Present Absentee - Research On The Internal Refugees

Research On The Internal Refugees

A few books focus on Palestinian internal refugees in Israel and internally displaced Palestinians across the Green Line.

In 1991, Israeli writer and peace activist David Grossman conducted several interviews with Palestinian citizens of Israel. These were published in a book called in Hebrew נוכחים נפקדים /Nokhehim Nifkadim ( Absent Presentees). The English version was titled Sleeping on a Wire: Conversations with Palestinians in Israel.

As Nur Masalha puts it in his introduction: "Acquiring the paradoxical title of present absentees, the internally displaced had their property and homes taken by the state, making them refugees and exiles within their own homeland." The book uses oral history and interviews with internal refugees to examine Palestinian identity and memory, indigenous rights, international protection, the "right of return," and a just solution in Palestine/Israel.

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