenye nguvu.

Throughout Classical and Late Antiquity – a term used by historians to describe a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD, a transitional period from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages in the Mediterranean world, Europe and the Near East – the name Palestine remained the most common. Furthermore, in the course of the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods the conception and political geography of Palestine acquired official administrative status. This work sets out to explain and contextualise the multiple beginnings and evolution of the concept of Palestine, geographically, culturally, politically and administratively. It also seeks to demonstrate how the name ‘Palestine’ was most commonly and formally used in ancient history. It argues that the legend of the ‘Israelites’ conquest of Cana’an’ and other master narratives of the Old Testament (or ‘Hebrew Bible’) – a library of books built up across several centuries – are myth-narratives designed to underpin false consciousness, not evidence-based history which promotes truth and understanding. It further argues that academic and school history curricula should be based on contextualised historical facts, empirical evidence, archaeological and scientific discoveries, not on conventional opinions or the fictional narratives of the Old Testament and religio-political dogmas repeatedly reproduced in the interest of powerful elites.

Mwanahistoria mashuhuri wa Kiingereza na mwandishi wa zama za Mwangaza, Edward Gibbon, akiandika mwaka 1776, alibainisha kwamba ‘Foinike na Palestina zitaishi milele katika kumbukumbu [ya pamoja] ya wanadamu’. Gibbon pia aliona kwa busara kwamba Warumi, Waajemi na Waarabu walitamani Palestina kwa sababu ya rutuba ya ajabu ya udongo wake, utajiri na uzuri wa miji yake, na usafi wa hewa yake (Gibbon 1838, Vol. 1: 40; 1840, Vol. 5: 173).

The celebrated English historian and Enlightenment author Edward Gibbon, writing in 1776, noted that ‘Phoenicia and Palestine will forever live in the [collective] memory of mankind’. Gibbon also astutely observed that the Romans, Persians and Arabs wanted Palestine for the extraordinary fertility of its soil, the opulence and beauty of its cities and purity of its air (Gibbon 1838, Vol. 1: 40; 1840, Vol. 5: 173).

Leo, idea ya nchi mara nyingi hulinganishwa na dhana ya kisasa ya 'taifa-dola', lakini haikuwa hivyo kila wakati, na nchi zilikuwepo kwa muda mrefu kabla ya utaifa au kuundwa kwa masimulizi makubwa kuhusu taifa-dola. Dhana ya Palestina kama kitengo cha kijiografia-kisiasa na nchi (kwa Kiarabu: bilad au qutr), yenye mipaka inayobadilika, imekua kihistoria na inaendelea kukua. Utambulisho na tamaduni za Palestina ni viumbe hai: hubadilika, hubadilika zaidi na kukua. Kazi hii inachunguza jinsi Palestina imewakilishwa kwa muda, kama mchanganyiko wa kile kinachofikiriwa na kinachobuniwa, pamoja na uhalisia wa maisha ndani ya nchi hiyo. Dhana inayobadilika ya Palestina inawekwa hapa ndani ya misingi mitano ya msingi, ambayo pia inajikita katika kanuni za wakala wa binadamu, muktadha, na uzoefu wa maisha halisi.

Today the idea of a country is often conflated with the modern concept of ‘nation-state’, but this was not always the case and countries existed long before nationalism or the creation of metanarratives for the nation-state. The conception of Palestine as a geo-political unit and a country (Arabic: bilad or qutr), with evolving boundaries, has developed historically and continues to do so. The identity and cultures of Palestine are living organisms: they change, evolve and develop. This work explores the representation of Palestine over time as a mixture of the perceived and conceived and the lived realities of the country. The evolving idea of Palestine is framed here within five basic assumptions which also centre on the principles of human agency, context and lived experiences:

• Palestina ni nchi (bilad) ya kila mmoja na ya watu wote kwa pamoja – kwa lugha ya kisasa, ni watan au mawtin (‘nchi ya asili’) ya watu wa Kipalestina: wenyeji asilia wa Palestina ya kihistoria (Filastin al-Tarikhiyyah) na wahamiaji waliokuwa wenyeji wa Palestina. Watu wa Kipalestina, mmoja mmoja na kwa pamoja, wana urithi wa dini nyingi na tamaduni nyingi, pamoja na utambulisho wenye tabaka nyingi uliokita mizizi katika zamani za kale (Farsoun 1997).

• Palestine is the individual and collective bilad (country) – in modern terms: watan, or mawtin (‘homeland’) – of the Palestinian people: the indigenous people of historic Palestine (Filastin al-Tarikhiyyah) and the indigenised immigrants in Palestine. The Palestinian people (individually and collectively) have a multifaith and multicultural heritage and a multi-layered identity deeply rooted in the ancient past (Farsoun 1997).

Historia ya Palestina ni nyumba yenye majumba mengi – kwa kunukuu msemo uliobuniwa na mwanahistoria wa Kilebanon, marehemu Kamal Salibi, kuhusiana na historia ya kisasa ya Lebanon. Utamaduni wenye aina nyingi wa Palestina na utambulisho wa Wapalestina wenye tabaka nyingi (kama nafsi za kibinafsi na za pamoja) lazima viwekwe ndani ya muktadha wao unaoendelea wa kijamii, kitamaduni na kisiasa, pamoja na hali halisi za kihistoria.

• Palestinian history is a house of many mansions – to echo an expression coined by the late Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi in connection with the modern history of Lebanon. The cultural pluralism of Palestine and the multi-tier identity of the Palestinians (as individual and collective agencies) must be situated within their evolving social, cultural and political context and actual historical circumstances.

Vipimo vya tamaduni nyingi vya utu wa Kipalestina na muundo tata wa taifa la Palestina vimejikita hapa katika historia hai na uzoefu hai wa wenyeji asilia wa Palestina na wahamiaji waliojipatanisha na Kipalestina walioishi nchini.

• The multicultural dimensions of Palestianness and the textured polity of Palestine are grounded here in the living history and living experiences of the indigenous people of Palestine and the Palestinised immigrants in the country.

Hapa kuna maslahi maalum katika michakato ya ukuaji wa miji, kuibuka kwa miji-mataifa ya mwanzo, na kuundwa kwa dola huko Palestina. Tofauti na madai kuhusu vyombo vya kikabila vya dola katika Mashariki ya Kati ya Kiarabu, kitabu hiki kinasema kwamba kuundwa kwa dola za mwanzo huko Palestina na katika Mashariki ya Karibu kwa ujumla kulikuwa matokeo ya michakato ya ukuaji wa miji. Michakato hii ilianza katika Enzi ya Shaba ya Mapema, karibu mwaka 3200 KK, na ilihusishwa na kuibuka kwa vituo vikubwa vya mijini huko Palestina – nafasi za kijamii za mijini zilizopangwa katika tabaka, zikilinganishwa na maeneo madogo na yenye usawa zaidi ya Enzi ya Shaba-Mawe (4000‒3200 KK) nchini humo. Katika kipindi cha ukuaji wa miji wa Enzi ya Shaba ya Mapema katika vituo vikubwa vya mijini nchini, kila kimoja chenye ukubwa wa takriban dunamu 100‒400, kulifuatana na kuonekana kwa alfabeti ya Kisemiti, jamii iliyopangwa katika tabaka, majengo ya umma, majumba, mahekalu, minara na mifumo ya ngome. Baadhi ya vituo vya mijini vilivyoibuka huko Palestina ya Enzi ya Shaba ya Mapema viliwakilishwa na Yeriko, Gaza, Tell al-Ajjul, Tell al-Sakan, Tell al-Tell, Yerusalemu, Tell Dothan, Tell Taannek na Tell al-Mutasallim – ambayo ya mwisho ikiwa ni eneo la kiakiolojia la mji-taifa wenye nguvu wa Megiddo uliojitokeza wakati wa Enzi ya Shaba (Taha 2017: 6‒11; De Vaux 1966). Kazi hii pia itachunguza mwingiliano wa miji ya Palestina kupitia historia na maisha ya vijijini yanayoizunguka pamoja na muktadha mpana wa kikanda. Katika muktadha huu, vipengele vitatu vya Henri Lefebvre vya uzalishaji wa kijamii wa nafasi za mijini – uzoefu unaotambulika, unaofikiriwa na unaoishiwa (Lefebvre 2011) – vina umuhimu katika jinsi Palestina ya mijini yenye tamaduni nyingi – Kaisaria-Palestina (pia inajulikana kama Kaisaria Maritima; Kiarabu: Qaysariah), Gaza (Ghazzah)

• Of particular interest here are the urbanisation processes, the emergence of early city city-states and state formation in Palestine. Contrary to the claims about the tribal organs of the state in the Arab Middle East, this book argues that early state formation in Palestine and the wider Near East was a product of urbanisation processes. These processes began in the Early Bronze Age at around 3200 BC and were associated with the emergence of great urban centres in Palestine – stratified urban social spaces in comparison with the somewhat smaller and more egalitarian Chalcolithic localities in the country (4000‒3200 BC). In the course of the Early Bronze Age urbanisation in the great urban centres in the country, each about 100‒400 dunums in size, was accompanied with the appearance of the Semitic alphabet, stratified society, public buildings, palaces, temples, towers and fortification systems. Some of urban centres which emerged in Early Bronze Age Palestine were represented in Jericho, Gaza, Tell al-Ajjul, Tell al-Sakan, Tell al-Tell, Jerusalem, Tell Dothan, Tell Taannek and Tell al-Mutasallim – the latter being the archaeological site of the powerful city-state of Megiddo which emerged during the Bronze Age (Taha 2017: 6‒11; De Vaux 1966). The work will also explore the interaction of Palestinian cities across history with their surrounding rural life and the wider regional context. In this respect, Henri Lefebvre’s three constituents of the social production of urban spaces – perceived, conceived and lived experiences (Lefebvre 2011) – are relevant to the way multicultural urban Palestine – Caesarea-Palaestina (also known as Caesarea Maritima; Arabic: Qaysariah), Gaza (Ghazzah)

Ascalon (‘Asqalan), Nablus, al-Ramla, Jerusalem, Acre (Kiarabu Akka; Kigiriki: Ptolemais), Nazareth, Jaffa, Tiberias, Beisan, Safad – zilibadilika kihistoria. Mipango ya miji na michakato ya ukuaji wa miji ya Kigiriki, Kirumi na Kibyzantini ilihifadhiwa chini ya Uislamu katika Enzi za Kati, na mipango hii ya miji bado inaonekana leo katika Mji Mkongwe wa Kiarabu wa Kiislamu wa Jerusalem wa Enzi za Kati, mji ambao mipango yake ya miji na usanifu wake ni miongoni mwa miji bora ya Enzi za Kati iliyosalia duniani.

Ascalon (‘Asqalan), Nablus, al-Ramla, Jerusalem, Acre (Arabic Akka; Greek: Ptolemais) Nazareth, Jaffa, Tiberias, Beisan, Safad – evolved historically. Greek, Roman and Byzantine urbanisation processes and urban planning were maintained under Islam in the Middle Ages and this urban planning is still visible today in the Arab Islamic medieval Old City of Jerusalem, a city whose urban planning and architecture are among the best surviving medieval cities in the world.

Baadhi ya waandishi na wasanii wa Kiarabu wanaopigania sababu ya kisiasa na kitaifa ya Palestina, au Uarabu wa kimataifa (pan-Arabism), huunda masimulizi makuu (metanarratives) yanayoonyesha utambulisho wa kitaifa wa Palestina au utaifa wa Kiarabu kuwa wa kale zaidi kuliko ulivyo kwa kweli. Zaidi ya hayo, hadi kuibuka kwa Uzayuni wa kisiasa wa Ulaya, ambao haukuwa wa wakati wake, mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, watu wa Palestina (Kiarabu: sha’b Filastin) walijumuisha Waislamu Waarabu, Wakristo Waarabu na Wayahudi Waarabu. Kwa kuwa mzozo wa Uzayuni wa Israel na Wapalestina ndio chanzo cha tafsiri hii, kihistoria mgawanyiko wa Mwarabu dhidi ya Myahudi huko Palestina ni wa kupotosha sana. Wapalestina huishi nchi yao ya Palestina kibinafsi na kwa pamoja. Ingawa ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni ulikiuka haki yao ya asili ya kujitawala katika nchi yao ya kihistoria, na wanaishi chini ya ukaliaji wa kikoloni wa walowezi au wako uhamishoni na mara chache huruhusiwa kujisemea wenyewe, bado wanaendelea kuzungumzia Biladuna1 Filastin (‘Nchi Yetu, Palestina’;2 kwa lugha ya mazungumzo: bladna Falastin) au Filastinuna (‘Palestina Yetu’3). Hata raia Wapalestina wa Israel mara nyingi huzungumzia al-blad au bladna (‘Nchi Yetu’) kama njia ya kizalendo ya kuepuka kiakili au kiwakilishi neno Israel, na kujiunganisha na Palestina ya kihistoria na watu wa Palestina kwa ujumla. Maneno bilad au biladuna ni maneno ya Kiarabu ya zama za kati ambayo yametumika kwa karne nyingi na yana mizizi mirefu katika maisha ya kila siku ya watu. Katika nusu ya pili ya karne ya 19, neno la Kiarabu la zama za kati watan (‘nchi ya asili’) liliathiriwa na neno la Kiulaya patria, na watan likaanza kuhusishwa kwa karibu zaidi na kuibuka kwa aina za kisasa za utaifa wa kizalendo wa nchi ya asili (wataniyyah) huko Palestina na kote ulimwenguni wa Kiarabu.

Some Arab writers and artists promoting the political and national cause of Palestine or pan-Arabism create metanarratives to depict Palestinian national identity or Arab nationalism as being more ancient than they actually are. Moreover, until the advent of anachronistic European political Zionism at the turn of the 20th century the people of Palestine (Arabic: sha’b Filastin) included Arab Muslims, Arab Christians and Arab Jews. Being a rendering of the Israeli Zionist/Palestinian conflict, historically speaking the binary of Arab versus Jew in Palestine is deeply misleading. The Palestinian people experience their country of Palestine individually and collectively. Although Zionist settler-colonialism violated their indigenous right to self-determination in their historical homeland and they live either under settler-colonial occupation or exiled and rarely allowed to speak for themselves, they continue to speak of Biladuna1 Filastin (‘Our Country, Palestine’;2 vernacularly: bladna Falastin) or Filastinuna (‘Our Palestine’3). Even Palestinian citizens of Israel often speak of al-blad or bladna (‘Our Country’) as a patriotic way of mentally or representationally avoiding the term Israel and connecting with historic Palestine and the Palestinian people as a whole. The terms bilad or biladuna are medieval Arabic terms which have been in common use for many centuries and are deeply rooted in people’s daily lives. In the second half of the 19th century the medieval Arabic term watan (‘homeland’) was impacted by the European term patria, and watan became more closely associated with the rise of modern forms of patriotic homeland nationalism (wataniyyah) in Palestine and throughout the Arab world.