When the Zionist Idea Came to Beirut

Judaism, Christianity, and the Palestine Liberation Organization's Translation of Zionism

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8969898
AutoresJonathan Marc Gribetz (autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume48
Fascículo2
Páginas243-266
Data de publicação2016-04-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020743816000015
OpenAlexW2332106519
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas26

In 1970, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Research Center in Beirut published an Arabic translation of The Zionist Idea , an anthology of classic Zionist texts compiled originally by Arthur Hertzberg in 1959. This article compares how the two versions present the biographies and motivations of key Zionist ideologues. It suggests that, in contrast to Hertzberg, the PLO researchers tended to present Zionism, especially at its roots, as a Jewish religious movement. Attempting to discern what might lie behind this conception of Zionism, the article considers the significance of the religious backgrounds of the leadership of the PLO Research Center and of those involved in the translation project. It argues that the researchers’ concern about the status of Christians as a religious minority among Palestinians and other Arabs and certain deeply rooted Christian ideas about the nature of Judaism may help account for the particular view of Zionism that the Research Center developed in its—and in the PLO's—foundational years

Ancient history · Arabic · Christianity · Ideology · Judaism · Palestine · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Zionism · African history and culture analysis · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society · Philosophy · Religious studies