Palestinians

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Palestine}}
Ali Qleibo, a Palestinian [[anthropologist]], has critiqued Muslim historiography for assigning the beginning of Palestinian cultural identity to the advent of Islam in the 7th century. In describing the effect of such historiography, he writes: <blockquote>[[Paganism|Pagan]] origins are disavowed. As such the peoples who populated Palestine throughout history have discursively rescinded their own history and religion as they adopted the religion, language, and culture of Islam.<ref name=Qleibo /></blockquote> That the peasant culture of the large [[fellahin]] class showed features of cultures other than Islam was a conclusion arrived at by some Western scholars and explorers who mapped and surveyed Palestine during the latter half of the 19th century,<ref>Parkes, 1970, pp. 209–210.</ref> and these ideas were to influence 20th-century debates on Palestinian identity by local and international ethnographers.
The contributions of the 'nativist' [[Ethnography|ethnographies]] produced by [[Tawfiq Canaan]] and other Palestinian writers and published in ''The Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society'' (1920–48) were driven by the concern that the "native culture of Palestine", and in particular peasant society, was being undermined by the forces of [[modernity]].<ref name=Tamari>{{cite journal |title=Lepers, Lunatics and Saints: The Nativist Ethnography of Tawfiq Canaan and his Jerusalem Circle |author=Salim Tamari |journal=Jerusalem Quarterly |issue=20 |date=Winter 2004 |access-date=31 May 2015 |url=http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/images/ArticlesPdf/20_lebers.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424230326/http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/images/ArticlesPdf/20_lebers.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2015}}</ref> Salim Tamari writes that: <blockquote>Implicit in their scholarship (and made explicit by Canaan himself) was another theme, namely that the peasants of Palestine represent—through their folk norms&nbsp;... the living heritage of all the accumulated ancient cultures that had appeared in Palestine (principally the Canaanite, Philistine, [[Hebrews|Hebraic]], [[Nabatean]], Syrio-Aramaic and Arab).<ref name=Tamari/></blockquote>
Palestinian culture is closely related to those of the nearby Levantine countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, and the Arab World. Cultural contributions to the fields of [[art]], [[literature]], [[music]], [[costume]] and [[cuisine]] express the characteristics of the Palestinian experience and show signs of common origin despite the geographical separation between the [[Palestinian territories]], Israel and the diaspora.<ref name=Elmokadem>{{cite web|title=Book records Palestinian art history |author=Ismail Elmokadem |date=10 December 2005 |access-date=18 April 2008 |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=17014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419034952/http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=17014 |archive-date=19 April 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Moran>{{cite web|title=Manchester Festival of Palestinian Literature|publisher=Manchester Festival of Palestinian literature|url=http://www.fabrikation.co.uk/mlpf/about.html|author=Danny Moran|access-date=18 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331031413/http://www.fabrikation.co.uk/mlpf/about.html |archive-date=31 March 2008}}</ref><ref>Regev Motti (1993), ''Oud and Guitar: The Musical Culture of the Arabs in Israel'' (Institute for Israeli Arab Studies, Beit Berl), {{ISBN|965-454-002-9}}, p. 4.</ref>

[[Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture]] is an initiative undertaken by [[UNESCO]] under the [[Arab Capital of Culture|Cultural Capitals Program]] to promote Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region. The opening event was launched in March 2009.
[[File:MarktJaffaGustavBauernfeind1887.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Palestinian market at [[Jaffa]], 1877 painting]]

===Cuisine===
{{main|Palestinian cuisine}}
Palestine's history of rule by many different empires is reflected in Palestinian cuisine, which has benefited from various cultural contributions and exchanges. Generally speaking, modern Syrian-Palestinian dishes have been influenced by the rule of three major Islamic groups: the Arabs, the [[Persian cuisine|Persian]]-influenced Arabs and the [[Turkey|Turks]].<ref name=CDN>[http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=1729&ed=115&edid=115 Revisiting our table...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127072800/http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=1729&ed=115&edid=115 |date=27 November 2013 }} Nasser, Christiane Dabdoub, ''This week in Palestine'', Turbo Computers & Software Co. Ltd. June 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2008.</ref> The Arabs who conquered Syria and Palestine had simple culinary traditions primarily based on the use of rice, lamb and yogurt, as well as dates.<ref name=ArabNet>[http://www.arab.net/cuisine/ ABC of Arabic Cuisine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704012352/http://www.arab.net/cuisine/ |date=4 July 2011 }} ArabNet. Retrieved 25 December 2007.</ref> The already simple cuisine did not advance for centuries due to [[Islam]]'s strict rules of parsimony and restraint, until the rise of the [[Abbasid]]s, who established [[Baghdad]] as their capital. Baghdad was historically located on Persian soil and henceforth, Persian culture was integrated into Arab culture during the 9th–11th centuries and spread throughout central areas of the empire.<ref name=CDN/>

There are several foods native to Palestine that are well known in the Arab world, such as, ''[[kanafeh|kinafe Nabulsi]]'', [[Nabulsi cheese]] (cheese of [[Nablus]]), [[Ackawi cheese]] (cheese of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]]) and ''[[musakhan]]''. ''Kinafe'' originated in Nablus, as well as the sweetened ''Nabulsi'' cheese used to fill it.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Another very popular food is Palestinian Kofta or Kufta.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.food.com/recipe/palestinian-kufta-373769|title=Palestinian Kufta Recipe - Food.com|website=www.food.com|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102051312/https://www.food.com/recipe/palestinian-kufta-373769|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Mezze]] describes an assortment of dishes laid out on the table for a meal that takes place over several hours, a characteristic common to [[Mediterranean]] cultures. Some common mezze dishes are ''[[hummus]]'', ''[[tabouleh]]'',''[[baba ghanoush]]'', ''[[labaneh]]'', and ''zate 'u [[zaatar]]'', which is the pita bread dipping of olive oil and ground [[thyme]] and [[sesame seeds]].<ref>''Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem'' {{ISBN|978-1-859-64323-5}} ch. 2</ref>

[[Entrée]]s that are eaten throughout the Palestinian territories, include ''[[dolma|waraq al-'inib]]''&nbsp;– boiled [[grape leaves]] wrapped around cooked [[rice]] and ground [[domestic sheep|lamb]]. ''Mahashi'' is an assortment of stuffed vegetables such as, zucchinis, potatoes, cabbage and in Gaza, chard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestine-family.net/index.php?nav=6-23&cid=10&did=2127|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114020221/http://www.palestine-family.net/index.php?nav=6-23&cid=10&did=2127|url-status=usurped|archive-date=14 January 2018|title=Palestine-Family.net – for the world-wide Palestine community|website=www.palestine-family.net}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Mushakhan Dish.jpg|[[Musakhan]]: The Palestinian National dish.
File:Hummuswithpinenuts.jpg|A plate of [[hummus]], garnished with [[paprika]] and [[olive oil]] and [[pine nut]]s
File:Il Falafel di Ramallah.JPG|A Palestinian youth serving [[Falafel]] in [[Ramallah]].
File:Künefe.jpg|[[Kanafeh]]: a Palestinian dessert.
</gallery>

===Art===
[[Image:Umm el-Fahem Art Gallery.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery]]]]
{{main|Palestinian art}}
Similar to the structure of Palestinian society, the Palestinian field of arts extends over four main geographic centers: the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]], [[Israel]], the [[Palestinian diaspora]] in the [[Arab world]], and the Palestinian diaspora in [[Europe]], the [[United States]] and elsewhere.<ref name=Zvi>{{cite web|title=Hagar: Contemporary Palestinian Art|author=Tal Ben Zvi|publisher=Hagar Association|year=2006|access-date=5 June 2007|url=http://www.hagar-gallery.com/Catalogues/docs/PArt_eng_final.pdf|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116185723/http://www.hagar-gallery.com/Catalogues/docs/PArt_eng_final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

;Cinema
{{main|Cinema of Palestine}}
Palestinian cinematography, relatively young compared to [[Arab cinema]] overall, receives much European and Israeli support.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1752076,00.html|title=Xan Brooks on Palestinian directors &#124; Film &#124; The Guardian|publisher=Film.guardian.co.uk|location=London|date=12 April 2006|access-date=22 April 2009|archive-date=24 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724025446/http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1752076,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Palestinian films are not exclusively produced in [[Arabic]]; some are made in English, French or Hebrew.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestinefilm.org/default.asp|title=Palestine Film|access-date=26 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612083355/http://www.palestinefilm.org/default.asp|archive-date=12 June 2008}}</ref> More than 800 films have been produced about Palestinians, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and other related topics.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Examples include ''[[Divine Intervention (2002 film)|Divine Intervention]]'' and ''[[Paradise Now]]''.

<gallery>
File:Jaffa Alhambra Cinema03562ucroped.jpg|The Alhamra Cinema, [[Jaffa]], 1937, [[List of Irgun attacks|bombed December 1947]]
File:Halhul, 1940.jpg|Villagers in [[Halhul]] at an open-air cinema screening c. 1940
</gallery>

;Handicrafts
{{main|Palestinian handicrafts}}
A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced in the area of Palestine for hundreds of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include [[Palestinian costumes#Palestinian embroidery|embroidery]] and weaving, [[Palestinian pottery|pottery]]-making, [[Nabulsi soap|soap]]-making, [[Hebron glass|glass-making]], and [[olive]]-wood and [[Mother-of-Pearl carving in Bethlehem|Mother of Pearl carvings]], among others.<ref name=Jacobs>Jacobs et al., 1998, p. 72.</ref><ref name=Karmi>Karmi, 2005, p. 18.</ref>

;Costumes
{{main|Palestinian costumes}}
Foreign travelers to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the rich variety of costumes among the area's inhabitants, and particularly among the [[fellaheen]] or village women. Until the 1940s, a woman's economic status, whether married or single, and the town or area they were from could be deciphered by most Palestinian women by the type of cloth, colors, cut, and [[embroidery]] motifs, or lack thereof, used for the robe-like dress or "thoub" in Arabic.<ref name=Aramco>{{cite magazine|title=Woven Legacy, Woven Language|author=Jane Waldron Grutz|magazine=Saudi Aramco World|date=January–February 1991|access-date=4 June 2007|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219004053/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199101/woven.legacy.woven.language.htm|archive-date=19 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

New styles began to appear in the 1960s. For example, the "six-branched dress" named after the six wide bands of embroidery running down from the waist.<ref>Weir, Shelagh (1989) ''Palestinian Costume''. British Museum. {{ISBN|0-7141-1597-5}}. p. 112.</ref> These styles came from the refugee camps, particularly after 1967. Individual village styles were lost and replaced by an identifiable "Palestinian" style.<ref>Skinner, Margarita (2007) ''PALESTINIAN EMBROIDERY MOTIVES. A Treasury of Stitches 1850–1950''. Melisende. {{ISBN|978-1-901764-47-5}}. p. 21.</ref> The shawal, a style popular in the [[West Bank]] and [[Jordan]] before the [[First Intifada]], probably evolved from one of the many [[NGO|welfare]] embroidery projects in the [[Palestine refugee camps|refugee camps]]. It was a shorter and narrower fashion, with a western cut.<ref>Weir, Shelagh (1989) ''Palestinian Costume''. British Museum. {{ISBN|0-7141-1597-5}}. pp. 88, 113.</ref>
<gallery>
File:Betlehem woman b.jpg|A woman from Bethlehem, c. 1940s.
File:Ramallah woman2.jpg|Young woman of Ramallah wearing [[dowry]] headdress, c. 1898–1914
File:Ramlah costumewo.jpg|Ramallah woman, c. 1920, [[Library of Congress]]
File:Arabic-traditional-Dress.jpg|A Traditional Women's Dress in Ramallah, c. 1920.
File:Bethlehengirlsintraditionaldresspre1918.jpg|Girls in Bethlehem costume pre-1885.
</gallery>

===Literature===
{{main|Palestinian literature}}
[[File:Susan Abulhawa.jpg|thumb|left|Palestinian novelist and non-fiction writer [[Susan Abulhawa]]]]
[[File:MahmoudDarwish.jpg|thumb|[[Mahmoud Darwish]], Palestinian poet]]

Palestinian literature forms part of the wider genre of [[Arabic literature]]. Unlike its Arabic counterparts, Palestinian literature is defined by national affiliation rather than territorially. For example, Egyptian literature is the literature produced in Egypt. This too was the case for Palestinian literature up to the [[1948 Arab-Israeli war]], but following the [[1948 Palestinian exodus|Palestinian Exodus]] of 1948 it has become "a literature written by Palestinians" regardless of their residential status.<ref name=Kochavi>{{cite web|title=Hebrew Translations of Palestinian Literature&nbsp;– from Total Denial to Partial Recognition|author=Hannah Amit-Kochavi|publisher=Beit Berl College, Israel|access-date=17 August 2007|url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/ttr/2000/v13/n1/037393ar.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308142142/http://erudit.org/revue/ttr/2000/v13/n1/037393ar.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Suleiman2006>{{cite book |editor-last1=Suleiman |editor-first1=Yasir |editor-last2=Muhawi |editor-first2=Ibrahim |editor-link2=Ibrahim Muhawi |title=Literature and Nation in the Middle East |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zlbtyGIZyZQC&q=%22palestinian+literature%22+%22arabic+literature%22+palestine&pg=PP6 |isbn=978-0-7486-2073-9 |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129193623/https://books.google.com/books?id=zlbtyGIZyZQC&q=%22palestinian+literature%22+%22arabic+literature%22+palestine&pg=PP6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Contemporary Palestinian literature is often characterized by its heightened sense of [[irony]] and the exploration of existential themes and issues of identity.<ref name=Suleiman2006/> References to the subjects of resistance to occupation, [[exile]], loss, and love and longing for [[homeland]] are also common.<ref>{{cite web|title=Palestinian Literature and poetry |publisher=Palestinian National Information Center |access-date=28 July 2007 |url=http://www.pnic.gov.ps/english/Media_culture/Literature_Poetry.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925033412/https://www.pnic.gov.ps/english/Media_culture/Literature_Poetry.html |archive-date=25 September 2007 }}</ref> Palestinian literature can be intensely political, as underlined by writers such as [[Salma Khadra Jayyusi]] and novelist [[Liana Badr]], who have mentioned the need to give expression to the Palestinian "collective identity" and the "just case" of their struggle.<ref name=Soueif>{{cite news|title=Art of Resistance|author=Adnan Soueif|date=21 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=6 September 2007|url=http://www.arabworldbooks.com/News/artofresistance.htm|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010092834/http://www.arabworldbooks.com/News/artofresistance.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> There is also resistance to this school of thought, whereby Palestinian artists have "rebelled" against the demand that their art be "committed".<ref name=Soueif/> Poet [[Mourid Barghouti]] for example, has often said that "poetry is not a civil servant, it's not a soldier, it's in nobody's employ."<ref name=Soueif/> [[Rula Jebreal]]'s novel ''[[Miral]]'' tells the story of [[Hind al-Husseini]]'s effort to establish an [[orphanage]] in [[Jerusalem]] after the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the [[Deir Yassin massacre]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3949069,00.html |title=Jewish filmmaker tells Palestinian story |work=[[Ynetnews]] |date=6 September 2010 |access-date=6 December 2013 |archive-date=7 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707130207/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3949069,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Associated |first=The |url=http://www.haaretz.com/culture/jewish-film-maker-directs-palestinian-story-in-miral-1.317857 |title=Jewish film maker directs Palestinian story in 'Miral' – Haaretz Daily Newspaper &#124; Israel News |publisher=Haaretz.com |access-date=25 March 2011 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=8 October 2010 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304233640/http://www.haaretz.com/culture/jewish-film-maker-directs-palestinian-story-in-miral-1.317857 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the establishment of the state of [[Israel]].

Since 1967, most critics have theorized the existence of three "branches" of Palestinian literature, loosely divided by geographic location: 1) from inside Israel, 2) from the [[Israeli-occupied territories|occupied territories]], 3) from among the [[Palestinian diaspora]] throughout the [[Middle East]].<ref name=Salaita>{{cite journal|title=Scattered like seeds: Palestinian prose goes global|author=Steven Salaita|date=1 June 2003|journal=Studies in the Humanities|access-date=6 September 2007|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-17848_ITM|archive-date=13 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613212319/http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-17848_ITM|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Hannah Amit-Kochavi recognizes only two branches: that written by Palestinians from inside the State of Israel as distinct from that written outside (ibid., p.&nbsp;11).<ref name=Kochavi/> She also posits a temporal distinction between literature produced before 1948 and that produced thereafter.<ref name=Kochavi/> In a 2003 article published in ''Studies in the Humanities'', Steven Salaita posits a fourth branch made up of [[English language]] works, particularly those written by Palestinians in the [[United States]], which he defines as "writing rooted in diasporic countries but focused in theme and content on [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]."<ref name=Salaita/>

[[File:Naomishihabnye.jpg|thumb|left|[[Palestinian-American]] writer [[Naomi Shihab Nye]]]]
Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town.<ref name=Shahin41>Shahin, 2005, p. 41.</ref> After the 1948 Palestinian exodus and discrimination by neighboring Arab countries, poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism.<ref name=Caplan/> From among those Palestinians who became [[Arab citizens of Israel]] after the passage of the Citizenship Law in 1952, a school of resistance poetry was born that included poets including [[Mahmoud Darwish]], [[Samih al-Qasim]], and [[Tawfiq Zayyad]].<ref name=Shahin41/> The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. The situation changed after [[Ghassan Kanafani]], another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon, published an anthology of their work in 1966.<ref name=Shahin41/> Palestinian poets often write about the common theme of a strong affection and sense of loss and longing for a lost homeland.<ref name=Shahin41/> Among the new generation of Palestinian writers, the work of [[Nathalie Handal]] an award-winning poet, playwright, and editor has been widely published in literary journals and magazines and has been translated into twelve languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imeu.net/news/article002665.shtml|title=Nathalie Handal: Poet and Playwright|author=IMEU|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714071941/http://imeu.net/news/article002665.shtml|archive-date=14 July 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Samah Sabawi 2.jpg|thumb|[[Samah Sabawi]] is a Palestinian dramatist, writer and journalist.]]
Palestinian folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, [[music]], [[dance]], [[legend]]s, [[oral history]], [[proverb]]s, jokes, popular beliefs, [[tradition|customs]], and comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of Palestinian culture. There was a folklorist revival among Palestinian intellectuals such as Nimr Sirhan, Musa Allush, Salim Mubayyid, and the Palestinian [[Folklore]] Society during the 1970s. This group attempted to establish pre-Islamic (and pre-Hebraic) cultural roots for a re-constructed Palestinian national identity. The two putative roots in this patrimony are Canaanite and Jebusite.<ref name=Tamari /> Such efforts seem to have borne fruit as evidenced in the organization of celebrations including the [[Qabatiya]] Canaanite festival and the annual Music Festival of [[Jerusalem|Yabus]] by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.<ref name=Tamari/>

Traditional storytelling among Palestinians is prefaced with an invitation to the listeners to give blessings to God and the Prophet Mohammed or the Virgin Mary as the case may be, and includes the traditional opening: "There was, or there was not, in the oldness of time..."<ref name=Shahin41/><ref name=Muhawi>Muhawi, 1989.</ref> Formulaic elements of the stories share much in common with the wider Arab world, though the rhyming scheme is distinct. There are a cast of supernatural characters: [[jinns|djinns]] who can cross the Seven Seas in an instant, giants, and ghouls with eyes of ember and teeth of brass. Stories invariably have a happy ending, and the storyteller will usually finish off with a rhyme like: "The bird has taken flight, God bless you tonight", or "Tutu, tutu, finished is my ''haduttu'' (story)."<ref name=Shahin41/>

===Music===
[[File:Kamanjeh, and performer on it, p. 578 in Thomson, 1859.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.95|[[Kamanjah|Kamanjeh]] performer in Jerusalem, 1859<ref>William McClure Thomson, (1860): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=S44XAAAAYAAJ The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129193623/https://books.google.com/books?id=S44XAAAAYAAJ |date=29 November 2023 }}'' Vol II, p. 578.</ref>]]
[[Palestinian music]] is well known throughout the Arab world.<ref name=Poche>{{cite web|title=Palestinian music|publisher=Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|author=Christian Poche|url=http://phonoarchive.org/grove/Entries/S47332.htm|access-date=10 March 2008}}{{dead link|date=August 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> After 1948, a new wave of performers emerged with distinctively Palestinian themes relating to dreams of statehood and burgeoning nationalist sentiments. In addition to ''[[zajal]]'' and ''[[ataaba]]'', traditional Palestinian songs include: ''Bein Al-dawai'', ''Al-Rozana'', ''Zarif&nbsp;– Al-Toul'', and ''Al-Maijana'', ''Dal'ona'', ''Sahja/Saamir'', ''Zaghareet''. Over three decades, the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe (El Funoun) and [[Mohsen Subhi]] have reinterpreted and rearranged traditional wedding songs such as ''Mish'al'' (1986), ''Marj Ibn 'Amer''(1989) and ''Zaghareed'' (1997).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.el-funoun.org/productions/zaghared.html |title=El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe |access-date=24 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105201604/http://www.el-funoun.org/productions/zaghared.html |archive-date=5 January 2009 }}</ref> ''Ataaba'' is a form of folk singing that consists of four verses, following a specific form and meter. The distinguishing feature of ataaba is that the first three verses end with the same word meaning three different things, and the fourth verse serves as a conclusion. It is usually followed by a ''[[dalouna]]''.

[[Reem Kelani]] is one of the foremost researchers and performers in the present day of music with a specifically Palestinian narrative and heritage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicCDReviews/MiddleEastNorthAfrica/ReemKelani.cfm|title=Middle East & North Africa Reem Kelani World Music at Global Rhythm – The Destination for World Music|access-date=3 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311194619/http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicCDReviews/MiddleEastNorthAfrica/ReemKelani.cfm|archive-date=11 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her 2006 debut solo album ''Sprinting Gazelle – Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora'' comprised Kelani's research and an arrangement of five traditional Palestinian songs, whilst the other five songs were her own musical settings of popular and resistance poetry by the likes of Mahmoud Darwish, [[Salma Khadra Jayyusi]], [[Rashid Hussein|Rashid Husain]] and Mahmoud Salim al-Hout.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reemkelani.com/album.asp|title=Reem Kelani|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207110028/http://reemkelani.com/album.asp|archive-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> All the songs on the album relate to 'pre-1948 Palestine'.

====Palestinian hip hop====
{{main|Palestinian hip hop}}
[[Palestinian hip hop]] reportedly started in 1998 with [[Tamer Nafar]]'s group [[DAM (band)|DAM]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Dion |last=Nissenbaum |title='Palestinians' embracing hip-hop to push 'perspective of the victims' |date=29 September 2005 |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0905/arab_hip-hop.php3 |work=Jewish World Review |access-date=25 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816154001/http://jewishworldreview.com/0905/arab_hip-hop.php3 |archive-date=16 August 2007 }}</ref> These Palestinian youth forged the new Palestinian musical subgenre, which blends [[Arabic music|Arabic melodies]] and [[hip hop]] beats. Lyrics are often sung in [[Arabic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], English, and sometimes French. Since then, the new Palestinian musical subgenre has grown to include artists in the Palestinian territories, Israel, Great Britain, the United States and Canada.[[File:DJ Khaled 2012 (cropped).jpg|thumb|American radio personality and record producer [[DJ Khaled]], of Palestinian descent]]Borrowing from [[old school hip-hop|traditional rap music]] that first emerged in New York in the 1970s, "young Palestinian musicians have tailored the style to express their own grievances with the social and political climate in which they live and work." Palestinian hip hop works to challenge [[stereotype]]s and instigate dialogue about the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://angelingo.usc.edu/issue03/politics/a_palhiphop.php |title=Palestinian Conflict Bounces to a New Beat |access-date=25 April 2007 |last=El-Sabawi |first=Taleed |year=2005 |work=Angelingo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050418192423/http://angelingo.usc.edu/issue03/politics/a_palhiphop.php |archive-date=18 April 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palestinian hip-hop artists have been strongly influenced by the messages of American rappers. Tamar Nafar says, "When I heard Tupac sing 'It's a White Man's World' I decided to take hip hop seriously".<ref name=Maira>{{cite journal|last=Maira|first=Sunaina|title=We Ain't Missing: Palestinian Hip Hop – A Transnational Youth Movement|journal=CR: The New Centennial Review|year=2008|volume=8|issue=2|pages=161–192|doi=10.1353/ncr.0.0027|s2cid=144998198}}</ref> In addition to the influences from American hip hop, it also includes musical elements from Palestinian and Arabic music including "zajal, mawwal, and saj" which can be likened to Arabic spoken word, as well as including the percussiveness and lyricism of Arabic music.

Historically, music has served as an integral accompaniment to various social and religious rituals and ceremonies in Palestinian society (Al-Taee 47). Much of the Middle-Eastern and Arabic string instruments utilized in classical Palestinian music are sampled over Hip-hop beats in both Israeli and Palestinian hip-hop as part of a joint process of localization. Just as the percussiveness of the Hebrew language is emphasized in Israeli Hip-hop, Palestinian music has always revolved around the rhythmic specificity and smooth melodic tone of Arabic. "Musically speaking, Palestinian songs are usually pure melody performed monophonically with complex vocal ornamentations and strong percussive rhythm beats".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Al-Taee |first1=Nasser |year=2002 |title=Voices of Peace and the Legacy of Reconciliation: Popular Music, Nationalism, and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East |journal=Popular Music |volume=21 |pages=41–61 |doi=10.1017/s0261143002002039|s2cid=56388670 }}</ref> The presence of a hand-drum in classical Palestinian music indicates a cultural esthetic conducive to the vocal, verbal and instrumental percussion which serve as the foundational elements of Hip-hop. This hip hop is joining a "longer tradition of revolutionary, underground, Arabic music and political songs that have supported Palestinian Resistance".<ref name=Maira/> This subgenre has served as a way to politicize the Palestinian issue through music.

====Dance====
The [[Dabke]], a Levantine Arab folk dance style whose local Palestinian versions were appropriated by Palestinian nationalism after [[Six-Day War|1967]], has, according to one scholar, possible roots that may go back to ancient [[Canaan]]ite fertility rites.<ref name=Canaan>{{cite book|last=Kaschl|first=Elke|title=Dance and Authenticity in Israel and Palestine: Performing the Nation|date=2003|publisher=BRILL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfRAsefaeVEC&pg=PA82|pages=71–82|isbn=978-9004132382|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129193731/https://books.google.com/books?id=OfRAsefaeVEC&pg=PA82#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> It is marked by synchronized jumping, stamping, and movement, similar to tap dancing. One version is performed by men, another by women.

<gallery>
File:Debka.jpg|Palestinian [[Dabke]] folk dance being performed by men
File:Betlehem woman dancing.jpg|Palestinian women dancing traditionally, [[Bethlehem]] c. 1936
</gallery>

===Sport===
{{main|Sport in Palestine}}
Although sport facilities did exist before the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]], many such facilities and institutions were subsequently shut down. Today there remains sport centers such as in Gaza and Ramallah, but the difficulty of mobility and travel restrictions means most Palestinian are not able to compete internationally to their full potential. However, Palestinian sport authorities have indicated that Palestinians in the diaspora will be eligible to compete for Palestine once the diplomatic and security situation improves.

<gallery>
File:"Machete Kills" red carpet - 10594982886.jpg|[[Marko Zaror]] is a Chilean martial artist of Palestinian descent.
File:Nicolas Massu 2007 Australian Open R1.jpg|[[Nicolás Massú]] is a Chilean tennis player of Palestinian descent.
File:Palestino - O'Higgins 20190405 13.jpg|[[Roberto Bishara]] is a footballer of Palestinian descent.
</gallery>