Overview
Who Are the People of Palestine?
history
A People With More Than One Story
Historian Rashid Khalidi traces how Palestinian national consciousness grew alongside local, Arab, Ottoman, and religious loyalties. Beshara Doumani's social history shows the towns, farms, family networks, trade, and institutions of Ottoman Palestine. Their work explains why Palestinian identity has deep roots while also taking a modern national form.
Recognizing Palestinian identity does not erase Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Samaritan, Armenian, Bedouin, or other connections to the land. Honest history can acknowledge more than one community's attachment without denying another's humanity.
history
Home, Diaspora, and Refugee Experience
UNRWA uses a specific operational definition for the Palestine refugees eligible for its services. That definition should not be mistaken for a complete definition of the Palestinian people. Families also preserve identity through memory, food, music, worship, education, professions, and relationships with towns and villages.
A dedicated timeline can explain wars, political organizations, and negotiations. The discussion keeps the focus on the people themselves.
notes
Start With Human Dignity
The Quran commands believers to stand firmly for justice even against their own interests (Quran 4:135). It also says that peoples and tribes were made so that human beings may know one another, not claim racial or national superiority (Quran 49:13). For a Muslim, learning about Palestinians truthfully is therefore part of justice and human dignity.
Key passages
Quran
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ ٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ ۚ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًۭا فَٱللَّهُ أَوْلَىٰ بِهِمَا ۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن تَلْوُۥٓا۟ أَوْ تُعْرِضُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًۭا
سورة النساء · الآية ١٣٥
O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.
Quran 4:135
Translation: Saheeh International
Quran
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍۢ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَٰكُمْ شُعُوبًۭا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌۭ
سورة الحجرات · الآية ١٣
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.
Quran 49:13
Translation: Saheeh International
summary
Key Takeaways: Who Are the People of Palestine?
Sources
Sources and further reading
Primary texts and works cited in this article.
The Quran — Tanzil Uthmani text with Saheeh International translation
quran
Source linkUthmani-script Arabic text from Tanzil with the Saheeh International English translation.
The Holy Bible, World English Bible (public domain)
bible
Source linkPublic-domain English translation from the World English Bible.
Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness
book | Rashid Khalidi | Columbia University Press | 1997
Source linkA major scholarly study of the development of Palestinian national consciousness; read alongside other historians for differing emphases.
Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900
book | Beshara B. Doumani | University of California Press | 1995
Source linkA social and economic history of Ottoman Palestine that grounds national-identity discussions in local institutions, families, and regional life.
The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A History
book | James L. Gelvin | Cambridge University Press | 2021
Source linkAn accessible survey that places Palestinian identity, the Mandate, 1948, 1967, the PLO, and the Intifadas within the wider conflict.
Palestine Refugees
other | United Nations Relief and Works Agency | UNRWA
Source linkUNRWA's official explanation of its operational refugee definition and where registered Palestine refugees live. It describes an agency category, not every Palestinian.