Seekers' thoughts

Part 1: Intro – Palestinian Nationalism – a no-brainer? 

The Arab world/the Middle East broke away from the Ottomans in the spirit of nationalism and independence. It is from here that I want to lead on to the discussion of Palestinian nationalism. There are discussions and comments online and amongst some scholars about the potential poison of nationalism, the evils of modernity and so on (and they may very well be correct) from an Islamic perspective. This potentially means that Palestinians seeking independent statehood (which is typically what nationalism is understood as, though this essay will highlight that nationalism is also about protection/revival of history and culture just as much as it is about nation-statehood) is in-fact a negative thing in some sense. Why? The claim is that the Muslim world is one Ummah (nation/community) and regardless of the different nations (begging the question about the “Islamic” legitimacy of them since nationalism itself is questioned?), languages, cultures and races, they are supposed to be one community supporting each other; but the nation-state dynamic opposes this for it has the potential for creating feelings of superiority based on nation/country or prioritising ones nation/country over other (Muslim) nations. The thought I want to put forward is this: while overall it could be argued that nationalism is not good for the Ummah, in the particular (i.e. the case of Palestine), there is seemingly no choice. And to avoid it would be tantamount to sitting and waiting while being oppressed rather than seeking a means out of oppression that has worked for others – Algeria gained its independence along national lines from the French, an example close to the hearts of the Palestinians, especially since the Palestinian struggle is understood by some as being one against forms of colonialism and apartheid similar to the likes that were seen in Algeria and South Africa, connections analysts make and that can be easily researched. Can we say that Palestinian nationalism is the ijtihaad, the judgement, of these people to seek the best given the circumstances they have been left with? Palestine, in many ways, shows so much. It has been a repeated motif since October 7^th that Gaza and Palestine is like a litmus test, a revealer. What Palestinian nationalism, which is so entrenched in what we see and hear from the Palestinians, reveals is a failure of Arab Nationalism/Pan-Arabism (a sentiment often heard from Palestine, including in speeches of Abu Obaida, regarding the failures of the Arab leaders/regimes) but also a set of failures of pan-Islamism, which I can see as a synonym for the Ummah. Why would Palestinians need to rely solely on their own selves along nationalistic lines (practically speaking) unless they were left with just that option?

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