The Arabs And Zionism Before World War I

This book, first published in 1986, examines a key period in Zionist-Arab relations in the years leading to the Second World War.

Here is a brief, intelligent, even-handed analytical account of the origins of the Arab-Zionist conflict and its development from early in the twentieth century until 1948, focusing particularly on the period when Britain ruled Palestine under mandate from the League of Nations.

"This Very Short Introduction discloses a history of Zionism from the origins of modern Jewish nationalism in the 1870's to the present. Michael Stanislawski provides a lucid and detached analysis of Zionism, focusing on its internal intellectual and ideological developments and divides"--

The goal of the Palestinian national movement, including the Palestinian Authority, is to rewrite the history of the Land of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs developed several agendas about the history of the country, one claiming that they are the ancient population of the country they call Falastin (Palestine) and the Jews have no historical claim on that country. Professor Shlomo Sand adopted one of their agendas and claims that the Romans never exiled the Jews 2,000 years ago and the Jews converted to Islam during the Arab-Muslim occupation of the country (640-1099). He concludes that the Palestinians are the descendants of these Jews and the country belongs to them. The historical facts, however, tell a different story... This volume brings historical and archeological research on the ethnic-religious composition of the population of the country from the Arab-Muslim occupation until World War I. The second volume will deal with the years 1918-1948 until the establishment of the State of Israel. This series aims to disprove the thesis that the Arabs in Israel are the ancient population of the country and prove that most of them are descendants of immigrants who came to the country from Arab and Muslim lands in small numbers during a slow process taking hundreds of years. Some were invited by the various occupation governments who wished to settle the unpopulated regions of the country. Between the end of the 19th century and the start of World War I in 1914 the immigration became greater due to the economic opportunities and employment created by the Zionist movement, Jewish investors, and Christian organizations. The economic development created much better opportunities compared with the situation in their home countries.

"This book is a truly extraordinary scholarly accomplishment. From this point forward, anybody who wants to understand the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict will not be able to do so without consulting Gribetz's work."--Israel Gershoni, coeditor of Rethinking Nationalism in the Arab Middle East "Drawing on prodigious research in a range of sources in Arabic, Hebrew, and other languages, Gribetz examines two groups--Jews and Arabs--whose national identities were developing simultaneously in Palestine around the turn of the twentieth century. He provides a broad and sympathetic portrait of the multiple ways both groups understood and fashioned these identities, which are rarely studied in tandem."--Rashid Khalidi, author of Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East "In this meticulously researched book, Gribetz offers a fresh look at early relations between Zionists and Arabs in Palestine. Examining what he terms their 'textual conversation, ' he highlights the role of religion and race in the development of mutual perceptions. The British used religion to separate the communities; race could have served to break down barriers of identity. Gribetz reminds us that the way people understand each other is not fixed or immutable."--Ambassador (Ret.) Daniel Kurtzer, Princeton University "In this erudite and engaging work, Jonathan Gribetz shows how racial and religious categories could unite as well as divide Jews and Arabs in early-twentieth-century Palestine. Gribetz offers close, insightful readings of Jewish and Arab intellectuals who imagined themselves as neighbors as well as adversaries, and who, while producing apologetic depictions of their own cultures, communicated in a shared cultural language. This book is a fascinating recovery of neglected voices that are strikingly relevant for our own time."--Derek J. Penslar, author of Jews and the Military: A History "Gribetz has written a compelling narrative that will undoubtedly become the authoritative account of Zionist-Arab interactions during the final decades of the Ottoman Empire. He offers not only original interpretations but also a deep engagement with an era essential for understanding the reasons why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long endured. What Gribetz accomplishes as a historian is quite remarkable."--Donna Robinson Divine, author of Exiled in the Homeland: Zionism and the Return to Mandate Palestine "The encounter between Jewish and Arab thinkers in Ottoman Palestine was subtler than we know. Jonathan Gribetz cannot redo the past, but his brilliant study of their mutual understanding gives us new language to use in this conversation going forward. An indispensable work."--Ruth R. Wisse, Harvard University

Yosef Gorny examines the attitudes of Jewish settlers and Zionist intellectual and political leaders towards the Arab population in the period when Jewish settlement began in Palestine, and shows that the ideological principles of Zionism were a decisive influence throughout the world.