ABSTRACT
The term ‘diaspora’ remains in a sense problematic when applied to the Palestinian case. Yet Palestinians in exile do constitute a diaspora community. Together with Palestinians remaining in the West Bank and Gaza or in Israel, there is a Palestinian transnational community/nation. Diaspora as a defining term should perhaps be saved to designate the Palestinian community in exile, where there are features of the term that are applicable also to those not in ‘exile’. Such diasporic aspects amount to land alienation, combined with strong sentiments of attachment to that land, the combination of forced and severely restricted mobility. There is an almost mock situation, where Palestinians are forced into a transnational existence yet at the same time excluded and kept out of a great many places. Barriers and borders have a specific significance for Palestinians.
