In recent years, attitudes in the United States toward the Palestinian cause have shifted dramatically. Although Palestinians have long been demonized in U.S. media and politics, their struggle portrayed as illegitimate, emergent progressive voices increasingly challenge the status quo on Israel and Palestine and express solidarity with Palestinian resistance. What accounts for this evolution?
This book provides a new lens on activism around Palestinian issues, showing how the global Palestinian diaspora has driven transnational political movements. Karam Dana explores the ways that exile has shaped Palestinian identity and allowed for new forms of global activism. He examines the social and technological forces that have opened space for Palestinian voices to be heard by wider audiences worldwide. Drawing on interviews with key advocates-including members of the Palestinian diaspora and Jewish American activists-as well as public opinion data and media analysis, Dana traces how global Palestinian communities have influenced American views. He considers the backlash against pro-Palestinian advocacy but argues that solidarity with Palestinians in the United States and globally will continue to strengthen. Timely and insightful, To Stand with Palestine offers an inside look at how Palestinians have told their story to the world and why the world increasingly sympathizes with their plight, with significant implications for the global political landscape.