Let us consider how intangible heritage fits in with PASSIA's work as a center for the study of international affairs. As a people's cultural identity so often frames, for the rest of the world, who they are, it is, in itself, an international affair. Thus, this is an appropriate topic.

A people's heritage is something that is inherited and worthy of preservation; 'intangible heritage' involves creations of a cultural community based on tradition (UNESCO). They are transmitted through movement and word and, as they are intangible, they are particularly vulnerable and in need of preservation, safeguarding and promotion. This is critically important in the face of today's globalization. One result of globalization, with its changes that have led to a perception of the world as a small

This is particularly true for Palestinian intangible heritage, as there is added pressure for the silencing of Palestinian culture from the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people and the support that occupation has around the world.

A major part of Palestinian intangible heritage is the Palestinian spoken Arabic language. Palestinians, as all Arabs, live in a world marked by diglossia: Standard Arabic, a descendent of Classical Arabic, is written, and spoken in formal settings; colloquial Arabic, in its various dialects which differ much from Standard Arabic, is used for everyday life. Given this diglossia, Arabs typically ignore and do not acknowledge their colloquial language. And yet, as vehicle of everyday life, the colloquial is the medium and vessel of much Palestinian intangible heritage.

Due to the diasporization and urbanization of Palestinians since 1948, many colloquial Palestinian dialects are endangered. After speakers of 50 years of age or older have passed away, several varieties of Palestinian Arabic will disappear. It is thus of vital importance to document the colloquial language now while its diverse forms, and thus diverse cultural expressions, are still extant.

The aim of the proposed project is to document, preserve, safeguard, celebrate and promote, via print and audio, a collection of Palestinian folktales as an expression of Palestinian intangible heritage. The product would be an illustrated book, with an accompanying CD containing the colloquial words in which the folktales were related. The project would involve the storytellers, a fieldwork team to record the stories, an illustrator, and translators to translate the stories into Standard Arabic and English, as the book would Arabic/English. The project will be significant because it will be conducted within Palestine and emerge from Palestine. It will involve Palestinians deciding for themselves how to document, interpret, celebrate, safeguard, promote and disseminate their culture and identity, as well as how to pay tribute to the elder Palestinians who have transmitted this heritage to the present time. Such an expression of Palestinian culture as Palestinian prerogative will serve as a model for more such work in the future. The primary audience would be Palestinian, Palestinians here and abroad. The cultural and linguistic expression to be documented are importantfor young Palestinians abroad as many of them are English- (or other non-Arabic language-) speaking. The secondary audience would be the world at large, as the product would be an effort against the tide of globalization, and also a contribution to linguistic and oral tradition databases. The beneficiaries thus also include scholars and community groups.

This could be a pilot project for a larger project on Palestinian intangible heritage to include documentary film of the folktales and also a linguistic study to closely document the dialects themselves.