On Sunday, July 30, 2023, Al-Muntada Hall at the Yasser Arafat Museum hosted the launch of the book "Patriotism and Citizenship" by Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint Arab List and member of the Yasser Arafat Foundation's Board of Trustees, during a publicity seminar organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Yasser Arafat Museum, in the presence of a crowd of politicians and intellectuals.

The event began with the Palestinian national anthem, and then Dr. Ahmed Soboh, General Manager of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, asked the audience to observe a minute of silence and recite Al-Fatiha on the soul of the founding president, Yasser Arafat, and all the martyrs of Palestine.

"The publication of the book 'Patriotism and Citizenship' from Al-Muntada Hall has great symbolism, as this is Yasser Arafat's last headquarters and trench, his last fortress, and his last battle in which he adheres to the national constants, and promotes free citizenship for all Palestinians in all their places of residence," Dr. Soboh said.

Dr. Soboh expressed his optimism that the meeting of the Palestinian factions in Egypt at the level of general secretaries will result in the successful resolution of the internal conflict. Political, field and conceptual unity is an unavoidable condition for victory, and we cannot talk about strengthening citizenship in a free country unless we have it," he stated.

According to writer Abdul Ghani Salama, choosing the Yasser Arafat Museum to launch the book has great significance and symbolism, affirming the unity of the Palestinian people on both sides of the Green Line, in Jerusalem, and the diaspora, even if they differ in some details based on the privacy of the place of residence.

He stressed that the significance of the book stems not only from its contents but also from its release date as a result of the Zionist extreme right's aggression and attack, as well as the racist projects it has undertaken to pull the Palestinians apart. Salama confirmed that this book is appropriate for use as a national reference and road map as part of the national project.

According to the author, Ayman Odeh, the book is a wonderful challenge for every Palestinian politician since it addresses various problems arising from a well-defined concept, defines where the politician wants to go, and urges others to join him there.

Odeh went on to say that the politician's role is to get to the point and objective that the people are searching for, pointing out that there are stages of incapacity for the leader and the politician, which is to analyze the political situation, which is not expected of him. He continued to say that the major title of the book relates to the difficult condition of "48 Palestinians", as well as the conflict between identity and Israeli occupation citizenship that there is a complex scenario that necessitates a national conversation about stressing the two elements. The national dimension must be highlighted, and you account for 20% of the population.

Dr. Iyad Al-Barghouti said, that what distinguishes the book is that it represents the writer's, and the thinker's vision, which is rare, pointing out that Palestine suffers from a large number of leaders but a scarcity of visionaries, and the writer, Aymaa Odeh, attempted to combine the two.

There is a need to unify terminology related to the description of "48 Palestinians", as well as radical questions related to the Palestinian cause that takes us back to the beginnings of the revolution, and the imbalance is usually not on the goals, but rather on the possible means, multiple paths that lead to the same goal.

According to Al-Barghouti, to discuss Palestine in depth, we must first understand who occupational Israel is, which appears to be more than just an occupying country, but rather a prelude to its project, which aims to be an important tool for imperialism to control not only Palestine but also the region.
The symposium concluded with a discussion of the contents of the book.