Zakariyeh Mohammed is a poet and writer. Jerusalem Quarterly, n°22 & 23, 2005

It is safe to say that there has never been a thorough textual examination of the writings of ancient Arab writers, Palestinian or otherwise, regarding Palestinian identity. All of the texts known to discuss Palestinian identity date no earlier than the nineteenth century. Very rarely do these texts date as early as the eighteenth century and as such, the underlying assumption is that there is no point in seeking out older texts – the Palestinian identity is assumed to be contemporary, and no related earlier texts exist(...).