As the Israel-Palestine conflict rages on, it is more important now than ever to understand the history of the Palestinian people. Rosemary Sayigh's The Palestinians is a classic of radical history.

Through extensive interviews with Palestinians in refugee camps, she provides a deeply-moving, grassroots story of how the Palestinians came to be who they are today. In their own voices, Palestinians tell stories of the Nabka and their flight from their homeland. Sayigh's powerful account of Palestinians' economic marginalisation the social and psychological effects of being uprooted and the political oppression which they have faced continues to resonate today.

Reissued with an extensive new foreword by Noam Chomsky, which brings the story that Sayigh tells up-to-date in the context of the Hamas victory and the war in Lebanon, this book is both a fascinating historical document and an essential insight into the situation in the contemporary Middle East.

Rosemary Sayigh is a social anthropologist, researcher and author. She has been based in Beirut for several decades, and has spent a lifetime researching the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Palestinian refugees. She is also the author of Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experience in Lebanon (Zed Books, 1994).
Rosemary Sayigh is a social anthropologist, researcher and author. She has been based in Beirut for several decades, and has spent a lifetime researching the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Palestinian refugees. She is also the author of Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experience in Lebanon (Zed Books, 1994).