FINLAND & PALESTINE Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

Visions of a Real Multiculturalism:
Some Reflections on Palestinian "Vision Documents"
in Light of Finnish Experiences
• •
Dr. Hannu Juusola
University ofHelsinki & Foundation of the Finnish Institute
in the Middle East 1
In a globalized world, the character and identity of nation
states have become a constant source of debate. Such debates
typically concentrate on citizenship, immigration, the status of
minority groups, and state-religion relationships. Further stimuli
are new types of supra-national constructions, such as EU
in Europe. In the Middle East, the reemergence of confessional
and local (tribal etc.) identities on the one hand and a growing
recognition of (universalist) civic democratic rights on the other
are also of importance. A significant instance of a global
consciousness of civic rights is the UN General Assembly's
"Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities." In the Palestinian
context, the nation formation is much complicated by the fact
that Palestinians are without a sovereign state and divided between
several political entities. Thus, identity must be constructed
in various diverse circumstances. This article briefly
tackles recent identity formulations within one of the most
complicated categories of Palestinian identity: Palestinians
1 At present, Dr. Hannu Juusola serves as Director (Adjunct Professor) of the
Finnish Institute in Damascus.
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