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The Palestine Institute of Folklore & Ethnology was founded in 1944 under the direction of Raphael Patai. The Institute was discontinued following Patai's departure from the geographic area and the establishment of the State of Israel Much of anthropological research conducted on and within Israel-Palestine has been ethnographic study of historical customs and practices identified as Jewish or Arab; such has been facilitated by the State of Israel in efforts related to nation-building and the solidification of an ethnic identity following the Jewish diaspora and European Holocaust. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as Tel Aviv University, currently offer higher-education courses in the department of anthropology, and in combination with sociology.

Furani and Rabinowitz, scholars of the Tel Aviv University department of Sociology and Anthropology, delineate anthropological understanding within Palestine as occupying four modes historically: The history of Palestinian anthropology can be marked by four modes of ethnographic engagement: Biblical Palestine, Oriental Palestine, Absent Palestine, and Post-Structural Palestine.

Biblical Palestine refers to the main method of ethnographic engagement of Palestine which took place in the first decades of the 20th century. Led predominately by Europeans, their interest was motivated using the Bible as a legitimizing text to influence the region. Early work consisted of European writers fetishizing and romanticizing the land and the people based on the Biblical figures.

Oriental Palestine, a term coined by Edward Said, a Palestinian scholar, was the leading mode of engagement throughout the first four decades of the 20th century. It was marked by a sense of urgency to document Palestine as a source of Europe's beginnings. Through this lens, a narrative was offered that challenged the colonial British vision of Palestinian history which saw the Arabs there as "transient and ephemeral". It was also marked by a sense of duty among others to capture the traditional fabric of Palestine before its dissolution, which appeared evident at the time due to the events surrounding the rise of Zionism.

Absent Palestine follows immediately after the demise of Palestine in 1948 and can only be fully understood in terms of the success of Zionism. In this sense, the state of Palestine was eclipsed by the narrative of Israel as a place offering a safe haven to endangered refugees from Europe. This ethnographic silence of Palestinians is seen as the turning point in Israel's image of modernity.

Post-Structural Palestine is the current main method of ethnographic engagement. It is known primarily for its stance that challenges and brings to question Israel's efforts to repress Palestinian nationalism. The movement has seen a rising trend in which the Palestinian subject is explored for their national identity, rather than silenced.

Dialectical Anthropology exists a self-described progressive journal for the dissemination of anthropological knowledge internationally, and includes much scholarly work surrounding the multifaceted and often conflictual nature of ethnographic and sociological study within and surrounding Israel-Palestine and relations with the geographic West.