Kama tulivyoona hapo juu, hisia za utaifa wa Kipalestina hazikuibuka ghafla katika karne ya 20 mapema. Zilijitokeza hatua kwa hatua kwa miongo kadhaa na kupitia matukio makubwa yaliyoathiri Palestina na eneo pana zaidi katika nusu ya pili ya karne ya 19. Hata hivyo, malengo ya jumla ya utaifa wa Kipalestina katika kipindi cha baada ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia yalibadilika kwa kiasi kikubwa, kutoka kudai uhuru wa ndani na usawa wa uraia chini ya Waothmani, hadi mapambano ya kupinga ukoloni, ukombozi na uhuru wakati wa Utawala wa Uingereza chini ya Mamlaka ya Mandate.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

Muhimu zaidi, upinzani wa kivitendo dhidi ya tishio la kuwepo kwa Palestina linalotokana na uhamiaji wa Kizayuni na ukoloni wa walowezi nchini Palestina wakati wa kipindi cha Mamlaka ya Uingereza ukawa kiini cha mapambano ya kizalendo ya Wapalestina. Hali ya Palestina baada ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia ilikuwa imebadilika kabisa. Waingereza, waliouteka Palestina mnamo mwaka 1917‒1918, walikuwa wameahidi kuunga mkono malengo ya walowezi wa Kizayuni kama yalivyoelezwa katika Azimio la Balfour la Novemba 1917. Mwaka 1920, Mkutano wa San Remo wa Mamlaka Nne Kuu za Washirika katika Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia uliamua kuingiza maneno ya Azimio la Balfour katika maandishi ya Mamlaka ya Uingereza juu ya Palestina. Vuguvugu la kizalendo la Kipalestina, lilipokabiliana mapema na tishio la kuwepo kwake lililotokana na ahadi za Azimio la Balfour lenye mwelekeo wa Kizayuni,ililazimika kukabiliana na kitendawili kilichokuja kuwa cha kudumu: je, lisisitize upande wa Kipalestina wenye msingi wa ardhi, au upande wa Upan-Uarabu wa utambulisho wa Waarabu wa Palestina?

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.

Mtatizo huu uliwasumbua wanasiasa wa kizalendo wa Kipalestina katika nusu ya kwanza ya karne ya 20, na uliendelea kwa muda mrefu hadi kipindi cha baada ya 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.

Katika kipindi baada ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia, mashirika ya upinzani wa kizalendo wa Kipalestina yalianza kuongezeka. Chama cha Mwamko wa Kipalestina (al-Nahdah al-Filistiniyyah), shirika la kizalendo la Kipalestina, kilianzishwa mjini Damascus mwezi Machi 1919. Rais wake wa kwanza alikuwa Salim al-Tibi, ambaye alisafiri kutoka Jerusalem kwenda Damascus kwa matarajio ya kuundwa kwa utawala wa Amiri Faisal mjini humo. Al-Tibi alikuwa afisa mwandamizi wa Jeshi la Kiarabu la Amiri Faisal, na baba yake alikuwa mufti wa Tulkarem. Baadaye alibadilishwa kama rais wa chama hicho na Salman ʿAbdel-Rahman, mwana wa meya wa Tulkarem (Tauber 2007: 95). Viongozi wengine wa chama walikuwa Muhammad ʿIzzat Darwazah kutoka Nablus, ʿAbd al-Qader al-Muzaffar na Rushdi al-Shawa kutoka Gaza. Al-Shawa alisafiri mara kwa mara kati ya Damascus, Jerusalem, Jaffa na Gaza, akimsindikiza al-Muzaffar katika safari zake za kwenda Palestina, akisafirisha silaha na kuhimiza uasi dhidi ya Waingereza. Mwaka 1919 iliripotiwa kwamba alichukua bastola 100 kutoka Damascus kwenda Jerusalem kwa ajili ya wanachama wa 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).

Pia katika siku za mwanzo za kipindi cha Mamlaka ya Uingereza (Mandatory period), uongozi wa kitaifa wa Waarabu wa Palestina ulikutana na kuitisha Kongamano la Waarabu wa Palestina (al-Mutamar al-‘Arabi al-Filastini), mfululizo wa makongamano ya kitaifa yaliyoandaliwa na mtandao mpana wa kamati na jumuiya za Waislamu na Wakristo wa Palestina wa kienyeji; kati ya mwaka 1919 na 1928 makongamano saba yalifanyika mjini Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa na Nablus (Porath 1974). Kuanzia mwaka 1920 hadi 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

Kamati ya Utendaji ya kitaifa ya Kongamano, ambayo iliratibu upinzani wa Wapalestina dhidi ya Tamko la Balfour na sera za Waingereza zinazounga mkono Uzayuni huko Palestina, iliongozwa na Musa Kazim al-Husayni, Meya wa Jerusalem kati ya mwaka 1918 na 1920. Kamati ya Utendaji na kamati zake za mitaa zilikuwa na uungwaji mkono mkubwa wa umma, lakini hazikuwahi kutambuliwa rasmi na mamlaka za Kiingereza. Maazimio ya Kongamano la Tatu la Waarabu wa Palestina, lililofanyika Haifa tarehe 4‒14 Desemba 1920, ambayo baadaye yaliwasilishwa kwa Katibu wa Makoloni wa Uingereza, Winston Churchill, mapema mwaka 1921, yalifupishwa na Ilan Pappe kama ifuatavyo:

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:

Kauli mbiu ya mkutano huo ilikuwa 'Usawa kwa Mamlaka ya Iraq'.

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

Maandishi ya mamlaka ya Iraq yalitaja kwamba kutakuwa na bunge lililochaguliwa kwa kanuni ya kidemokrasia ya raia mmoja, kura moja. Yalikubali Iraq kuwa watani (taifa) ambalo hatimaye lingekuwa huru. [Sheikh Suleiman al-Taji al-Faruqi] aliwaeleza waliokusanyika kwamba haya yalikuwa madai ya msingi kabisa, lakini yalikuwa yamekataliwa kwa Wapalestina kutokana na Azimio la 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)

Mkutano wa Tatu wa Waarabu wa Palestina:

This Third Palestine Arab Congress:

inaweza kuonekana kama chimbuko la mapinduzi ya kitaifa ya Waarabu wa Palestina, mkutano uliofanyika Haifa katikati ya Desemba 1920, ulitoa wito kwa watawala wapya wa Uingereza kuanzisha serikali "itakayochaguliwa na watu wanaozungumza Kiarabu waliokuwa wakiishi Palestina kabla ya kuanza kwa vita [ya dunia]". Ulikataa kabisa na bila kuyumba madai ya Wayahudi wa Kizayuni kuhusu Palestina. (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)

Mwendelezo wa fikra za kitaifa za Kipalestina za kisasa unaweza kuonekana katika baadhi ya vipengele vilivyopangwa kitaasisi vya mapambano ya kitaifa ya Kipalestina katika kipindi cha kabla ya Nakba, ambavyo vilijitokeza tena katika zama za baada ya Nakba. Kwa mfano, mwaka 1930, baada ya ‘Uasi wa al-Burraq’ (Habbat al-Buraq) wa 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)

Huko Palestina, nchi yenye Waislamu wengi, uongozi wa Kipalestina ulianzisha Mfuko wa Kitaifa wa Waarabu wa Palestina (PANF). Mfuko huu ulianzishwa na Baraza Kuu la Waarabu wa Palestina na uliongozwa na Fouad Saba, mwanaharakati na mhasibu wa Kipalestina aliyezaliwa Acre. PANF ilichukua hatua kadhaa za kifedha za vitendo ili kuwazuia watu kuuza ardhi kwa taasisi za kitaifa za Kizayuni nchini Palestina. PANF ilikuwa mtangulizi wa Mfuko wa Kitaifa wa Palestina (PNF), ambao ulikuwa mkubwa zaidi na ulikuwa na malengo mengi zaidi.

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)

iliundwa na PLO mwaka 1964 (angalia hapa chini).

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

Kwa kueleweka, wakati wa kipindi cha Mamlaka (ukoloni), baadhi ya viongozi mashuhuri wa Kipalestina waliendelea kuona utambulisho wa Kipalestina kuwa sehemu ya utambulisho mpana wa Kiarabu wa eneo la al-Sham na/au utambulisho wa Pan-Arab. Lakini utambulisho wa Pan-Arab au wa al-Sham kwa ujumla hauwezi kueleweka kwa kutengwa na utambulisho wake unaounda na wa kipekee (wa Kipalestina, Kilebanoni, Kisiria na Kijordani). Zaidi ya hayo, itikadi za Pan-Arab au al-Sham haziwezi kukanusha kuwepo kwa Palestina ya kihistoria au utambulisho wa Kipalestina ulio na mizizi mirefu, tofauti na wa kipekee.

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.