Language and National Identity in Palestine

Language is an important tool and symbol of Palestinian national identity. From resistance to Israel as an occupying power, to a mark of distinction from other social groups or rival Palestinian factions, language use in Palestine reflects the enormous upheaval in Palestinian society and the struggle for national identity in the wake of 1948. This book explores the role that language plays in the construction of national identities, and how socio-political conditions and discourse have shaped the Arabic of Gaza and the Palestinian territories as a speech community. Exploring Palestinian history, politics and culture through language, including divergences in the Arabic of Gaza and the West Bank, contact with Hebrew and the factional politics of Hamas and Fatah, it will be essential reading for scholars of Palestine, sociolinguistics, Arabic and the Middle East.