The Palestinian triptych: Official, elite and popular heritage

Abstract

In the occupied Palestinian territories are found, in addition to classical dichotomies between elite and popular heritage, typically official forms, emanating from the Palestinian Authority’s drive for legitimacy in the absence of a state. This triptych is exemplified through sites and sights from Ramallah, specifically an exhibition of clothing, furniture and photographs at Birzeit University, a mechanized family olive press in old Ramallah and the esplanade housing Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum. While linked through the involvement of the citizenry, they display particularities, notably in the way each deals with the dilemmas of remembering, forgetting and thus surviving day to day in the face of a long-standing occupation.