As an ardent philatelist and activist for Palestinian rights, Nader Abuljebain realised that his ideal project would be a synthesis of both causes. His book Palestinian History in Postage Stamps, an historical examination with a bilingual commentary, does both jobs superbly.
By declaring that a people with over a hundred years worth of stamps cannot simply be erased from historical narrative and geographical imagination through occupation, Palestinian History in Postage Stamps is an assertion of both Palestinian and Arab identity. His book, and the stamps within it, cover a period from the beginnings of Jewish colonization in 1870s to the establishment of the Palestinian authority in the 1990s. All the stamps are from Abuljebain’s personal collection, assembled lovingly over the years.
The structure of the book is interesting. The closest metaphor might be to describe it as the cross-section of an onion. In viewing the world through a very Palestinian-centric perspective, the book’s core is naturally formed by stamps that originate in the troubled territories. The next ring outwards is comprised of stamps from countries contiguous to Israel, and in Abuljebain’s mind, offering the first line of defence and support to the Palestinians. These include Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The next ring is comprised of countries that directly support the Palestinian cause in some way or another; Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Sudan. Proceeding outwards further still, another chapter deals with other Arab states. Abuljebain clearly feels the Palestinian issue is actually one of Arab identity so even states that have not played a proactive role to date are still considered ideological companions solely because of geography and culture.
“If Palestine is at the centre of my book, it is surrounded by states that try to confront the occupation, by states that support those confronting the occupation, and finally, by other Arab countries,” he explains. “I’ve tried to express the history of Palestine exclusively through an Arab narrative, for it is very much a pan-Arab issue of identity and social cohesiveness.
Abuljebain is Palestinian but like countless compatriots, he has never been able to reside in his homeland. His parents, he says, were evicted from Jaffa along with thousands in 1948. They moved to Kuwait, where Abuljebain was born in 1950. An engineer by trade, Abuljubein is anything but rooted. When he‘s not busy shuttling around the Gulf from one consultation job to the next, he’s engaged in his other fulltime profession as Arab activist and spokesperson, which keeps him travelling around his current home, the United States. Moving to America after the first Gulf War to become a student, Abuljubein became active in unions and a number of associations and societies. He continues that work today as a professional and also writes and lectures on behalf of Arab causes.
Small compensation though it may be, perhaps the sole consolation his family’s dispossession has brought is that it was exile that first sparked Abuljubein’s passion for collecting stamps. “Our extended family split up and travelled all over the world. There was a constant flow of letters from different countries, which meant I had a ready source of international stamps to start my collection,” he recalls. “I started [collecting stamps] when I was a child. Many children start collections, particularly of stamps, and it wasn’t very unusual. But unlike many, I persisted.”
“One of my fondest early memories is of a 1956 Egyptian stamp depicting resistance after the Suez Canal crisis,” he says. “It was a very beautiful brown stamp, with a soldier, a man, and a woman all firing at an incoming paratrooper. I knew then that I was hooked, possibly for life.”
It’s not that the young Abuljebain was only interested in war-like stamps. In fact, one of his other childhood favourites was the stamp celebrating unity between Egypt and Syria, which featured an arch linking the two countries together. “Even aesthetically, I was always drawn to the political stamps,” he continues, talking with passion and lovingly describing his devotion to completing a collections, the long years he’s spent searching for all the pieces to fit together. “Once the last stamp in a set is found, no matter how mundane, the sense of achievement is indescribable. Nothing else compares.”
For Abuljebain, stamp collecting is not an isolated activity but rather one that subsumes many other fields of study. “It’s a science in itself,” he says, “and within it encompasses history, geography, anthropology and sociology. Stamps are not just beautiful due to aesthetics. Many carry a political message, or memories of a geographical location. They are evidence of culture at work, of life occurring. Much can be deduced from even the simplest depictions.”
Nader Abuljubein’s ‘A Palestinian History in Postage Stamps’ is a work spanning generations. He has gathered the stamps collected within it from all over the world: from activist friends, from, swaps and exchanges, and specialist shops on the Strand in London and in the United States. His motivations behind the compilation are clear, if complex. “I wanted to establish four things. First, I wanted to give expression to my passion for stamps. There are many books on American, British and French stamps, for instance, but very few from the Arab world. I wanted to set a precedent. I also wanted to offer a reading of history from an Arab perspective, to balance some of the other narratives out there. I also wanted to argue the inherent correlation between Arab unity and identity, and the Palestinian issue. Lastly, there was the desire to take the Palestinian issue to an international audience and make the cause both global and legitimate. I wanted to tell the world about a people with a rich history and culture, who are being oppressed and marginalized.”
Since it first came out a decade ago, Abuljubein’s book has received plenty of accolade but the man who has told the history of an imperilled nation through its postage stamps is not done. He’s currently researching and working on a series of papers and lectures on the history of Zionism and Palestine, which explore the idea of the right of return and the viability of the one state solution, in Abuljubein’s description “a democratic, secular state from the river to the sea, where all reside as equals.”
Between his professional commitments, his unceasing activism and ardent search for old stamps, Nader Abuljebain is a man difficult to pin down for too long. His voice of reason is the fruit of exile and years spent grappling with geopolitical issues and coming up with conclusions that may not be acceptable to all.
Even a short conversation with Abuljubein leaves one feeling reassured that there are still people in the world who are prepared to fight for what they believe is right and who knows, perhaps one day, the man who told the story a nation through its stamps will be commemorated with one of his own.
WHO Nader Abuljebain
WHAT His book, ‘Palestinian History in Postage Stamps’
WHERE Constantly in transit between the Middle East and the United States
WHY By putting together the first collection of stamps originating in Palestine, this passionate activist and stamp collector has written a different side of history adding new depth to a decades-long struggle.
