Nakba and Survival: The Story of the Palestinians Who Remained in Haifa and the Galilee, 1948-1956 deals with the years that were decisive in every way for Arab citizens of Israel, a period and a perspective about which little has been written. The book focuses on the story of the survival of the Arabs in Israel, primarily in the north of the country, and the mechanisms they developed to prevent their displacement and to continue living in their country. The political activity of the survivors—including the untold story of the Arab Communists in Israel—is also presented in terms of the survival paradigm. The book is unique in dealing with the survivors’ experiences from their point of view as an unwanted minority under military rule and how their relations with the State of Israel were shaped. Nakba and Survival enables us to hear the voices of the subjugated and the silenced and sees them as active agents, rather than only as passive victims. This book is innovative also in the research questions that it contends with and in its sources of information—including personal diaries, memoirs, and oral testimony. The story of the Nakba as told by the survivors is unfamiliar to most of the public. This is a story that has been silenced and repressed, and it gives voice to a different national narrative. Making this story heard is crucial not only for bringing to light an important historical and human aspect of the war that has been neglected for years. It is tremendously important with regard to all aspects of the current reality and the shaping of the lives of both sides in the future.

Dr. Adel Manna is a historian and a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. His research focuses on Palestine in the Ottoman period and on Palestinians in the twentieth century.