عبيد، يوسف. قصة مدينة الناصرة. تونس: المنظمة العربية للتربية و الثقافة و العلوم: دائرة الثقافة بمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، ١٩٨٩، ٧٩ص
ʻUbayd, Yusuf. Qissat Madinat al-Nasirah. Tunis: al-Munazzamah al-ʻArabiyyah lil-Tarbiyah wa-al-Thaqafah wa-al-ʻUlum: Daʼirat al-Thaqafah bi-Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah, 1989, 79pp.
ABSTRACT
The Story of Nazareth
قصة مدينة الناصرة
This book, along with all the other books in this series on Palestinian towns, aims to introduce readers, amongst both the general public and specialists, to the many aspects relating to these towns in order to preserve Arab culture and Palestinian heritage, while confronting the pervasive Zionist culture.
The book provides a succinct narrative from a historical perspective of Nazareth’s natural geography, its people and their activities. The first section deals with a number of points, of which the most important are the evolution of its name as well as its history, ruins, monuments, neighbourhoods, and the dress of its people. The second section discusses Nazareth's topography, climate, and sources of water, while the third section focuses on the state of its education, the activities of its people, and settlement construction within the vicinity of the town.
The style of the book is fluid however; there are spelling, stylistic and grammatical mistakes. The book includes footnotes on each page providing the sources used. There is also a list of Arabic and foreign references at the end. The book contains a number of maps and photos relating to some of the churches and souqs, although most of these are completely unclear.
The author relies on statistics and tables which provide the number of residents in the villages and the Jewish settlements. It also provides such things as rainfall rates, archaeological sites, and agricultural areas. In all, this book represents no doubt a useful source on the town of Nazareth, and provides a comprehensive view of its numerous and important facets in a concise way, despite neglecting the social dimensions and customs of inhabitants.
Dahlia Sabry
Translated by Hugh Lovatt