Zamonaviy Yaqin Sharq bo‘yicha olimlar ko‘pincha shahar elitalarining tarixi va siyosati, shuningdek, XIX asrda Yevropadan kirib kelgan millatchilik va zamonaviylik masalalari bilan band bo‘lib kelmoqda. Bunday yondashuv shahar markazlariga e’tibor qaratadi va elita hikoyalarini takrorlaydi, dehqon va “chegara jamoalari”ni, shuningdek, quyi tabaqalar va chetga surilganlarni esa e’tibordan chetda qoldiradi. Bu yondashuv Falastin tarixining katta qismini jim qilishga va falastinliklarni o‘zlik tuyg‘usi hamda jamoaviy harakat imkoniyatidan mahrum etishga ham xizmat qiladi. Edvard Said ta’kidlaganidek, Falastin va falastinlik xalqqa o‘z nomidan gapirishga kam imkon beriladi; ularni nufuzli G‘arb yoki Isroil olimlari – orientalistlar, bibliya arxeologlari, muqaddas kitob geograflari (Said 1980) – vakillik qilishi kerak bo‘ladi yoki ularni imperiya tuzilmalari va shahar (kosmopolit) homiy‒mijoz tizimlari (mamluk, usmonli, britaniyalik) prizmasi orqali ko‘rishga majbur bo‘ladilar.

Scholars of the modern Middle East are often preoccupied with the history and politics of urban elites and with nationalism and modernities imported from Europe in the 19th century. This approach tends to focus on urban centres and reproduce elite narratives, while ignoring peasant and ‘frontier societies’ and the subaltern and marginalised. This approach also contributes to the silencing of much of Palestinian history and divesting the Palestinians of their own sense of identity and collective agency. Palestine and the Palestinian people are rarely allowed to speak for themselves, argued Edward Said; they have to be represented by authoritative Western or Israeli scholars – Orientalists, biblical archaeologists, scriptural geographers (Said 1980) – or they have to be viewed through the prism of imperial configurations and urban (cosmopolitan) patron‒client systems (Mamluk, Ottoman, British).