ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the social unconscious of the Palestinian people in order to clarify and define it. Palestinian society, aside from coping with the difficult implications of the creation of the state of Israel, also has to deal with isolation from the larger family of the Arab nation. The Nakba is for the Palestinians a founding event in their history. It is a traumatic event that nearly erased them. The Palestinians learned to repress shame and narcissistic injury resulting not just from their defeat by the Israelis but also as the weak link of the entire Arab world. There is a widespread view that the Palestinians are in an ongoing process that began with a struggle for survival and continues in a struggle for recognition and rebirth. The Israeli occupation has challenged Palestinians to define themselves more precisely, and in many ways to disconnect from the Arab and Islamic world.
