5 - Contents of commemoration: narratives of heroism, suffering, and sumud

Summary

Don't tell them only about our suffering. Tell them that we are strong; that we are still resisting.

Mahir Yamani, former PFLP guerrilla, November 2001

The Palestinian refugees' commemorative narratives have at various times and in specific historical contexts exhibited moods which can be categorized as tragic, heroic or sumud (steadfastness). Most schematically, heroic narratives of the past are mobilizing elements of nationalist discourse, while tragic narratives – reinforced by the victimisation discourse of aid agencies and NGOs – use past suffering as the legitimating basis of claims made on an international audience and against the Palestinian leadership. Finally, sumud narratives appear in liminal times, and see the past as moments of passive resistance. Here, I will analyze different Palestinian narratives in turn, tracing the political milieu and social relations out of which they emerge. This chapter lays the groundwork for analyzing specific commemorative themes such as martyrs, fida'iyyin, battles and massacres.

Contents of commemoration

Commemoration is almost always staged or “performed” for a public or an audience and demands reactions from this audience, whether that reaction is a compulsion to political action (Polletta 1998a, 1998b), an engagement in a critique of the present (Williams 1985), a demand for “moral accountability” (Werbner 1995: 102), spurring political choices (Werbner 2002: 81), or charting a map of the future (Tonkin 1992:1). That commemoration is dialogic and shaped by the constant interaction with its audience allows for ambiguity and polyvalence.