Cultural Memory

In the early 20th century, under British military occupation of Palestine, colonial administrators began broadly classifying Palestinians as "Arabs," while deliberately contrasting them with "Jews." This imposed identity linked Palestine to Arab identity and cast incoming European settlers as Jews, collapsing the tribal and Indigenous lineages into a single colonial construct. The contrast was later reinforced by British protectorate states in the Persian Gulf, and today it persists through Gulf Cooperation Council regimes, Western diplomatic language, and the State of Israel's Zionist narrative. Persian Gulf states recycle the Ishmaelite "Arab" narrative and present Palestinians as junior members of a single Arab nation, Western governments echo the same framing, and the State of Israel uses it to label Indigenous Bedouins in the Naqab, Jordan Valley, and "West Bank" as "nomadic Arabs," suggesting their "true" homeland is in the Arabian Peninsula. From its colonial origins to its modern recycling, this misclassification continues to erase indigenous identity and deny Palestinians recognition as an Indigenous people of the very land they've inhibited for over 5,000 years.

Bajis Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq

Published on 25 Nov 2025

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This article is part of a larger research project titled "History of Palestine and the Region" by Abdul-Hafiz Youssef Nofal, a researcher and engineer from the Hebron Hills, Tell al Safi, and a descendant of the Palestinian Tribe of Brahmiyya . The full study covers Palestine's history, which has often been unclear over the past 150 years, starting from its Canaanite origins through various periods, including the Jewish (Israelite), Islamic (Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman), and Christian (Franks/al-Ifranj) invasions and conquests, as well as the Sea Peoples, Greeks, Romans, Persians, and up to the modern British-Israeli era.

Bajis Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq

Published on 25 Oct 2025

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Eleven years ago, my son Hazem attained martyrdom. When I asked the bearer of the news how Hazem had risen, he said: "He was targeting Zionist soldiers with his projectile when he was hit by their shell in his face." I said: "Praise be to God, my son Hazem faced the enemy bravely and never turned his back." One day, I had reproached my son Hazem, saying: "I have never benefited from you; all your life, efforts, and time were dedicated solely to the resistance." He replied, "Who knows, one day you might benefit from me more than from all your other children!" I now ask God that Hazem’s martyrdom will benefit me on the Day of Judgment. Hazem left behind two children; may God guide them, may they benefit our society, and may they be righteous. May God have mercy upon my martyr son Hazem, and may He have mercy upon all the martyrs of our nation.

Bajis Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq

Published on 31 Jul 2025

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In this episode, we explore the lineage of the Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq tribe from southern Palestine, as it has been passed down by the elders of the clan and supported by references in the Torah and the Hebrew Bible, corroborated by established historians and encyclopedic sources.

Bajis Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq

Published on 08 Jun 2025

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