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Article: Universal versus particular identity: reflections on a visit to Palestine.
- Article from:
- Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ)
- Article date:
- January 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Association of Arab-American University Graduates. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE PASSING OF TIME enables one to absorb the various meanings of important events. I choose to write now about my first visit to Palestine, which actually took place in the first two weeks of July 1993. In retrospect, it seems appropriate that at long last I had the occasion to visit the place that played a central role in shaping the views and commitments of many in my generation. Palestine is not an ordinary place, in fact it is a controversial and contested place. In this connection Edward Said asks:
Where do we stand on the question of Palestine? ... there is no neutrality, there can be no neutrality or objectivity about Palestine ... so ideologically saturated ...