Week 3 (Mar. 25)

Link to a recording of the class:

https://brandeis.zoom.us/rec/share/6mEJyiDMZs7_F8AwLAVtfYoIOtTPJ42dHOxnmtqb-SwGCydIHl142qLuoDZSrFjH.AZs9xLPrYYuF1Tgw

Link to slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pSxJH1L0zK1iW6o0-BZ2ksk7vXSA4f0O3GMiO8mpKwk/edit?usp=share_link

Timeline: Palestinian/Arab history to the British Mandate

638: Arab Muslims conquer Palestina from the Byzantines; area broken into provinces known as Jund Filastin, al-Urdunn and Dimashq
1099: European Christian Crusaders seize these territories, christening it the Kingdom of Jerusalem
1187: Saladin reconquers al-Quds (Jerusalem); the Crusaders would be driven out once and for all in 1291
1799: Napoleon, after taking Egypt, fails to conquer Palestine, defeated at Jaffa
1831-40: Mohammed Ali of Egypt conquers and rules Palestine, driven out by Ottomans with help of Europeans
1881: Jewish immigration to Palestine starts increasing, despite opposition of local leaders and occasional restrictions by Ottoman authorities
1908: Al-Karmil newspaper becomes first local paper founded to oppose Zionist colonialism
1915-16: British High Commissioner to Egypt Henry McMahon and Sherif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali exchange letters, according to which McMahon pledged British support to an Arab state in support for an Arab revolt against the Ottomans
1917-18: British conquer Palestine from Otomans, with support from Arab forces, shortly after issuing Balfour Declaration in favor of Jewish settlement in Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish home therein
1919: Americans form King-Crane Commission to determine the wishes of the inhabitants of Palestine regarding their political future, but results not published until December 1922
1920: First violent protests in Palestine against the Balfour Declaration, ahead of the San Remo Conference, where the imperial powers support British claims to establish a mandate over Palestine based on the Balfour Declaration; Faisal king of short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria (3/8-7/17)
1921: Riots break out in Jaffa over Jewish immigration; 47 Jews and 1 Arab killed in 5 days of rioting

Reading #1 

Excerpts from "The Awakening of the Arab Nation in Turkish Asia" by Nauib Azoury, 1905

Guiding questions:

a)    What are the main problems afflicting Palestine, according to Azoury?

b)    What is the solution?

c)    How does he foresee relations between Arabs and Jews?

Reading #2  

Interviews with two Arab parliamentarians in HaZvi newspaper, 1909.

Guiding questions:

a)    What is Said Effendi's main message to Ben Yehudah's Jewish readers?

b)    What is al-Khalidi's main message to Ben Yehudah's Jewish readers?

c)    How does he foresee relations between Arabs and Jews?

Reading #3 

"Phase Two: 1908-1914" in Muslih, Mohammed, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism, pp. 78-83
(Full book available at: https://yplus.ps/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Muslih-Muhammad-Y.-The-Origins-of-Palestinian-Nationalism.pdf)

Guiding questions:

a)    What changes and challenges were the Palestinian Arabs mentioned in this section facing?

b)    What were the trends of Arab opposition to Zionism on the eve of World War I?

c)    What do you find to be the strongest argument or arguments, and why?

Reading #4  

Haaretz report of WZO appeal to Emir Faisal and Zionist leaders' meeting with Faisal's aide in London, 1919

Guiding questions:

a)    Why was it so important to the WZO that Faisal attend their ball celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration?

b)    How did Mr. Hadi defend the Arab position regarding the Balfour Declaration? 

c)    How did Mr. Hadi respond to the protests of Zionist leaders about the value of Zionists to development in Palestine?

Maps: The Arab World in the Middle Ages and The Eastern Arab World, 1915

(From "The Arab Awakening" by George Antonius, 1938)

Guiding questions:

a)    How does the top map reflect the Arab narrative?

b)    Is there anything inaccurate about it?

c)    What do you think the shaded areas in the bottom map represent?