ABSTRACT
If ‘diaspora’ in itself is a somewhat problematic notion in relation to the Palestinian experiences of exile, terms that are currently used to signify the diaspora condition such as ‘transnationalism’, not to say ‘hybridity’, are even more troublesome. As we have seen, exile has been the bedrock of nationalism and homeland politics and does not seem to lend much support to contemporary deliberations on a transnational existence. Lavie and Swedenburg (1996) have claimed convincingly that essentialism, the Palestinian way, is simply a superior strategic option to hybridity. Simultaneously many Palestinians in exile and, in particular, refugees in camps know nothing about ‘life as travel’, but experience exile as a confined space, a prison or a waiting room. Refugees are, as Hyndman (1997) has stated, largely ‘immobile’.
