This book has been about the struggles, failures and triumphs of a nationalist movement in imagining the nation. I have argued that a fundamental practice in the constellation of Palestinian nationalist practices is commemoration, and that narratives contained within commemorative practices are crucial in shaping the stories of Palestinian peoplehood. These commemorative practices – ceremonies, rituals, memorials, and history-telling – all represent, reinterpret, and remember the national past in an ongoing and dynamic way and in so doing, set the stage for crafting future strategies. In trying to better understand nationalism, in earlier pages I have examined Palestinian commemorative forms and the narratives of heroism, suffering and sumud they contain, the emergence of these narratives at the intersection of available transnational discourses and local political institutions, and the diverse and dynamic performances of these narratives for different audiences.

Form and content of commemorations

This study shows that commemorative practices have forms and contents.