Colonial Zionism and Shattering an Age Coexistence
Teach-In Session 19 - January 29, 2024
TEACHING RESOURCES
This teach-in is of great importance for those looking to understand the history of coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East as well as the emergence of the Zionist movement out of Europe as a response to European anti-semitism. Ussama Makdisi works to deconstruct myths surrounding an 'age-old' conflict between Muslims and Jews or Muslims and Christians by discussing the shared identities and age of coexistence in which they operated historically. The subsequent interference and impact of Zionism as a European movement, colonial and oppressive at its core as evidenced by the writings of its founders, is further explored with critical emphasis on the role that the British Mandate in Palestine plays in privileging Zionists over the native Palestinian population.
Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California Berkeley. He was previously Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Professor Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of History. In 2012-2013, Makdisi was an invited Resident Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin). In April 2009, the Carnegie Corporation named Makdisi a 2009 Carnegie Scholar as part of its effort to promote original scholarship regarding Muslim societies and communities, both in the United States and abroad. Makdisi was awarded the Berlin Prize and spent the Spring 2018 semester as a Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin. Professor Makdisi’s most recent book Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World was published in 2019 by the University of California Press.
Makdisi is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies.
Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Among his major articles are “Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of Brief History” which appeared in the Journal of American History and “Ottoman Orientalism” and “Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism, and Evangelical Modernity” both of which appeared in the American Historical Review. Professor Makdisi has also published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and in the Middle East Report.
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
Makdisi is also the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 (Public Affairs, 2010). His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Cornell University Press, 2008), which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies.
Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (University of California Press, 2000) and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa (Indiana University Press, 2006). He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Among his major articles are “Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of Brief History” which appeared in the Journal of American History and “Ottoman Orientalism” and “Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism, and Evangelical Modernity” both of which appeared in the American Historical Review. Professor Makdisi has also published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and in the Middle East Report.
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
FULL TEACH-IN
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CONTENTS
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"Unlike every other state that's created by the British or the French in the Middle East... only in Palestine, the one place where the native population wasn't even referred to as important, they were just there as bodies who were in the way of what the British said was the mission of the mandate which was to create a Jewish national home in other words to privilege European Zionists and to subordinate the native population, the Palestinians, to Zionism." - Ussama Makdisi
TEACHING GUIDE
"The Conventional Image of the Arab World & alternative history of coexistence" challenges the stereotypical view of the Arab world as inherently sectarian and violent, offering instead a narrative of historical coexistence and pluralism among various religious and ethnic groups including Muslims, Christians, and Jews. "From Empire of Subjects to an Empire of Citizens" explores the transformation within the Ottoman Empire that takes place during the 19th century whereby the concept of equal citizenship for Christians, Muslims, and Jews though not without contradictions and certain tensions. "Ecumenical Frame: Beginnings after 1860" Makdisi introduces the concept of the "ecumenical frame" which seeks to explain of a complex system of coexistence in which the works of individuals such as Butrus Al Bustani are of great importance. "Zionism: A European Idea" delves into the origins of the Zionist movement as one that emerges not from Jewish populations indigenous to the Middle East but rather in Europe as an answer to European anti-semitism while being eliminatory of the native Palestinian population at its core, as reflected by the works of Theodor Herzl and others. "The Shattering of the Ecumenical Frame in Palestine" examines the establishment of the British Mandate in Palestine following the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the impact of the Balfour Declaration along with subsequent policies that sought to privilege the Jewish population considerably over the Palestinian one, making the latter subservient to Zionist institutions.
- Examine the stereotype of the Middle East as inherently sectarian, violent, and hostile to coexistence. How does this view contrast with historical evidence presented by Makdisi and others? Analyze the origins of this stereotype and its impact on contemporary media and policies in the context of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
- Critically analyze the role of the British Mandate in Palestine in exacerbating tensions between Jewish and Arab communities. How did discriminatory British policies and economic development, particularly regarding immigration and land ownership, contribute to the breakdown of coexistence?
- Examine the British government's contradictory promises to Arab and Jewish populations during and after World War I (e.g., the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence and the Balfour Declaration). How did these conflicting commitments set the stage for future conflict? How does this work to contradict claims that circumstances surrounding Palestine/Israel are rooted in historic Jewish-Muslim conflict as opposed to colonial ambitions?
- Analyze the factors that contributed to or hindered coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Ottoman Empire. Consider social, economic, legal, and cultural elements as well as both the strengths and limitations of this coexistence model, and evaluate how it evolved over time between the 15th - 19th centuries.
1. Interactive Timeline of Coexistence and Conflict: Students can create an interactive digital timeline that traces key events and periods of coexistence and conflict within the Arab world with emphasis on Palestine. Each group may focus on a specific era or significant event, such as the Ottoman Empire's policies on citizenship, the impact of the Balfour Declaration, or the evolution of Zionist policies regarding ownership under the British mandate. A variety of primary sources, scholarly articles, and historical documents should be used to populate the timeline. The final product may be an online, interactive timeline that includes detailed descriptions, images, and links to primary sources to explain the significance of the events examined and how they contribute to the broader narrative of coexistence while challenging stereotypes of age-old hostility between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
2. Deconstructing Middle East Stereotypes Media Campaign: Students may create a social media campaign or presentation challenging stereotypes about Arabs and the Middle East with emphasis on Oriental views and harmful depictions as communities who are inherently violent and cannot coexist with others. They may produce short videos, infographics, and blog posts highlighting historical and current examples of coexistence and analyzing the origins of these stereotypes and how they appear in today's media. The project should include a critical reflection on the importance of countering deeply ingrained narratives.
2. Deconstructing Middle East Stereotypes Media Campaign: Students may create a social media campaign or presentation challenging stereotypes about Arabs and the Middle East with emphasis on Oriental views and harmful depictions as communities who are inherently violent and cannot coexist with others. They may produce short videos, infographics, and blog posts highlighting historical and current examples of coexistence and analyzing the origins of these stereotypes and how they appear in today's media. The project should include a critical reflection on the importance of countering deeply ingrained narratives.
SEGMENTS
The Conventional Image of the Arab World & alternative history of coexistenceWhat is the basis for harmful stereotypes that paint the Arab world as inherently sectarian? Why is it important that the historic coexistence within the Arab world thus be examined? Makdisi offers a brief introduction.
Coexistence in the age of GenocideWhat impact do expanding ethno-religious/national projects in surrounding states have on coexistence within the Ottoman Empire? Makdisi discusses countries such as Greece, Serbia, as well as the Armenian genocide.
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From Empire of Subjects to an Empire of CitizensLearn about the 19th century transformation the Ottoman Empire witnesses in its formation of a new concept of equal citizenship for Christians, Muslims, and Jews, though not without contradictions and certain tensions.
Zionism: A European IdeaMakdisi offers a critical explanation of the origins of Zionism as a European idea, emerging not from the Jewish community indigenous to the Middle East. Our speaker further highlights the writings of Zionist thinkers that illustrate the colonial settler nature of the movement.
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Ecumenical Frame: Beginnings after 1860What is the "ecumenical frame" that Makdisi terms in his discussion of coexistence and how is it useful in understanding Muslim, Christian, and Jewish coexistence in the Middle East? Watch to learn more.
The Shattering of the Ecumenical Frame in PalestineHow can we understand the shattering of the ecumenical frame following the destruction of the Ottoman Empire after WW1 and the establishment of the British and French mandates across the Middle East? Our speaker provides a critical explanation citing key historical events.
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SOUNDBITES
On Conventional Images of Middle East |
The Role of the British Mandate in Fulfilling the Zionist Project |
On Theodor Herzl's Eliminatory Zionist Ambitions |
Document of Signifcance: The Balfour Declaration (1917)
