In Mornings in Jenin, a Palestinian perspective is given in a way that displays the fundamental argument of the Palestinian people’s claims to their own homeland which includes the merging of clans to one bigger entity. In the region of Palestine the people did not always identify as Palestinians, instead they identified with their families or their clans. “Palestinian” itself is a new term given to the people of the region in response to the development of zionism and Israeli nationalism. This is displayed in Mornings of Jenin when the community and mother of Hassan did not approve of Dalia due to her bedouin roots.
However, as she began to live with Hassan and the conflict began to develop she was accepted into the community and even well liked. When the people of the village were expelled from their homes they began to develop a nationalism and saw themselves as one rather than being divided among themselves simply because of clans. With the explanation for each side of the conflict being explained and the arguments and symbolic events in each work laid out, it is important to further point out possible biases.
In a conflict as divisive as the Israeli-Palestinian one, it is impossible to avoid biases entirely. The works that try the hardest to avoid biases and even admits that there might be possible bias is the short essay The Meaning of Homeland and the movie Ajami. The short essay aims to avoid biases by being apathetic to the Palestinians cause and the conflict that erupted in the formation of Israel when the Palestinians were longing for their own state. The author acknowledges that he is a Zionist and that “Political Zionism has made political national use of religious messianic yearnings….
But our justification vis-a-vis the Arab inhabitants of the country cannot be based on our age-old longings. ” (PG 247) Although the author tries his best to avoid biases the bias is still there as he mainly focuses on an argument for the establishment of Israel and for neglecting to include direct accounts from Palestinians . The movie Ajami aims to avoid biases by showing events that are very likely to happen, and have characters that are both Israeli and Palestinian. However, this movie still has a bias since it focuses more on the Palestinian community as opposed to the Israeli community.
The “Hatikva” in both its original and current form is a piece of propaganda. This is because a national anthem in and of itself is propaganda to instil nationalism within the people of the nation. National anthems aim to unify people but in Israel there is a large population of Christian-Palestinians and Muslim-Palestinians. These two populations are not able to identify with the national anthem of the country they live in because it is a Jewish national anthem as displayed in its line “A Jewish soul still yearns” (Hatikva).
This creates biases because it makes it seem as if nationalism for Israel to only be available to Jews. The novel Mornings in Jenin could be deemed a work of propaganda due to being a historical fiction novel that highlights only one main perspective. This book claims to tell a story that was based on a true events on the issues in the town of Ein Hod. But author tells the story through the eyes of a Palestinian, and when she does mention the Jewish soldiers she portrays them as men who just want to drink and celebrate their acts of violence.
When she finally gives the perspective of a Jewish man she makes it seem as if he simply wants to steal a child to give to his wife who cannot bear children. By mentioning an event such as this, the author is appealing to the reader’s sympathies for the Palestinians by portraying the Jewish soldiers as heartless kidnappers. However, there was never a recorded intense of a child ever being stolen from a Palestinian. Though there are biases, the author was able to effectively give perspectives of the people that could otherwise not be recognized.
In conclusion, the facts, statistics, and studies are used by each side to argue for their case and gain support. However, it is not possible for an outsider to learn of the true emotional sentiments with a conflict based on nationalism. In order to truly understand the conflict and become apathetic it is essential to learn of the experiences of not the leaders, but the ordinary people who experience the conflict on a daily basis.
This is possible through observing a diversity of literature, film, and first hand experiences. Since the conflict has raged for nearly one hundred years there are a vast amounts of sources to gain perspectives from the ordinary Zionist, Israeli, or Palestinian. Through these devices it is clear that the deep-rooted nationalism is a sense of pride for one’s nation, but can also cause a dislike for the opposing nation in which seeks to achieve the same goal.