The Meaning of Homeland for the Palestinian Diaspora : Revival and Transformation

Abstract

Lost partially in 1948, and completely in 1967, the idea of homeland continues to live in the Palestinian social practices, through the construction of a diasporic territory, a true symbolic substitute system to the lost homeland. This article aims to analyze the mechanisms of perpetuation of the homeland in the exile, and the role played by the refugee camps in these dynamics. After fifty years of exile, the Palestinian refugees continue to claim their right to return to their country of origin. Traditionally, the refugee communities should choose between the return to the homeland, often difficult, indeed impossible, the settlement in the host country or the resettlement in a third country. The Palestinian refugees however, and owing to juridical and political problems, could not find a durable solution to their situation of exile. The most problematic case seems to be the one of the Palestinians of Lebanon, who, in the current state of the peace negotiations, can neither envisage a durable settlement in Lebanon, nor a return to their homeland. During the fifty years of exile, the relationships between the expatriated Palestinian communities and their homeland evolved significantly. This process witnessed an acceleration since the start of the peace process in the Middle East with the holding of the Madrid Conference in October 1991, following the Gulf war.

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