Christians in British Mandate Palestine (1917-1948) comprised a significant minority of the Arab population, but it is commonly assumed that they were junior partners in the Palestinian nationalist movement, or perhaps even wary of the movement altogether. The period was tense, and Arab Christians did struggle to define their community in the face of Zionist immigration, British colonial policies, and the rise of both regional pan-Islamic ideologies and Palestinian nationalism. This book focuses on the relationship between Arab Christians and the nationalist movement as the British Mandate unf ... More

Christians in British Mandate Palestine (1917-1948) comprised a significant minority of the Arab population, but it is commonly assumed that they were junior partners in the Palestinian nationalist movement, or perhaps even wary of the movement altogether. The period was tense, and Arab Christians did struggle to define their community in the face of Zionist immigration, British colonial policies, and the rise of both regional pan-Islamic ideologies and Palestinian nationalism. This book focuses on the relationship between Arab Christians and the nationalist movement as the British Mandate unfolded throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It also looks at the nature of interreligious religious relations between Christians and Muslims. The book uses major events of the period as a lens through which to examine Christian efforts to define their place in Palestinian society while being conscious of variations (denominational, socioeconomic and geographical, for instance) and debates within the diverse Arab Christian community. Despite such variations, trends among individual Christian behaviours and beliefs, as well as those of Christian organizations (both religious and social in nature), challenge the prevailing assumption that Arabs were prone to communalism or sectarianism. Instead, they were as likely as their Muslim compatriots to support nationalism. When social pressure led Christians to identify along communal lines, they did so in conjunction with a stronger dedication to nationalism.