Koç University Publishing has published Rochelle A. Davis' "Written by Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced" as a contribution to academic literature.

Considered an easy read for both academics and non-academics, the book investigates how history is written, recorded, and contested, as well as the roles that Palestinian perceptions of their past play out in contemporary life.

The book is based on multi-field research projects and studies the roles that Palestinian villages have played since the war of 1948. Davis reveals how destroyed Palestinian villages and their histories have affected the lives of Palestinian refugees. "Palestinian Village Histories" unearths what these villages mean for the freedom fight of the Palestinians.

Following the Arab-Israel War in 1948, thousands of Arabs living in Palestine were displaced and hundreds of villages were destroyed. The Palestinians began living as refugees in camps mostly in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Displaced Palestinians refer to the exodus as the "Nakba" (Disaster).

Over 120 "village commemoration books" were published about more than 400 Palestinian villages that were destroyed during the Nakba. Today, these books serve as evidence that these villages were once marked on maps.