Arab Christians in British Mandate Palestine: Communalism and Nationalism, 1917-1948 - Softcover

Haiduc-Dale, Noah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1474409245 ISBN 13: 9781474409247

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Recent conflict in the Middle East has caused some observers to ask if Muslims and Christians can ever coexist. History suggests that relations between those two groups are not predetermined, but are the product of particular social and political circumstances. This book examines Muslim-Christian relations during an earlier period of political and social upheaval, and explores the process of establishing new forms of national and religious identification.

Palestine's Arab Christian minority actively engaged with the Palestinian nationalist movement throughout the period of British rule (1917-1948). Relations between Muslim and Christian Arabs were sometimes strained, yet in Palestine, as in other parts of the world, communalism became a specific response to political circumstances. While Arab Christians first adopted an Arab nationalist identity, a series of outside pressures - including British policies, the rise of a religious conflict between Jews and Muslims, and an increase in Islamic identification among some Arabs - led Christians to adhere to more politicized religious groupings by the 1940s. Yet despite that shift Christians remained fully nationalist, insisting that they could be both Arab and Christian.

About this title

About the Author:

Noah Haiduc-Dale is Assistant Professor of History at Centenary College, New Jersey.

Review:

'Haiduc-Dale offers a chronological history of Palestinian politics that focuses on the particular role in each stage of Christians, whose narratives have often been marginalized or essentialized. In the process, he offers a comprehensive and easy to follow guide to key landmarks in the development of the Palestinian national movement more generally.' -- Liora R. Halperin, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

"Arab Christians in British Mandate Palestine is a welcome addition to the literature on the Mandate, on confessional relations within Palestine, and on Palestinian history in general. It is sure to leave its mark and inspire renewed understandings of the role of religion in Palestinian identity generally, particularly (but not exclusively) for Palestinian Christians." --
Michael R. Fischbach, Journal of Islamic Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1474409245
• ISBN 13: 9781474409247
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232