Salman Abu Sitta

“Palestine is my country and that of my family for as long as written record shows. After the military Zionist invasion of Palestine in the spring of 1948, Palestine was largely emptied of its people and the name Palestine was erased from Zionist records. Over 500 cities and villages were attacked, its seven to fourteen million people expelled and made refugees, victims of ethnic cleansing and Apartheid as evidenced by several recent Human Rights reports.

In 1963 I had a cultural shock in London when I found that the name Palestine was erased from libraries and replaced by the word ‘“Israel”’. I started a search which lasted several decades. I collected maps and records from several sources in England, France, Germany, Turkey, USA, and the United Nations. I compiled several atlases. The most notable is the Atlas of Palestine 1917- 1966, depicting Al Nakba, the Zionist destruction of Palestine. It has 55,000 place names including 1200 Palestinian towns and villages. The map in this exhibition is based on this Atlas.

Further work led to the Atlas of Palestine 1871- 1877. Recording of Palestinian names extended to the Ottoman Tax Register of 1596 and to the Onomasticon by the Palestinian Bishop Eusebius (313 AD). Thus, the record of Palestine extends over at least 2000 years.  Israel’s erasure of this record is a crime against humanity, which must be reversed. This exhibition is a step in this direction.” 

Dr. Salman Abu Sitta is a Palestinian academic best known for his crucial work formulating a practical return plan for Palestinian refugees and documenting Palestine’s land and people through his extensive mapping of Palestine. He is the Founder and President of the Palestine Land Society (PLS). His archival collection and working files form the backbone of the Palestine Land Studies Center (PLSC) at AUB. He is also the author of over 400 articles and papers on Palestine, as well as several books. Notable among them are a series of atlases documenting Palestine at different periods. These include: Atlas of Palestine 1948, Atlas of Palestine 1917- 1966, Arabic and English editions.  Atlas of Palestine 1871- 1877 and the Return Journey Atlas.