Inatambulika kwa upana kwamba dhana ya kijiografia-kisiasa ya Palestina ilibadilika kwa kiasi kikubwa kutoka uzoefu wa Palestina ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Waothmani hadi ule wa kipindi cha Mamlaka ya Uingereza, au kutoka wazo la ‘kutoka bahari hadi jangwani’ hadi mipaka ya kisasa ya ‘kutoka bahari hadi mto’. Aidha, upinzani dhidi ya uhamiaji wa Kizayuni na miradi ya walowezi, kuanzia mwishoni mwa enzi ya Waothmani na kuendelea, ulichangia sana katika utambuzi wa kitaifa wa Palestina ya kisasa.

It is widely recognised that the geo-political conception of Palestine evolved significantly from the experiences of late Ottoman Palestine to those of the British Mandatory period, or from the notion of the ‘sea to the desert’ to the modern boundaries of the ‘sea to the river’. In addition, resistance to Zionist immigration and settler projects from the late Ottoman period onwards played a large part in the national conceptualisation of modern Palestine.

Upinzani wa kitaifa wa Kipalestina dhidi ya Uzayuni ulianza kujitokeza wazi kutokana na shughuli za walowezi Wazayuni huko Palestina katika miaka iliyotangulia Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia.

Palestinian national opposition to Zionism began to crystallise around Zionist-settler activities in Palestine in the years before the First World War.

Inatambuliwa sana kwamba elimu, kapitalizimu ya uchapishaji na vyombo vya habari vya kisasa vilichangia pakubwa katika kuunda utambulisho wa kitaifa wa kisasa (Anderson 1991). Hali hiyo ilikuwa hivyo pia katika ukuaji wa elimu ya Kipalestina na kuibuka kwa vyombo vya habari vya Kipalestina katika Palestina ya mijini ya marehemu ya Kiothmani (Beška 2016b). Mnamo Januari 1911, waandishi wa habari Waarabu wa Kiorthodoksi wa Kipalestina, ʿIssa al-ʿIssa na binamu yake Yousef al-ʿIssa, walianzisha mjini Jaffa (katika Mutasarrifiyyah ya Jerusalem ya Palestina ya marehemu ya Kiothmani) gazeti la kila siku la Falastin. Kwa nini moja ya magazeti ya awali ya kitaifa ya kisasa ya Kiarabu nchini Palestina lingeitwa Falastin, jina la kienyeji (linalotumiwa kila siku) la nchi hiyo, badala ya majina ya kawaida au ya kifasihi ya nchi hiyo katika Kiarabu cha zama za kati, yaani Filastin au Filistin?

It is widely recognised that education, print capitalism and the modern press played a major role in the formation of modern national identities (Anderson 1991). This was also true in the case of the growth of Palestinian education and the emergence of the Palestinian press in late Ottoman urban Palestine (Beška 2016b). In January 1911 Palestinian Arab Orthodox journalists ‘Issa al-ʿIssa and his cousin Yousef al-ʿIssa set up in Jaffa (in the Mutasarrifiyyah of Jerusalem of late Ottoman Palestine) the daily newspaper Falastin. Why would one of the earliest modern Arabic national newspapers in Palestine be called Falastin, the colloquial (used daily) name for the country, not the standard or literary medieval Arabic names for the country: Filastin or Filistin.

Kwa nini kuweka lugha ya kienyeji na kutumia umbo la Kiarabu la kienyeji kwa Palestina kwa gazeti kuu la kizalendo, Falastin, badala ya kutumia Filastin au Filistin, majina ya kawaida ya Kiarabu sanifu ya nchi hiyo – majina ambayo yanarudi nyuma hadi Uislamu wa mwanzo? Sio tu kwamba aina hizi za Kiarabu cha kifasihi, Filastin au Filistin, zilikumbukwa katika karne ya 19; kwa hakika zilitumika katika maandishi ya Kipalestina na Kiarabu na zilikuwa sawa na kitengo cha kiutawala cha kijiografia (Abd al-Hadi 1923: 32). Zaidi ya hayo, umbo sanifu la Filastin lilitumiwa na Khair al-Din al-Ramli katika karne ya 17, Mahakama ya Kishari'a ya Kiislamu ya Jerusalem katika karne ya 18 na Khalil Beidas katika miaka ya 1890. Bila maelezo kutoka kwa waanzilishi wenyewe wa wahariri, jibu la kupitishwa kwa umbo la kienyeji la Falastin huenda lina pande nyingi na linategemea muktadha: (a) katika nyakati za kisasa, kuweka lugha ya kienyeji, "utaifa" na haja ya kuanzisha utambulisho wa kipekee wa kitaifa vinaonekana tena na tena katika Ulaya ya mwanzo ya kisasa, katika Urusi ya kisasa, Uturuki, Japani na aina mbalimbali za nchi kote Asia; (b) kuweka lugha ya kienyeji kulionekana katika Palestina ya marehemu ya Kiothmani kama alama muhimu ya utambulisho wa kipekee (na hata tofauti) wa kitaifa; (c) kwa kulipa jina gazeti la kitaifa "kutoka chini", wahariri walipitisha umbo Falastin kama neno la kawaida, lililoenea zaidi na lililotumiwa sana na Wapalestina wa eneo hilo na mitaani Palestina, tofauti na Filastin, ambalo kwa kiasi kikubwa lilibaki katika maandishi ya Kiarabu ya wasomi na tabaka la kitamaduni la nchi hiyo. Ni wazi kwamba wahariri na waandishi wa habari wa Falastin walikusudia kueneza uzalendo wa Kipalestina "kutoka chini" na miongoni mwa watu wa kawaida, si kuufungia tu katika wasomi wa eneo hilo.

Why vernacularise and use the vernacular Arabic form for Palestine for a leading nationalist newspaper, Falastin, rather than using Filastin or Filistin, the traditional standard Arabic names for the country – names which go all the way back to early Islam? Not only were these literary Arabic forms, Filastin or Filistin, remembered in the 19th century; in fact they were used in Palestinian and Arab writings and were synonymous with an administrative geographic unit (Abd al-Hadi 1923: 32). Moreover, the standard form of Filastin was used by Khair al-Din al-Ramli in the 17th century, the Islamic Sharia Court of Jerusalem in the 18th century and Khalil Beidas in the 1890s. In the absence of an explanation by the founding editors themselves, the answer to the adoption of the vernacular form of Falastin is likely to be multi-faceted and contextual: (a) in modern times, vernacularisation, ‘nation-ness’ and the need to establish a distinctive national identity can be seen again and again in early modern Europe, in modern Russia, Turkey, Japan and a whole range of countries across Asia; (b) vernacularisation was seen in late Ottoman Palestine as key to a distinct (and even separate) national identity marker; (c) naming a national newspaper ‘from below’, the editors adopted the form Falastin as the common, most widely spoken and most popularly used term by local Palestinians and on the streets of Palestine, as opposed to Filastin, which was largely confined to the writings in Arabic of the educated and cultural elites of the country. Clearly, the editors and journalists of Falastin were intent on popularising Palestinian nationalism ‘from below’ and among ordinary people and not just confining it to educated local elites.

Falastin pia ilianzishwa huko Jaffa, mbali na macho ya uchunguzi ya mamlaka za Ottoman huko Jerusalem, ambazo wazalendo wa mwanzo wa Kipalestina walikuwa na shaka nazo sana. Jaffa na Haifa – ambazo zilihusishwa kwa karibu na Reli ya Hejaz ya Ottoman na tabaka la kati la Kipalestina lililokuwa likiinuka, na zilianza kuzidi kuficha bandari ya Acre, iliyokuwa na nguvu za kihistoria tangu mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 – ziliibuka kuwa vituo vikuu vya kiuchumi na kitamaduni katika Palestina ya marehemu ya Ottoman, zikishindana na kituo cha kitamaduni chenye nguvu zaidi nchini kwa jadi: al-Quds al-Sharif (Jerusalem). Ushindani huu wa pande tatu na mwamko wa kitamaduni wenye nguvu wa Palestina ya marehemu ya Ottoman hatimaye ulihakikisha kuibuka kwa nchi yenye utajiri wa ajabu na tofauti za kitamaduni, lakini yenye umoja wa kutosha, ambayo wakazi wake wengi walikuwa Waarabu, kufikia Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia.

Falastin was also founded in Jaffa, away from the prying eyes of the Ottoman authorities in Jerusalem, of which early Palestinian nationalists were deeply suspicious. Both Jaffa and Haifa – which were closely linked to the Ottoman Hejaz Railway and the rising Palestinian middle classes, and began to eclipse the historically powerful port city of Acre from the late 19th century onwards – emerged as major economic and cultural centres in late Ottoman Palestine, competing with the traditionally most powerful cultural centre in the country: al-Quds al-Sharif (Jerusalem). This three-way competition and the dynamic cultural awakening of late Ottoman Palestine would ultimately ensure the emergence of an amazingly rich and culturally diverse but fairly unified predominantly Arab country by the First World War.

Mnamo Disemba 1908 huko Haifa, miaka mitatu kabla ya kuanzishwa kwa Falastin huko Jaffa, mwandishi wa habari wa Kipalestina Najib Nassar (1865‒1947), ambaye alikuwa amefanya kazi kama mfamasia wa Hospitali ya Kiskoti huko Tiberias, Galilaya, alianzisha na kuhariri al-Karmel (iliyopewa jina la Mlima Karmeli katika wilaya ya Haifa), gazeti la kwanza la kila wiki la Kiarabu la Kipalestina lenye msimamo wa kupinga ukoloni (Beška 2011).19

In Haifa in December 1908, three years before the founding of Falastin in Jaffa, Palestinian journalist Najib Nassar (1865‒1947) – who had worked as a pharmacist for the Scottish Hospital in Tiberias, Galilee – founded and edited al-Karmel (named for Mount Carmel in the Haifa district), the first Palestinian anti-colonial weekly newspaper in Arabic (Beška 2011).19

Magazeti haya ya mwanzo ya Kipalestina ya miji ya pwani ya Jaffa na Haifa yalicheza nafasi muhimu katika kuonyesha picha na kujenga upya kwa maandishi utambulisho wa kisasa wa Kipalestina katika kipindi cha marehemu cha Dola ya Kiothmani (Beška 2011, 2016b). Hata hivyo, daima inapaswa kukumbukwa kwamba katika kuunda utambulisho wa kisasa wa Waarabu wa Kipalestina, ukuaji wa uzalendo wa Kipalestina na hisia inayoongezeka ya uzalendo wa eneo la Kipalestina vilikuwa vikiunganishwa kila mara na utambulisho wenye mizizi mirefu na mazingira ya kisiasa na kitamaduni ya Kiarabu yanayouzunguka (Bracy 2005, 2011).20

These early Palestinian newspapers of the coastal cities of Jaffa and Haifa played an important role in the visualisation and textual reconstruction of modern Palestinian identity in the late Ottoman period (Beška 2011, 2016b). However, it should always be kept in mind that in the conception of modern Palestinian Arab identity the growth of Palestinian nationalism and the growing sense of local Palestinian territorial patriotism were always intertwined with deep-rooted identification with the surrounding Arab political and cultural environment (Bracy 2005, 2011).20

Kama tulivyoonyesha tayari, kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya kiasili (‘kumbukumbu ya kumbukumbu’) ya Palestina ya kihistoria ilihifadhiwa katika maandishi ya waandishi Waislamu kama Khair al-Din al-Ramli (1585–1671), na katika kumbukumbu za Mahakama ya Sharia ya Kiislamu ya Jerusalem katika karne ya 18 (Rood 2004), pamoja na katika umbo la ndani la jina, ‘Falastin’. Zaidi ya hayo, kwa kutegemea kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya kiasili na lahaja ya Kipalestina, uchaguzi wa jina la kienyeji la Kipalestina Falastin kwa gazeti la Jaffa na waandishi wawili wa habari Waarabu wa Kipalestina wa Kanisa la Othodoksi la Kigiriki, al-ʿIssas, ulirudia jina la zamani la Kiarabu la Kiislamu la nchi hiyo, Falastin na Filastin.

As we have already shown, indigenous social memory (‘memory of memories’) of historic Palestine was preserved in the writings of Muslim authors such as Khair al-Din al-Ramli (1585–1671) and in the archives of the Islamic Sharia Court of Jerusalem in the 18th century (Rood 2004), as well as in the local form of the name, ‘Falastin’. Furthermore, based on indigenous social memory and Palestinian colloquialism, the choice of the vernacular Palestinian name Falastin for the Jaffa newspaper by the two Palestinian Arab Greek Orthodox journalists, the al-ʿIssas, reproduced the medieval Arab Muslim designation for the country, Falastin and Filastin.

Katika makala ya uongozi isiyo ya kawaida, Yousef Hanna al-ʿIssa anaakisi kumbukumbu za kijamii za huko kuhusu Filastin ya kihistoria.

In an extraordinary leading article, Yousef Hanna al-ʿIssa echoes local social memories of historic Filastin.

Gazeti la kupinga Uzayuni la Falastin (1911–1967) lilichangia kwa kiasi kikubwa katika kuunda utambulisho mpya wa Kipalestina (tofauti na unaojitenga) (Tamari 2014). Sera ya uhariri ya Falastin pia ilikuwa ya 'kimaendeleo', kwani ilimtetea mkulima wa Kipalestina (fallah) katika suala la ardhi na kupigana dhidi ya ushabiki wa kidini, ukabila wa kidini na ujinga (Tamari 2014; Beška 2016b: 3).

The combative anti-Zionist newspaper Falastin (1911–1967) contributed significantly to the forging of a new (distinct and separate) Palestinian identity (Tamari 2014). Falastin’s editorial policy was also ‘progressive’ as it defended the Palestinian fallah on the land question and fought against religious fanaticism, sectarianism and ignorance (Tamari 2014; Beška 2016b: 3).

Jiografia ya kitamaduni ya wahariri wa Falastin ilikubali uraia wa Ottoman usio wa kidini na usawa, pamoja na uzalendo wa Kipalestina wa kienyeji. Pia walikuza utaifa wa kiutamaduni-kilugha unaojitegemea, uliokumbatia urithi wa kidini na kitamaduni wa Kiarabu wa Uislamu. Kuhusu jiografia ya kisiasa ya Palestina, al-ʿIssa aliandika mwezi Januari 1912 kwamba mipaka ya ‘nchi yake’ (watan) inaenea ‘kutoka mipaka ya Misri hadi Balqa21 na kutoka milima ya Moab [kwenye pwani ya mashariki ya Bahari ya Chumvi] hadi Bahari ya Mediterania’.22 Linganisha mtazamo huu wa utaifa wa Kipalestina wa marehemu wa Ottoman kuhusu Palestina, ambao waziwazi unatokana na kumbukumbu za Palestina ya kihistoria, ikiwemo Palaestina kubwa chini ya Wabyzantine na mkoa wa Kiarabu wa Jund Filastin, na taswira za utaifa wa Kipalestina baada ya Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia, ambazo tangu wakati huo zimebaki kiishara ndani ya mipaka ya Palestina ya Mamlaka ya Uingereza (1917‒1948).

The cultural geography of the editors of Falastin espoused secular Ottoman citizenship and equality combined with local Palestinian patriotism. They also promoted autonomous cultural-linguistic nationalism which embraced the Arab religious and cultural heritage of Islam. As for the political geography of Palestine, al-ʿIssa wrote in January 1912 that the boundaries of his ‘homeland’ (watan) extends ‘from the borders of Egypt to the Balqa21 and from the mountains of Moab [on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea] to the Mediterranean’.22 Contrast this late Ottoman Palestinian nationalist perception of Palestine, which clearly draws inspiration from the memories of historic Palestine, including greater Palaestina under the Byzantines and the Arab province of Jund Filastin, with post-First World War Palestinian nationalist representations of the country which have since then stuck symbolically to the boundaries of British Mandatory Palestine (1917‒1948).

Haijulikani wazi kama uwakilishi wa kijiografia-kisiasa wa Orthodox Yousef al-ʿIssa wa Falastin ya kihistoria mwaka 1912 ulitegemea kumbukumbu za kijamii na kitamaduni za Waorthodoksi Wakristo Waarabu wa Palestina, zilizounganishwa na Kanisa Huru la Orthodoksi la All Palestine la Yerusalemu, ambalo mamlaka yake ya kikanisa yalikuwa yametambuliwa na kutekelezwa kwa upana juu ya Palestina kubwa (‘Palestina Tatu’, karne ya 4 hadi ya 7 BK) tangu katikati ya karne ya 5 BK. Mamlaka hayo ya kikanisa, ambayo yangekuwa yanajulikana kwa Wakristo wote wa Orthodoksi wenye elimu wa Palestina mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, yameendelea hadi leo na yanajumuisha eneo lote la Palestina/Israeli ya sasa na Yordani. Katika muktadha huo wa kikanisa, ugunduzi wa ajabu wa Ramani ya Mosaiki ya Sakafu ya Madaba ya enzi ya Byzantine mwaka 1884 (uliojadiliwa katika sura ya nne), ambayo inashughulikia eneo kuanzia Misri hadi Lebanon na kuanzia Bahari ya Mediterania hadi jangwa la Arabia Mashariki, na yenye jina Palaestina katika maandishi yake ya Kigiriki, pamoja na ushiriki unaoongezeka wa Patriarkia ya Orthodoksi ya Kigiriki ya Yerusalemu katika utafiti wa ramani hiyo na katika matangazo ya ndani na ya kimataifa kuhusu ugunduzi wake katika kipindi kilichoanzia mapema miaka ya 1890 hadi 1906,23 huenda kikawa na umuhimu fulani katika jinsi Yousef al-ʿIssa alivyoeleza mipaka ya Palestina mwaka 1912. Kuhusu Ramani ya Madaba yenyewe, uwakilishi wa kwanza unaojulikana wa ramani hiyo ulitengenezwa, kwa kweli, katika Kiwanda cha Uchapishaji cha Wafransisko mjini Yerusalemu mwaka 1897, kwa msaada wa Patriarkia ya Orthodoksi ya Kigiriki ya Yerusalemu. Zaidi ya hayo, tangu mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 jumuiya ya Waorthodoksi Waarabu wa Palestina ilikuwa ikihusika katika mapambano kuhusu Uarabu wa Kanisa la Orthodoksi la Palestina na kukuza maaskofu Waarabu na viongozi wakuu wa kanisa katika Patriarkia ya Orthodoksi ya Yerusalemu iliyotawaliwa na Wagiriki. Kwa kweli, kwa miongo kadhaa chini ya uhariri wa binamu wa familia ya al-ʿIssa, gazeti la Falastin liliendelea kujitolea si tu kwa utaifa wa eneo la Palestina ndani ya mshikamano wa Waarabu wote, bali pia kwa jumuiya ya Waarabu wa Kikristo wa Kiorthodoksi wa Palestina katika mapambano yao dhidi ya Patriarkia ya Kiorthodoksi ya Yerusalemu, iliyotawaliwa na Wagiriki. Kwa hiyo, kumbukumbu za kikanisa za Orthodoksi za Palestina kubwa zaidi chini ya Wabyzantine haziwezi kupuuzwa, kwa kuwa zimeendelea kuishi katika maneno ya Patriarkia ya Kiorthodoksi ya Yerusalemu hadi leo. Vyovyote vile, jambo moja liko wazi: kihistoria, na kulingana na wanajiografia na waandishi wa Kiislamu wa Palestina, eneo la ‘Balqa’ – lililotajwa na al-ʿIssa – lililoko kaskazini-magharibi mwa ‘Amman, mji mkuu wa Jordan wa leo, halikuwa sehemu ya mkoa wa Jund Filastin wa Enzi za Kati; kwa hakika, al-Balqa kihistoria na asili yake lilikuwa sehemu ya mkoa wa Kiislamu wa Jund Dimashq (mkoa wa Damascus), mkoa mkubwa uliojumuisha maeneo mengine mashariki ya Mto Yordani, na kwa sehemu kubwa ya kipindi cha Ummayad lilikuwa chini yake (Le Strange 2010: 43‒48; Blankinship 1994: 47‒48, 292, note 7).

It is not entirely clear whether Orthodox Yousef al-ʿIssa’s geo-political representations of historic Falastin in 1912 was based on Palestinian Arab Orthodox Christian social and cultural memories which were linked to the independent All Palestine Orthodox Church of Jerusalem whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction had been widely recognised and exercised over greater Palestine (the ‘Three Palestines’, 4th‒7th centuries AD) since the mid-5th century AD. This ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which would have been known to all educated Orthodox Palestine Christians in the early 20th century, has continued until today and it includes the whole of present-day Palestine/ Israel and Jordan. In this ecclesiastical context, the remarkable discovery of the Byzantine Madaba Floor Mosaic Map in 1884 (discussed in chapter four), covering the area between Egypt to Lebanon and between the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Arabia desert, and with the name Palaestina in its Greek inscriptions, and the growing involvement of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem in the study of, and local and international publicity surrounding the discovery of, the map in the period between the early 1890s and 1906,23 may be of some relevance to the way Yousef al-ʿIssa described the boundaries of Palestine in 1912. As for the Madaba Map itself, the first known representation of the map was, in fact, created at the Franciscan Printing Press in Jerusalem in 1897, with assistance from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. Moreover, since the late 19th century the Palestine Arab Orthodox community had been involved in a struggle over the Arabisation of the Palestine Orthodox Church and the promotion of Arab bishops and senior hierarchs in the Greek-dominated Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In fact for decades under the editorship of the al-ʿIssa cousins, Falastin would remain dedicated not only to Palestinian territorial nationalism within pan-Arab solidarity, but also to the Palestine Arab Orthodox community in its struggle with the Greek-dominated Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Therefore, the ecclesiastical Orthodox memories of greater Palestine under the Byzantines cannot be ruled out since it has survived in the rhetoric of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem until today. In any event, one thing is clear: historically, and according to Palestine Muslim geographers and writers, the ‘Balqa region’ – mentioned by al-ʿIssa – which is located north-west of ‘Amman, present-day Jordan’s capital, was not part of the province of Jund Filastin of the Middle Ages; in fact, al-Balqa was originally and historically part of, and throughout most of the Umayyad period subordinated to, the Islamic province Jund Dimashq (the Damascus province), a massive province which incorporated other territories east of the River Jordan (Le Strange 2010: 43‒48; Blankinship 1994: 47‒48, 292, note 7).

Kwa vyovyote vile, gazeti la Falastin likawa gazeti la kila siku la Kiarabu lililosambazwa kwa wingi zaidi na, kwa hiyo, lenye ushawishi mkubwa zaidi huko Palestina wakati wa Utawala wa Uingereza, likiunda kwa nguvu mjadala wa harakati ya kisiasa ya utaifa wa Palestina katika mapambano yake ya kupinga nguvu mbili za kigeni: ubeberu wa Uingereza na ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni (Khalaf 2011; Jeferey 2015:

In any case, the newspaper Falastin became the most widely circulated and, consequently, most influential Arabic daily in Palestine during the British Mandate, powerfully shaping the discourse of the Palestine nationalist political movement as it struggled to resist two foreign forces: British imperialism and Zionist settler-colonisation (Khalaf 2011; Jeferey 2015:

173), while its discourse after 1918 focused on the geography of Mandatory Palestine. From its beginnings in late Ottoman Palestine, Falastin was also the Arab country's most fierce and most consistent critic of European Zionist settler projects.

173), while its discourse after 1918 focused on the geography of Mandatory Palestine. From its beginnings in late Ottoman Palestine Falastin also was the Arab country’s fiercest and most consistent critic of European Zionist settler projects.