The rare haul of the Palestinian press, saved by London’s P21 Gallery, is fragile, as old newsprint tends to be: with faded ink, flaky damage, and subject to mould and other decay.  While some issues have suffered more than others, it’s fortunate that they survived at all.

Most newspapers were in variably A2 size (42 x 60 centimetres, 16.5 x 23.4 inches) and required overhead scanning.  Digitisation was done for research in mind, with each page treated as a separate manuscript.  Pages have been scanned in basic ‘black & white’, with extra scans of those same pages done in grayscale when photos are included.  Adverts and special isolated stories were further scanned via a flatbed scanner, to a high resolution level, and tinted in yellow sepia, for display use.  Some of the vintage newspapers suffered physical deterioration and faded ink, but we’re fortunate they survived at all.

Included here are digitisations of rare, English-language activist publications that are evidence of the long history in advocating for the Palestine cause.  A further inclusion is a collection of mainly Jerusalem Post clippings contemporary with Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and a range of historical pamphlets dating before the Balfour Declaration.  More items will be added but please download everything and share.  Wider dissemination means better preservation.

Corrections, precise dates, and further vintage papers for scanning are welcome, via Andy Simons, retired British Library Curator: palpapers.history@gmail.com