Utaifa wa Kipalestina tangu mwaka 1918 imejikita zaidi katika mipaka ya Palestina ya Mamlaka ya Kimandati. Hata hivyo, kuibuka kwa utaifa wa kisasa katika Mashariki ya Kiarabu mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 kulizaa mawazo mapya na hadithi kadhaa, zikiwemo ile ya utambulisho wa Kisiria wa Qawmi na wazo la ‘Suriyya al-Janubiyyah’, au ‘Siria ya Kusini’, kama njia ya kuelezea utambulisho fulani wa kisasa wa Kipalestina ambao ulianza kujitokeza mwishoni mwa kipindi cha Dola ya Kiothmani. Hata hivyo, ingawa jina Siria ni la kale kama jina Palestina, na neno la kisasa Siria halipaswi kuchanganywa kiotomatiki na neno la kimapokeo la Kiislamu al-Sham, hakuna ushahidi kwamba utambulisho wa Kisiria wa Qawmi au utambulisho tofauti wa Suriyya al-Janubiyyah ulikuwepo au ulitumiwa na Wapalestina kabla ya mwishoni mwa karne ya 19.

Palestinian nationalism since 1918 has focused largely on the boundaries of Mandatory Palestine. However, the emergence of modern nationalism in the Arab East in the late 19th century spawned the creation of new ideas and several myths including that of Syrian Qawmi identity and the idea of ‘Suriyya al-Janubiyyah’, or ‘Southern Syria’, as a way of describing a particular modern Palestinian identity which began to emerge in the late Ottoman period. However, although the name Syria is as ancient as the name Palestine and the modern term Syria should not be conflated automatically with the traditional Islamic term of al-Sham, there is no evidence that a Syrian Qawmi identity or a distinct Suriyya al-Janubiyyah identity had existed or been used by Palestinians before the late 19th century.

Wakati huo huo, kuibuka kwa uzalendo wa kisasa katika ulimwengu wa Kiarabu kumesababisha, kwa kweli, kuundwa kwa uzalendo wa ngazi mbili wa Watani/Qawmi katika Mashariki ya Kiarabu, wenye masharti mawili tofauti na yanayokamilishana:

At the same time the rise of modern nationalism in the Arab world has, in fact, resulted the creation of a two-tier Watani/Qawmi nationalism in the Arab East with two distinct and mutually complementary terms:

Wataniyyah na qawmiyyah: ya kwanza ikirejelea uzalendo wa kitaifa unaotegemea nchi na eneo (kwa mfano, Palestina), na ya pili ikirejelea mshikamano mpana wa Waarabu na mipango ya umoja. Muktadha huu mpana ulikuwa na athari za moja kwa moja kwa Palestina, na baada ya kipindi cha Dola ya Ottoman wazalendo wa Palestina walitafuta kukuza aina ya utaifa wa kidunia yenye pande mbili, iliyochanganya wataniyyah ya Palestina (uzalendo wa ndani) na qawmiyyah ʿarabiyyah, aina ya mshikamano wa Waarabu wote. Baadhi ya wasomi wa Kipalestina pia walijaribu, kwa kipindi kifupi baada ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia, utaifa wa Kisiria wa qawmi, lakini itikadi hii ya kisiasa leo karibu imetoweka.

wataniyyah and qawmiyyah, the former referring to country-based territorial nationalism (for instance, Palestine) and the latter to the wider pan-Arab solidarity and unity schemes. This wider context had direct implications for Palestine, and in the post-Ottoman period Palestinian nationalists sought to promote a dyadic form of secular nationalism which combined a Palestine-based wataniyyah (local patriotic nationalism) with qawmiyyah ʿarabiyyah, a form of pan-Arab solidarity. Some Palestinian intellectuals also experimented for a short period after the First World War with Syrian Qawmi nationalism, but this political ideology is today largely extinct.

Gazeti la Kipalestina la muda mfupi la Suriyya al-Janubiyyah lilikuwa mfano halisi wa jambo hili. Zaidi ya hayo, uvumbuzi wa maneno mapya, kama Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, mara nyingi huakisi mambo mengi, na kuundwa kwa jina la gazeti Suriyya al-Janubiyyas ('Syria ya Kusini') ni mfano halisi wa kawaida.

The short-lived Palestinian newspaper Suriyya al-Janubiyyah was a case in point. Further the invention of new terms, such as Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, often reflect multiple factors and the creation of the name of the newspaper Suriyya al-Janubiyyas (‘Southern Syria’) is a classic case in point.

Neno Suriyya al-Janubiyyah lilidhihirisha muunganiko wa mikondo minne ya kisiasa na kitamaduni: (a) vipimo vya kiutamaduni na kiisimu vya Kiarabu vya utambulisho wa kisasa wa Kipalestina, ambavyo daima vilikuwa na nguvu; (b) uvumbuzi na uenezaji wa itikadi ya utaifa wa Kisyria ya mwishoni mwa karne ya 19; (c) asili ya kupinga ukoloni ya mapambano ya kisasa ya kitaifa ya Wapalestina, mapambano yaliyoshirikishwa na watu jirani wa Kiarabu; na (d) hali maalum zilizozunguka uundwaji wa haraka wa utawala wa utaifa wa Pan-Arab mjini Damascus mwaka 1919‒1920 ukiongozwa na Amiri Faisal. Neno Suriyyah al-Janubiyyah na utawala wa Faisal mjini Damascus vyote viliishi kwa muda mfupi.

The term Suriyya al-Janubiyyah reflected the convergence of four political and cultural currents: (a) the Arab cultural and linguistic dimensions of modern Palestinian identity which were always strong; (b) the invention and propagation of a late 19th century Syrian nationalist ideology; (c) the anti-colonial nature of the modern Palestinian national struggle, a struggle shared with neighbouring Arab peoples; and (d) the particular circumstances surrounding the hurried formation of the pan-Arab nationalist regime in Damascus in 1919‒1920 headed by Emir Faisal. Both the term Suriyyah al-Janubiyyah and Faisal’s administration in Damascus were short-lived.

Utaifa wa Kisyria – kama utaifa wa Kipalestina na utaifa wa Kiarabu – ni itikadi ya kisasa, na Syria kama "wazo la kitaifa lenye msingi wa eneo" lilibuniwa mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 na waandishi wa Kiarabu kama Butrus al-Bustani (1819–1883), Mmaronite wa Lebanon aliyebadili dini na kuwa Mprotestanti na mtu muhimu katika mwamko wa kitamaduni wa Kiarabu wa zama zake, ambaye anachukuliwa kuwa mwanzilishi wa kifikra wa utaifa wa Kisyria wa Qawmi (Sheehi 2011). Lebo ya Suriyya al-Janubiyyah ilikuwa dhana ya kisiasa ya muda mfupi iliyoundwa mapema karne ya 20 kama matokeo ya kuibuka kwa itikadi ya utaifa wa Kisyria (Qawmi) ya kipindi hicho. Al-Bustani na baadhi ya wasomi wa Kiarabu katika Mwamko wa Kiarabu wa mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 walieneza wazo la 'Syria Kubwa', kwa kiasi fulani kama jibu la Vita vya Wenyewe kwa Wenyewe vya Druze‒Maronite vya mwaka 1860 vilivyokuwa vya umwagaji damu katika Mlima Lebanon, vilivyoenea hadi Damascus na miji mingine ya Syria na Lebanon kwa matokeo mabaya.

Syrian nationalism – like Palestinian nationalism and Arab nationalism – is a modern ideology and Syria as a ‘national, territorially based idea’ was invented in the late 19th century by Arab writers such as Butrus al-Bustani (1819–1883), a Lebanese Maronite convert to Protestantism and a key figure in the Arab cultural awakening of his age, who is considered the intellectual founder of Syrian Qawmi nationhood (Sheehi 2011). The label Suriyya al-Janubiyyah was a short-lived politically-driven construct manufactured in the early 20th century as a by-product of the emergence of the Syrian nationalist (Qawmi) ideology of the period. Al-Bustani and some Arab figures in the Arab Renaissance of the late 19th century propagated the idea of ‘greater Syria’, partly in response to the bloody 1860 Druze‒Maronite Civil War of Mount Lebanon which spread to Damascus and other Syrian and Lebanese cities with devastating consequences.

Gazeti la Kiarabu la Palestina, Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, lililoanzishwa Jerusalem mnamo Septemba 1919, halidhihirishi udhaifu wa wazo la Palestina baada ya Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia; badala yake linaonyesha nguvu na uhusiano wa karibu uliokuwepo kwa karne nyingi chini ya Uislamu kati ya Palestina na al-Sham. Kwa undani zaidi, tukio hili linapaswa kueleweka ndani ya muktadha wa shughuli za kisiasa za utawala wa muda mfupi wa Amiri Faisal huko Damascus mwaka 1919‒1920. Gazeti hili lilifanya kazi kwa miezi michache tu, hadi lilipofungwa kabisa na Waingereza mwezi Aprili 1920, muda mfupi kabla ya utawala wa Faisal kuondolewa na jeshi la Ufaransa. Gazeti hilo lilikuwa chombo cha al-Nadi al-ʿArabi (Klabu ya Kiarabu), iliyoanzishwa Damascus mwaka 1919, na liliunga mkono umoja wa Palestina na Syria chini ya uongozi wa Amiri Faisal huko Damascus. Lilichapishwa na wakili Mpalestina, Muhammad Hasan al-Budayri, na kuhaririwa na ‘Arif al-‘Arif, huku likiwa na michango kutoka, miongoni mwa wengine, Haj Amin al-Husayni. Ingawa neno Suriyyah al-Janubiyyah karibu limetoweka kutoka fahamu na mijadala ya Kiarabu na ya pamoja, mara kwa mara wasomi wa pan-Arab huliibua tena kama njia ya kukataa uwepo wa watu wa Palestina.29

The Palestinian Arab newspaper Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, founded in Jerusalem in September 1919, does not testify to the weakness of the idea of Palestine after the First World War but rather points to the strength and close relations that had existed under Islam for centuries between Palestine and al-Sham. More specifically, this episode should be seen within the context of the political activities of the short-lived regime of Emir Faisal in Damascus in 1919‒1920. The newspaper only operated for a few months until its final closure by the British in April 1920, shortly before Faisal’s regime was removed by the French military. The newspaper was an organ of the al-Nadi al-ʿArabi (the Arab Club), founded in Damascus in 1919, and supported Palestinian‒Syrian unity under Emir Faisal’s leadership in Damascus. It was published by a Palestinian lawyer, Muhammad Hasan al-Budayri, and edited by ‘Arif al-‘Arif with contributions from, inter alia, Haj Amin al-Husayni. Although the term Suriyyah al-Janubiyyah has almost vanished from Arab and collective consciousness or discourse, it is occasionally resurrected by pan-Arab intellectuals as a way of denying the existence of the Palestinian people.29

Neno Suriyya al-Janubiyyah lenyewe lilienezwa wakati wa kipindi hiki kifupi na baada yake, lakini lilitokana zaidi na hali zilizozunguka kuundwa kwa utawala wa muda mfupi wa Pan-Arab wa Faisal huko Damascus, pamoja na mjadala uliokuwepo wakati huo kuhusu taifa la pamoja la Wapalestina na Wasyria. Hata hivyo, kipindi hiki pia kilizaa kiasi fulani cha fasihi kuhusu ‘Syria ya Kusini’, na mkanganyiko mkubwa miongoni mwa wanahistoria, hasa wale ambao hawakuelewa muktadha na mazingira yanayozunguka neno hili jipya. Baadhi ya wanahistoria waliongeza mkanganyiko zaidi kwa kuanza kuchanganya lebo mpya, Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, na al-Sham, neno la zamani linalohusishwa na historia ya Kiislamu ya Levant pana. Wanahistoria wengine pia walianza kutafsiri al-Sham moja kwa moja kama ‘Syria Kubwa’, jambo lililoongeza mkanganyiko zaidi na uelewa mdogo kuhusu asili ya neno Suriyya al-Janubiyyah.

The term Suriyya al-Janubiyyah itself was propagated during and in the aftermath of this brief episode, but it was largely the outcome of the circumstances surrounding the formation of the short‑lived pan‑Arab administration of Faisal in Damascus and the concurrent debate about joint Palestinian‒Syrian statehood. However, this episode also spawned a certain amount of literature on ‘Southern Syria’ and a great deal of confusion among historians, especially those who failed to understand the context and contingencies surrounding this new term. Some historians added more confusion by beginning to conflate a new label, Suriyya al-Janubiyyah, with al-Sham, an old term associated with the Islamic history of the wider Levant. Other historians also began to translate al-Sham automatically into ‘greater Syria’, thus adding more confusion and little understanding as to the origin of the term Suriyya al-Janubiyyah.

Tofauti na al-Sham, Suriyya al-Janubiyyah haikuwa na mizizi katika historia ya Palestina wala haikuonekana miongoni mwa Wapalestina kabla ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia. Pia, na jambo muhimu sana, kuanzishwa kwa gazeti lililoitwa Suriyya al-Janubiyyah kwa miezi kadhaa huko Jerusalem si ushahidi wenyewe kwamba neno ‘Syria Kusini’ lilijumuisha roho yote ya zama hizo, wala ukosefu wa ‘utambulisho wa kitaifa wa Kipalestina’ mwaka 1919. Kinyume chake, kuanzia miaka ya 1920 na kuendelea, Haj Amin al-Husayni na ‘Arif al-‘Arif wote walijitokeza kuwa watu wenye ushawishi mkubwa katika harakati za utaifa wa Kipalestina, na neno Suriyya al-Janubiyyah halikutumiwa na yeyote kati yao baada ya kuanguka kwa Faisal mwaka 1920.

Yet, in contrast to al-Sham, Suriyya al-Janubiyyah was neither rooted in the history of Palestine nor found among Palestinians before the First World War. Also, crucially, the setting up of a newspaper under the name Suriyya al-Janubiyyah for several months in Jerusalem is not in itself evidence that the term ‘Southern Syria’ encapsulated the whole spirit of the age or the lack of a ‘Palestinian national identity’ in 1919. On the contrary, from the 1920s onwards both Haj Amin al-Husayni and ‘Arif al-‘Arif emerged as highly influential figures in Palestinian nationalism and the term Suriyya al-Janubiyyah was not used by either of them after Faisal’s fall in 1920.

Pan-Syrianism (Pan-Syrianism) ilikuwa itikadi ya kisiasa iliyodumu kwa muda mfupi kiasi.

Pan-Syrianism was a relatively short-lived ideological phenomenon.

Zaidi ya hayo, wakati wa kuwepo kwake kwa muda mfupi, gazeti la Suriyya al-Janubiyyah lilitetea mipango ya umoja wa Wapalestina‒Wasyria‒Waarabu, likiwa na msimamo thabiti wa utaifa wa Kipalestina na upinzani mkali dhidi ya ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni.

Moreover, during its brief existence, the newspaper Suriyya al-Janubiyyah advocated Palestinian‒Syrian‒Arab unity schemes with a strong commitment to Palestinian nationalism and strong opposition to Zionist settlercolonisation.

Wakati huo misimamo hii ya kisiasa ilionekana kuwa inakamilishana badala ya kupingana. Hata hivyo, kwa kuondolewa kwa utawala wa Faisal mjini Damascus na Wafaransa mwaka 1920, wazo la Suriyya al-Janubiyyah lilipungua kwa kasi, na katika miaka ya 1930 vyama vya kisiasa vya Kipalestina mara nyingi vilichanganya msimamo mkali wa utaifa wa Kipalestina na mipango ya umoja wa Kiarabu – badala ya umoja wa Kisiria – kwa pamoja.

At the time these political positions were perceived to be complementary rather than contradictory. However, with the overthrow of Faisal’s administration in Damascus by the French in 1920, the idea of Suriyya al-Janubiyyah declined sharply and in the 1930s Palestinian political parties often combined strong commitments to Palestinian nationalism with pan-Arab – rather than pan-Syrian – unity schemes.

Mkondo mmoja wenye ushawishi mkubwa wa utaifa wa Kipalestina uliendelea kutetea wataniyyah ya Kipalestina – uzalendo wa kitaifa unaojikita Palestina – ukiwa umeshikamana kwa karibu na itikadi za qawmiyyah ya Kiarabu ya pan-Arab, na uliendelea kuwepo katika kipindi chote cha Mamlaka ya Uingereza. Mkondo huu ulipinga kwa nguvu sera ya Uingereza inayounga mkono Uzayuni, ya kuitenganisha Palestina na historia na mazingira yake ya Kiarabu.

One influential current of Palestinian nationalism continued to advocate Palestinian wataniyyah – Palestine-based patriotic nationalism – closely allied with ideologies of pan-Arab qawmiyyah persisted throughout the British Mandatory period. This current strongly argued against the British pro-Zionist policy of detaching Palestine from its Arab history and environment.

Miongoni mwa wawakilishi mashuhuri wa mkondo huu walikuwa viongozi wa chama cha Istiqlal: ‘Awni ‘Abd al-Hadi (1889‒1970) na Muhammad Izzat Darwazh (1888–1984), ambaye alikuwa mmoja wa viongozi wa Jumuiya ya Mwamko wa Kipalestina (al-Nahdah al-Filistiniyyah), shirika la kizalendo la Kipalestina lililoanzishwa Damascus mwaka 1919. ‘Abd al-Hadi alitoka katika familia ya wamiliki wa ardhi katika eneo la Jenin (Nablus), na Darwazah alitoka katika familia ya wafanyabiashara wa tabaka la kati kutoka Nablus, familia iliyojihusisha kwa muda mrefu na nguo na ilikuwa na mahusiano mapana ya kibiashara na wafanyabiashara Waarabu wa Damascus na Beirut (Doumani 1995: 59‒61). Wote ‘Abd al-Hadi na Darwazah walipata elimu wakati wa utawala wa Waottoman, na walishiriki binafsi katika harakati kali za kisiasa za pan-Arabism kabla ya kipindi cha Mamlaka ya Uingereza. ‘Abd al-Hadi alisoma Beirut, Istanbul na Chuo Kikuu cha Sorbonne mjini Paris, na Darwazah, msomi aliyejifunza mwenyewe (Muslih 1991: 178), alihudumu katika utawala wa Waottoman wa eneo hilo kama karani katika Idara ya Huduma za Telegrafu na Posta mjini Nablus, baadaye akawa Mkurugenzi wa Huduma za Posta mjini Beirut. Mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1930 chama cha Istiqlal kilikuwa ‘chama pekee cha wingi cha pan-Arabism, [kilichoanza] kuwahamasisha Waarabu wa Palestina kuzunguka mpango wa kupinga Uzayuni na ubeberu’ (Tamari 2008: 6‒7).

Well-known representatives of this current were leaders of the Istiqlal party: ‘Awni ‘Abd al-Hadi (1889‒1970)30 and Muhammad Izzat Darwazh (1888–1984), who had been one of the leaders of the Palestinian Revival Society (al-Nahdah al-Filistiniyyah), a Palestinian nationalist organisation founded in Damascus in 1919. ‘Abd al-Hadi belonged to a landowning family in the Jenin (Nablus) area and Darwazah came from a middle class family of merchants from Nablus that had long been involved in textiles and had extensive trade relationships with the Arab merchants of Damascus and Beirut (Doumani 1995: 59‒61). Both ‘Abd al-Hadi and Darwazah had been educated in the Ottoman period and had been personally involved in radical pan-Arab political activities during the pre-Mandatory period. ‘Abd al-Hadi had been educated in Beirut, Istanbul and at the Sorbonne University in Paris and Darwazah, a self-taught intellectual (Muslih 1991: 178), had served in the local Ottoman administration as a clerk in the Department of Telegraphic and Postal Services in Nablus and later as Director of Postal Services in Beirut. In the early 1930s the Istiqlal party became ‘the only mass-based pan-Arabist party, [which] began to mobilize Palestinian Arabs around an anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist program’ (Tamari 2008: 6‒7).

Zaidi, wote 'Abd al-Hadi na Darwazah waliendelea kuamini kwamba utambulisho wa Palestina ni sehemu ya nchi kubwa zaidi ya Syria [Bilad al-Sham] (Tamari 2008: 7). Chama cha Istiqlal kilitafuta uhuru wa Palestina ndani ya mipango ya umoja wa Waarabu – mipango ya Pan-Arabism ambayo wakati ule ilifikiriwa kama njia ya kuimarisha harakati ya kitaifa ya Wapalestina na kupinga ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni. Kwa kweli, viongozi wa chama cha Istiqlal hawakuona mgongano wowote kati ya kutetea Pan-Arabism na ushiriki wao hai katika harakati ya ukombozi wa kitaifa wa Palestina. Kinyume chake, kwao malengo hayo mawili yalikamilishana. Pia, upinzani dhidi ya madai ya kitaifa ya Kizayuni juu ya Palestina na upinzani dhidi ya mfumo wa Mamlaka (wa kikoloni) katika Mashariki ya Kati, ambao ulikuwa kikwazo kikuu cha kujitawala kwa Waarabu, ulionekana kuunganishwa: "Ikiwa Mamlaka [ya Uingereza] itaanguka, basi mradi wa Kizayuni nao ungeporomoka" (Krämer 2011: 256).

Furthermore, both ‘Abd al-Hadi and Darwazah ‘continued to believe in Palestine’s identity as a component of the greater Syrian [Bilad al-Sham] homeland’ (Tamari 2008: 7). The Istiqlal party sought independence for Palestine within Arab unity schemes – pan-Arab schemes which at the time were conceived as a way of empowering the Palestinian national struggle and resisting Zionist settler-colonisation. In fact, the leaders of the Istiqlal party saw no contradiction between the advocacy of pan-Arabism and their active involvement in the Palestinian national liberation movement. On the contrary, for them the two objectives were complementary. Also, opposition to Zionist national claims to Palestine and opposition to the Mandatory (colonial) system in the Middle East, which was the main obstacle to Arab self-determination, were perceived as intertwined: ‘If the [British] Mandate fell, then the Zionist project would also collapse’ (Krämer 2011: 256).

‘Abd al-Hadi alielewa wakati huo uhusiano wa karibu kati ya utambulisho wa Kipalestina wa kienyeji, Uarabu na upinzani dhidi ya ukoloni wa walowezi huko Palestina. Katika juhudi zake za dhati za kukanusha madai ya Kizayuni juu ya Palestina, ‘Abd al-Hadi alitoa ushahidi mbele ya Tume ya Peel ya Uingereza mwezi Januari 1937, huku akikataa sera za Uingereza zilizotafuta kuitenganisha Palestina na sehemu nyingine za al-Sham kwa mujibu wa ahadi za Azimio la Balfour la mwaka 1917, ambalo lilisema: ‘Serikali ya Mfalme wake inaona kwa upendeleo uanzishwaji huko Palestina wa makao ya kitaifa kwa watu wa Kiyahudi’.

‘Abd al-Hadi understood the close linkage at the time between local Palestinian identity, Arabism and opposition to settler-colonialism in Palestine. In his passionate quest to refute the Zionist claims to Palestine, ‘Abd al-Hadi testified before the British Peel Commission in January 1937, while rejecting British policies which sought to detach Palestine from the rest of al-Sham in line with the commitments of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which stated: ‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’.

‘Abd al-Hadi alikuwa, kwa wakati mmoja, mzalendo wa Kiarabu wa Palestina na mtu muhimu katika harakati ya utaifa wa Kiarabu wa Palestina, pia mmoja wa wasemaji wake wakuu, wakati wa utawala wa Mamlaka ya Uingereza. Alihudumu kama katibu wa Kamati Tendaji ya Kongamano la Waarabu wa Palestina mwaka 1928. Pia aliteuliwa kuwa katibu mkuu wa Kamati Kuu ya Kiarabu, iliyoundwa mwezi Aprili 1936 ili kuratibu mgomo mkuu miongoni mwa Wapalestina.

‘Abd al-Hadi was, at the same time, a Palestinian Arab nationalist and a key figure in, and one of the chief spokesmen of, the Palestinian Arab nationalist movement during the Mandatory period. He served as secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Arab Congress in 1928. He was also appointed general secretary of the Arab Higher Committee, which was formed in April 1936 to coordinate the general strike among Palestinians.

Chama cha Istiqlal kilishiriki katika uasi wa Wapalestina wa mwaka 1936‒1939 na kikatoa wito waususiaji wa Waingereza kwa mtindo wa Chama cha Congress cha India (Khalidi, R.

The Istiqlal party took part in the Palestinian uprising in 1936‒1939 and called for an Indian Congress Party-style boycott of the British (Khalidi, R.

2001: 25). Chama cha Istiqlal baadaye kilipigwa marufuku na Waingereza.

2001: 25). The Istiqlal party was subsequently banned by the British.

Kama hatua ya busara ya kukabiliana na mwelekeo wa Pan-Uarabu wa chama cha Istiqlal, Haj Amin al-Husayni, mufti wa Jerusalem na mkuu wa Baraza Kuu la Waislamu, pamoja na wafuasi wake, walianzisha Chama cha Waarabu wa Palestina (al-Hizb al-ʿArabi al-Filastini), ambacho kilijumuisha viongozi wakuu wa Kiislamu na Kikristo wa Palestina (Krämer 2011: 258). Chama hiki, ambacho kilisisitiza uhuru wa Wapalestina katika kuendesha, na vipimo vya Kipalestina vya, mapambano ya kitaifa nchini Palestina, kilitawala Kamati Kuu ya Waarabu katika kipindi cha 1936‒1948, na baadaye kingehamasisha kuibuka kwa Harakati ya Ukombozi wa Kitaifa wa Palestina (Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini au Fateh) katika kipindi baada ya Nakba.

As a shrewd countermove to the pan-Arabist orientation of the Istiqlal party, Haj Amin al-Husayni, the mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Supreme Muslim Council, and his supporters formed the Palestinian Arab Party (al-Hizb al-ʿArabi al-Filastini), which included key Palestinian Muslim and Christian leaders (Krämer 2011: 258). This party, which emphasised the Palestinian agency in, and Palestinian dimensions of, the national struggle in Palestine and dominated the Arab Higher Committee in the period 1936‒1948, would subsequently inspire the emergence of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini or Fateh) in the post-Nakba period.

Chama kingine kilichoundwa katika miaka ya 1930 nacho pia kilisisitiza vipengele vya pamoja vya Waarabu wa Palestina na vipengele vya kitaifa vya Waarabu wa Palestina katika mapambano ya Palestina: Chama cha Mageuzi cha Waarabu wa Palestina (Hizb al-Islah al-ʿArabi al-Filastin), kilichoanzishwa na wanachama wa familia ya Khalidi ya Jerusalem mnamo Juni 1935 (Krämer 2011: 258).

The Palestinian Arab collective agency and Palestinian Arab national dimensions of the struggle in Palestine were also emphasised by another party created in the 1930s: the Palestine Arab Reform Party (Hizb al-Islah al-ʿArabi al-Filastin), established by members of the Khalidi family of Jerusalem in June 1935 (Krämer 2011: 258).

Uasi wa Wapalestina wa mwaka 1936–1939 ulikuwa na athari kubwa katika kuimarisha vipengele mahsusi vya utambulisho wa kitaifa wa Palestina na mapambano yake ya kitaifa. Hili linaweza kuonyeshwa vyema zaidi na kuwakilishwa na shairi la kizalendo "Mawtini" ('Nchi Yangu'), pengine shairi maarufu na lenye ushawishi mkubwa kuliko yote ya Kipalestina katika historia. Lilitungwa na Ibrahim Tuqan (1905–1941) mwaka 1934, na likawa wito wa kuhamasisha dhidi ya ukoloni wa Kiingereza na Uzayuni nchini Palestina wakati wa uasi mkubwa wa miaka ya 1930 (Jayyusi na Tingley 1977). Tuqan alitoka katika familia mashuhuri ya Nablus ambayo, chini ya Waothmani, ilitawala siasa za mji huo kwa sehemu kubwa ya karne ya 18 na 19. Alisomea Nablus, Jerusalem, na katika Chuo Kikuu cha Marekani cha Beirut kuanzia mwaka 1923 hadi 1929.

The Palestinian uprising of 1936‒1939 had a major impact on the consolidation of the particular components of Palestine’s national identity and national struggle in Palestine. This can be best illustrated and symbolised by the nationalist poem Mawtini (‘My Homeland’), perhaps the most famous and influential Palestinian poem of all time. It was written by Ibrahim Tuqan (1905–1941) in 1934 and became a rallying cry against British colonialism and Zionism in Palestine during the great uprising in the 1930s (Jayyusi and Tingley 1977). Tuqan belonged to a notable Nablus family that had, under the Ottomans, dominated the politics of the city for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. He had been educated in Nablus, Jerusalem and at the American University of Beirut from 1923 to 1929.

Baadaye alifanya kazi kama profesa katika Chuo Kikuu cha Marekani cha Beirut na kama naibu mkurugenzi wa Shirika la Utangazaji la Palestina lenye makao yake Jerusalem. Kipande kutoka kwenye shairi, ambalo tangu hapo limekuwa likijumuisha mapambano yasiyokoma ya taifa la Wapalestina ya kujitawala, kinasomeka kama ifuatavyo:

He later worked as a professor at the American University in Beirut and a sub-director of the Jerusalem-based Palestine Broadcasting Service. An excerpt from the poem, which has since then embodied that indomitable Palestinian national struggle for self-determination, reads as follows:

Upanga na kalamu.

The sword and the pen.

Kutozungumza wala kugombana.

Not talking or quarrelling.

Ni alama zetu.

Are our symbols.

Utukufu wetu na agano letu.

Our glory and covenant.

Na wajibu wa kuitekeleza.

And a duty to fulfil it.

Tikisa sisi.

Shake us.

Heshima yetu.

Our honour.

Ni sababu yenye heshima.

Is an honourable cause.

Bendera iliyoinuliwa.

A raised flag.

Ewe, uzuri wako!

O, your beauty.

Kwa heshima yako kubwa.

In your eminence.

Mshindi dhidi ya maadui zako.

Victorious over your enemies.

Nchi yangu.

My homeland.

Nchi yangu.

My homeland.