Palestine in the Air
A Cultural History of Palestinian Aviation
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publishing:20th Feb '25
£85.00
This title is due to be published on 20th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The first cultural history of Palestinian aviation.
As the first cultural history of Palestinian aviation, Palestine in the Air reveals civil aviation’s role in the ‘question of Palestine’ over the past century.
International civil aviation has been a powerful tool for the systemic disenfranchisement of Palestinian statehood, connectivity and mobility. Yet, at the same time, Palestinians have creatively appropriated aviation technologies in diverse modes of resistance. They have exploited flight’s symbolic values of escape and liberation in their struggle against occupation. Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on media studies, cultural studies, critical theory, diplomacy and history, Palestine in the Air examines civil aviation’s political, social and cultural impact upon the Palestinian quest for sovereignty. The book makes use of an unprecedented range of aviation-related sources spanning histories, images, interviews with Palestinians, research, print and television archives, art, film, literature, poetry and even stand-up comedy. Aviation is presented here as an unconventional weapon of resistance that has gained media exposure and has had the ability to disrupt dominant narratives about Palestine. This includes, most radically, aeroplane hijackings, but also subaltern resistance movements that make use of balloons and kites, or filmmakers and researchers that use commercial drones to reclaim knowledge and agency of their environment.
A bird's eye perspective on the role of aviation in Palestinian state-building, international diplomacy and cultural iconography. Chin-chin trains her interdisciplinary lens on Palestinian airports, airlines and air travel against broader political developments, highlighting aviation as a form of colonial domination, as an act of resistance, and as a central dimension in the representations of Palestinians in the popular imagination. * Eyal Weizman, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK *
A compelling and imaginative book about aviation’s central role in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination under the longest military occupation of modern times. It presents air, space and flight as essential elements of political autonomy and individual freedom, and convincingly argues that they are inseparable from the human endeavour for dignity and value. * Ai Weiwei, artist *
Palestine in the Air offers a nuanced look at how aviation shapes the political and humanitarian dimensions of the Palestinian experience. With compelling analysis, it explores the intersection of airspace control, political leverage and humanitarian aid, providing vital insight into one of the most complex geopolitical realities. * Boris Cheshirkov, former UN Refugee Agency spokesperson *
Moving us from the wounded land to the air, Chin-chin Yap accomplishes a powerful and innovative feat. By putting transnational aviation in conversation with the question of Palestine Yap reveals new layers and new angles of vision that reshape our understandings of mobility, expression, representation, and self-determination. * Sherene Seikaly, Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA *
ISBN: 9780755651436
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
280 pages