Palestinian responses to forced depopulation and ethnic cleansing from their villages and towns are "discursively rich, complex and protean" (Slyomovics 2002). In recent decades novels, poems, films, plays, ethnographic and photographic documentation, maps, oral history archives, online websites, and a wide range of activities in exiled and internally displaced communities have been and are being produced, many with the aim of countering Israeli denial and correcting distortions of omission and commission that eradicate the Palestinian presence in the land. Also a large number of books have been produced both inside Israel and at Birzeit University, all dedicated to villages that have been depopulated and destroyed. These form part of a large historical and imaginative literature in which the destroyed Palestinian villages are "revitalised and their existence celebrated" (Slyomovics 2002). In the post-1948 period Palestinians maintained the multiple meaning of their Arabic names and the multi-layered Palestinian identity embedded in ancient names (Ashrawi 1995: 132‒134; Doumani 1995).

Palestinian responses to forced depopulation and ethnic cleansing from their villages and towns are ‘discursively rich, complex and protean’ (Slyomovics 2002). In recent decades novels, poems, films, plays, ethnographic and photographic documentation, maps, oral history archives, online websites, and a wide range of activities in exiled and internally displaced communities have been and are being produced, many with the aim of countering Israeli denial and correcting distortions of omission and commission that eradicate the Palestinian presence in the land. Also a large number of books have been produced both inside Israel and at Birzeit University, all dedicated to villages that have been depopulated and destroyed. These form part of a large historical and imaginative literature in which the destroyed Palestinian villages are ‘revitalised and their existence celebrated’ (Slyomovics 2002). In the post-1948 period Palestinians maintained the multiple meaning of their Arabic names and the multi-layered Palestinian identity embedded in ancient names (Ashrawi 1995: 132‒134; Doumani 1995).

Utaifa wa Kipalestina (wa kidunia na wa kidini pia) hata hivyo – kama utaifa mwingine wowote wa kisasa – katika ujenzi wake wa fahamu ya kitaifa, ni jambo la kisasa (Khalidi, R. 1998). Lakini hili halipaswi kuunganishwa moja kwa moja na utambulisho wa kijamii, kitamaduni na kidini wa Wapalestina, ambao umejikita sana katika ardhi pamoja na historia ya kale na kumbukumbu ya majina ya mahali ya Palestina. Zaidi ya hayo, Wapalestina, hadi msiba wa mwaka 1948, walikuwa wakulima wengi, wakiwa wamejikita sana katika mandhari ya kimwili na kitamaduni ya Palestina. Lahaja ya kienyeji pamoja na majina ya vijiji na miji yao vilihifadhi urithi wa kitamaduni wenye tabaka nyingi na tofauti wa nchi hiyo.

Palestinian nationalism (both secular and religious strands) however – like all other modern nationalisms – with its construction of national consciousness, is a modern phenomenon (Khalidi, R. 1998). But this must not be automatically conflated with the Palestinians’ social, cultural and religious identities, which are deeply rooted in the land as well as in the ancient history and toponymic memory of Palestine. Furthermore, the Palestinians, until the 1948 catastrophe, were predominantly peasants, deeply rooted in the physical and cultural landscapes of Palestine. The local dialect and the names of their villages and towns preserved the multi-layered and diverse cultural heritage of the country.

Leo, Wapalestina ni Waarabu kiutamaduni na kilugha, na wengi wao ni Waislamu, lakini si wote. Idadi ya Waislamu wa Kipalestina ilitokana hasa na Wapalestina wa kienyeji, Wakristo na Wayahudi, waliosilimu baada ya ushindi wa Waislamu katika karne ya saba. Waliurithi tamaduni nyingi za kijamii, kitamaduni, kidini na kilugha za Palestina ya kale, zikiwemo za Waisraeli, Wakanaani na Wafilisti (Shaban 1971: 25–161; Donner 1981; Nebel na Oppenheim 2000; Rose 2010; Esler 2011). Zaidi ya hayo, ufanano kati ya lugha yao ya Kiarabu na lugha ya Ugarit unaonyesha kwamba Kiarabu hakikuwa lugha iliyoingia Palestina kwa kuchelewa baada ya ushindi wa Waarabu Waislamu mwaka 638 BK (Ra'ad 2010). Pia, Wapalestina wengi ni Waarabu Wakristo wenye mizizi ya kihistoria Palestina na urithi wa muda mrefu katika ardhi aliyoishi Kristo. Akizungumzia utambulisho wa kitamaduni wenye tabaka nyingi na urithi mbalimbali wa Wapalestina, mwanasosholojia wa Kipalestina Samih Farsoun (1937–2005) anaandika:

Today the Palestinians are culturally and linguistically Arab and largely but not exclusively Muslim. The Palestinian Muslim population was mainly descended from local Palestinian Christians and Jews who had converted to Islam after the Islamic conquest in the 7th century and inherited many of the social, cultural, religious and linguistic traditions of ancient Palestine, including those of the Israelites, Canaanites and Philistines (Shaban 1971: 25–161; Donner 1981; Nebel and Oppenheim 2000; Rose 2010; Esler 2011). Furthermore, the similarities between their Arabic language and Ugaritic suggests that Arabic was not a late intruder into Palestine from 638 AD onwards, following the Arab Muslim conquest (Ra’ad 2010). Also many Palestinians are Christian Arabs who have historic roots in Palestine and a long heritage in the land where Christ lived. Commenting on the multi-layered cultural identity and diverse heritage of the Palestinians, Palestinian sociologist Samih Farsoun (1937–2005) writes:

Wapalestina ni wazao wa mchanganyiko mkubwa wa watu wa kienyeji na wa kikanda, wakiwemo Wakanaani, Wafilisti, Waebrania, Wasamaria, Wagiriki wa Kihelene, Warumi, Waarabu wa Kinabatea, Waarabu wahamaji wa kikabila, baadhi ya Wazungu waliotoka katika Vita vya Msalaba, baadhi ya Waturuki, na wachache wengine. Hata hivyo, baada ya ushindi wa Kiislamu wa karne ya saba, wakawa Waarabu wengi mno. Kwa hiyo, kundi hili la watu lililochanganyika limeendeleza utamaduni wa Kiarabu-Kiislamu kwa angalau karne kumi na nne. (Farsoun 2004: 4)

Palestinians are descendants of an extensive mixing of local and regional peoples, including the Canaanites, Philistines, Hebrews, Samaritans, Hellenic Greeks, Romans, Nabatean Arabs, tribal nomadic Arabs, some Europeans from the Crusades, some Turks, and other minorities; after the Islamic conquests of the seventh century, however, they became overwhelmingly Arabs. Thus, this mixed-stock of people has developed an Arab-Islamic culture for at least fourteen centuries. (Farsoun 2004: 4)

Maendeleo ya utaifa wa Kipalestina katika miongo ya hivi karibuni yameleta pamoja nayo ufahamu mkubwa zaidi wa akiolojia ya kikosoaji na uandishi wa kihistoria unaotegemea Masomo ya Biblia ya kikosoaji, pamoja na swali la urithi wa pamoja wa kihistoria wa Palestina na Wapalestina (Thompson 2003: 1).

The development of Palestinian nationalism in recent decades has brought with it a much greater awareness of critical archaeology and historical writing based on critical Biblical Studies and the question of the shared historical heritage of Palestine and the Palestinians (Thompson 2003: 1).

Pia, mwanazuoni Mpalestina Mazin Qumsiyeh amependekeza, katika kitabu chake *Sharing the Land of Canaan*, mbinu ya kweli zaidi na isiyogawanya mambo kuwa mawili katika mjadala kuhusu Wakanaani na Waisraeli. Alitoa hoja ya kuishi pamoja katika Palestina–Israeli kwa msingi wa urithi wa kihistoria unaoshirikiwa na mshikamano wa kitamaduni na wa kijeni kati ya "watu wa Kikanaani": Wayahudi Mizrahi na Wakristo na Waislamu wa Kipalestina (Qumsiyeh 2004: 28‒30; angalia pia Nebel and Oppenheim 2000).

Also, interestingly, Palestinian scholar Mazin Qumsiyeh has suggested, in his Sharing the Land of Canaan, a more realistic and less dichotomous approach to the debate on Canaanites–Israelites. He argued for coexistence in Palestine–Israel based on shared historical heritage and cultural and genetic affinities between the ‘Canaanitic people’: Mizrahi Jews and Palestinian Christians and Muslims (Qumsiyeh 2004: 28‒30; see also Nebel and Oppenheim 2000).

Hakika, haingekuwa jambo lisilo la busara kusema kwamba Wapalestina wa leo wana uwezekano mkubwa zaidi wa kuwa wazao wa Wafilisti wa kale (na Waisraeli) kuliko Wayahudi wa Ashkenazi, wengi wao wakiwa waongofu wa Kiyahudi kutoka Ulaya. Kihistoria hakika, tofauti na hadithi ya 'uhamisho na kurudi', wakazi wengi wa awali wa Wayahudi wa Palestina ya kale walibaki nchini lakini baadaye, vizazi vingi baadaye, walikubali Ukristo na Uislamu. Leo hii, hata hivyo, tofauti na simulizi zilizogeuzwa kuwa hadithi za wanaharakati wa Kizayuni wa Ashkenazi na za kitaifa za Kiarabu, wanaakiolojia na wataalamu wa Biblia wanazidi kuwa na hakika kwamba mababu wa Waisraeli hawakuwahi kuwa Misri, na kwamba mfano wa kibiblia wa ushindi wa kijeshi wa Kanaani ulikuwa wa kubuni kabisa. Kwa hakika, ushahidi wa kiakiolojia unaidhoofisha hasa Kitabu cha Yoshua. Kama Kutoka Misri na safari ya miaka arobaini jangwani kuzunguka Sinai haingeweza kutokea, na ushindi wa kijeshi wa 'miji yenye ngome' ya Palestina ya kale (kulingana na Kumbukumbu la Torati 9:1: 'miji mikubwa yenye kuta zilizofika mbinguni') ulikanushwa kabisa na akiolojia, basi Waisraeli, Wafilisti au Wakanaani hawa walikuwa akina nani?

Indeed, it would not be unreasonable to argue that the modern Palestinians are more likely to be the descendants of the ancient Philistines (and Israelites) than Ashkenazi Jews, many of whom were European converts to Judaism. Certainly historically, in contrast to the myth of ‘exile and return’, many of the original Jewish inhabitants of ancient Palestine remained in the country but had accepted Christianity and Islam many generations later. Today, however – in contrast to the mythologised Ashkenazi Zionist and Arab nationalist historiographies – more and more archaeologists and biblical scholars are convinced that the ancestors of the Israelites had never been in Egypt and that the biblical paradigm of a military conquest of Cana’an was completely fictional. Indeed, the archaeological evidence undermines, in particular, the Book of Joshua. If the Exodus from Egypt and the forty-year desert journey around Sinai could not have happened and the military conquest of the ‘fortified cities’ ancient Palestine (according to Deuteronomy 9:1: ‘great cities with walls sky-high’) were totally refuted by archaeology, who, then, were these Israelites, Philistines or Canaanites?

Arshīf ya Kipalestina ya historia simulizi na kumbukumbu za majina ya mahali zilizohifadhiwa kidijitali kuhusu mamia ya vijiji na miji iliyoharibiwa imeibuka katika miongo ya hivi karibuni kama mbinu muhimu si tu kwa ujenzi wa historia mbadala ya Nakba ya Kipalestina na kumbukumbu za Palestina ya kihistoria iliyopotea, bali pia kwa maisha ya kiasili yanayoendelea, desturi hai za Kipalestina, na ikolojia ya binadamu inayodumu. Tofauti na tasnia ya urithi ya mkoloni-mkazi wa Kiisraeli, na akiolojia ya Biblia yenye ubaguzi wa kitaifa, pamoja na uteuzi wake wa kupindukia wa masimulizi ya kimithiolojia na kukusanya vipande vya kiakiolojia, Wapalestina wa kiasili wameweka umakini mkubwa kwenye tabaka tajiri sana za historia ya vijiji na mapokeo simulizi, kama ukumbusho wa mwendelezo wa maisha ya wenyeji na desturi zao za kuishi (Said 2004: 49; Masalha 2008: 123–156).

Palestinian digitally archived oral histories and toponymic memories of the hundreds of destroyed villages and towns have emerged in recent decades as a significant methodology not only for the construction of an alternative history of the Palestinian Nakba and memories of the lost historic Palestine but also for an ongoing indigenous life, living Palestinian practices and a sustained human ecology. In contrast with the Israeli settler-colonial heritage- style industry and a supremacist biblical archaeology, with its obsession with myth-narratives and assembling archaeological fragments, indigenous Palestinians have devoted much attention to the enormously rich sedimentations of village history and oral traditions as a reminder of the continuity of native life and living practices (Said 2004: 49; Masalha 2008: 123–156).

Kuziondoa ukoloni katika historia na kurejesha pamoja na kuhifadhi urithi wa kale na utamaduni wa kimwili wa Palestina na Wapalestina ni jambo la msingi. Kuna haja ya dharura ya kufundisha historia ya kale ya Palestina na ya Wapalestina wenyeji (Waislamu, Wakristo, Wasamaria na Wayahudi), pamoja na kuandaa vitabu vipya vya kiada vya Kipalestina vyenye mtazamo wa kuchambua kwa kina kwa ajili ya shule, vyuo na vyuo vikuu, pamoja na kwa mamilioni ya wakimbizi wa Kipalestina walio uhamishoni. Uelewa na ufundishaji huu unapaswa kujumuisha elimu mpya ya kitaaluma ya akiolojia ya Palestina yenye mtazamo wa kuchambua, pamoja na uelewa mpya wa kina wa historia ya kale na kumbukumbu za ardhi hiyo.

Decolonising history and reclaiming and preserving the ancient heritage and material culture of Palestine and the Palestinians is vital. There is an urgent need to teach the ancient history of Palestine and the indigenous Palestinians (Muslims, Christians, Samaritans and Jews), including the production of new and critical Palestinian textbooks for schools, colleges and universities, as well as for the millions of exiled Palestinian refugees. This understanding and teaching should encompass the new critical archaeology scholarship of Palestine and the new critical understanding of the ancient history and memories of the land.