Contemporary Palestinian literature is often characterized by its heightened sense of irony and the exploration of existential themes and issues of identity . References to the subjects of resistance to occupation , exile , loss , and love and longing for homeland are also common . Palestinian literature can be intensely political , as underlined by writers like Salma Khadra Jayyusi and novelist Liana Badr , who have mentioned the need to give expression to the Palestinian " collective identity " and the " just case " of their struggle . There is also resistance to this school of thought , whereby Palestinian artists have " rebelled " against the demand that their art be " committed " . Poet Mourid Barghouti for example , has often said that " poetry is not a civil servant , it 's not a soldier , it 's in nobody 's employ . " Rula Jebreal 's novel '' Miral '' tells the story of Hind al-Husseini 's effort to establish an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , the Deir Yassin massacre , and the establishment of the state of Israel
Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
Palestinians