LITERATURE AND NATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

ibrahim muhawifrom the difference between what is and what is desirable, between the Utopianimplications of the establishment of Israel for Jews and its dystopian effect onPalestine and Palestinians. We know that the ironic inter-textual echoing ofCandide was part of Habibi’s purpose because in the chapter heading alreadycited he refers to the similarity between the two books as amazing. Here againwe are faced with a double irony. What is amazing about this similarity is that itis part of the narrative structure of the novel, as if it too was one of the strangeevents leading to the disappearance of Said. However, when we compare theevents in Candide with those in Said, we do not note a similarity but a contrast:while everything that befalls Candide is fictional, all that befalls Said is fact.From this perspective, the fact appears stranger than fiction, and that, I think,was the entire purpose behind Habibi’s use of Candide.Said, the Palestinian-Israeli, is a doubly ironic character. As a bungling idiot,he bears the brunt of the irony on the Palestinian side. We look down on himfor all his efforts to bridge the identity gap, his zealousness in conforming to therequirements of citizenship, including becoming an informer, so that he canshare in Israeli subjectivity. At the same time, his very simplicity and incomprehensionallow the novelist to portray Israeli state practices and attitudes towardsPalestinians from the Palestinian viewpoint. The magnitude of Israel’s failure toinclude its Palestinian citizens in its polity is portrayed very graphically at theend of the novel, where Said, having decided that he can no longer be a truesubject of Israel but not being able to construct a separate identity for himself,finds himself sitting on a khazuq (roughly, a pointed fence post), from which noone can rescue him except the creatures from outer space who take him undertheir wing. To the extent that Said is an emblematic figure representing allPalestinian citizens of Israel, his khazuq, I believe, is also emblematic of theposition of the whole Palestinian community in the country.notes1. These lines occur towards the end of the long poem, madih al-zill al-’ali (‘In Praise ofthe Tall Shadow’). See Darwish 1984: 161. Unless otherwise indicated, all translationsin this paper are by me.2. General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948) is available on a number of websites, suchas . It stipulates, among other things,that refugees wishing to return to their homes ‘should be permitted to do so at theearliest practical date, and that compensation should be paid for the property ofthose choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property …’3. The Balfour Declaration is available on a number of websites, including