National Self in the Work of Palestinian Female Artists

This article cites select works by Palestinian female artists, with a focus on the works of female artists from the 1948 Palestinians territories who were born there after the Nakba. These works revolve around the search for Palestinian selfhood and the feminist identity of woman, with emphasis on the former. I chose to concentrate on this group in particular because while they are Palestinian, in being forcibly made Israeli citizens, they were cut off and barred from communication with the rest of the Arab world. Since 1948, despite the proximity of Haifa to Beirut, it has been impossible for the Palestinians of 1948 to visit Beirut due to the existence of the state of Israel. As a result of this geographic, political, and historic rupture, their plight under Israeli domination and Zionist policies is less known to the Arab world than that of other Palestinians. This is not to overlook the many creative accomplishments by Palestinian artists, women as well as men, who are in the Diaspora and in territories occupied in 1967, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinian history has known great works that have centered on the Palestinian cause