Palestinian Narrative Program
A cultural heritage and memory preservation program rooted in the Palestinian landscape — its olive groves, villages, and oral traditions — documenting stories that define Palestinian identity.
Get InvolvedAbout the Program
Roots That Remember
Palestine is more than a story of suffering, struggle and resilience. It is a civilization, a geography, a living identity, a rich cultural heritage and the ongoing story of a people who continue to assert their existence despite systematic attempts at erasure.
The Palestinian narrative does not begin with the Nakba of 1948. Rather, the Nakba represents a major rupture within a much longer history shaped by late Ottoman transformations, imperial interventions and the rise of the Zionist settler-colonial project. Although Palestinians carry diverse experiences and memories shaped by geographic and political fragmentation, they remain connected by a shared history that precedes this rupture: one history for one people.
This booklet presents the Palestinian narrative as a tool for strengthening cohesion, self-knowledge and connection among Palestinians. It places Palestinians at the center of their own history as active agents who shape their choices, struggles, culture and relationship with one another.
RO’A Center for Political and Strategic Studies’ Palestinian Narrative Program, Mayroun, is a first step towards this goal.
Voices Across Palestine
Participant Stories
Click the dots on the map to meet Mayroun participants from across Palestinian communities.
Click a dot on the map to read participant stories.
A Journey Through Memory
Stories of Heritage
& Preservation
Read the full illustrated journey of Palestinian memory and heritage.
"Tall, graceful one, stop and let me tell you
you're leaving for exile, but your homeland is better for you"
Palestinian Folk Song
Voices from the Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Meron is a Youth Engagement by RO'A Center focusing on the Palestinian narrative as a space for knowledge, memory, and belonging. It brings together historical and emotional dimensions of Palestinian identity.
The program is named after the depopulated Palestinian village of Mayroun, north of historic Palestine, west of Safad. The name connects the program to a rooted sense of Palestinian place and belonging.
Dr. Johnny Mansour leads the historical dimension of the program, from the late Ottoman period up until modern history. The researcher Tarek Al-Bakri leads the emotional and nostalgic dimension through the We Were and Still Are There initiative.
The Palestinian narrative places Palestinians as actors in their cause — not as passive subjects. Palestinians and their narrative become the starting point that shapes their choices, struggles, acceptance of difference and change, self-knowledge, culture and connection with their people, and most importantly self-determination.