DOCSLIB.ORG

The Orthodox Church and Its Palestinian-Christian Identity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Orthodox Church and Its Palestinian-Christian Identity Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 63(1-2), 255-276. doi: 10.2143/JECS.63.1.2149622 © 2011 by Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. All rights reserved. THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ITS PALESTINIAN-CHRISTIAN IDENTITY LEONARD MARSH* A. THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ITS HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SETTING IN JERUSALEM AND PALESTINE: A BRIEF SURVEY The unity of the earliest Christian community in the Holy Land had, by the first Muslim conquest of Palestine in 638 CE, been undermined by the Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries.1 Despite these divisions, and a growing estrangement between the Latin West and the Greek East, as well as ‘Oriental’ Christianity, there had been until the onset of the Crusader period reasonably good relations among these groups. The early Islamic period saw an important cultural development, with Christians beginning to pray in Arabic, the language of their rulers. All kinds of Chris- tian literature were translated into Arabic, including the Bible, liturgical texts, patristic texts, and other ecclesiastical works.2 The fall of Jerusalem, followed by the development of the Latin Crusader kingdoms, meant greater alienation among Greek and Latin traditions within the Church. From Sala- din’s capture of Jerusalem, until its Ottoman absorption, the city was gov- erned by the Ayyubids and Mamluks from Egypt. The prominent position * Leonard Marsh is an Anglican priest in a London parish. He has a specialist interest in the contemporary theological and political movements within the Palestinian Christian community in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He read History and Theology at the Uni- versity of Hull. After training for ordination he undertook postgraduate research and study at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published many articles on Palestinian Christianity. 1 Francis E. Peters, Jerusalem, The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times (Princeton NJ, 1985). 2 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society, c. 1800- 1948’, in Palestinian Christians: Religion, Politics and Society in the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (London, 1999), pp. 9-95, p. 11. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225555 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 256 LEONARD MARSH of the Latin Church weakened, and there developed the struggle between the Latin and Orthodox Churches for the control of the Holy Places, which remains such a pronounced factor in the consciousness of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Land. After the fourteenth century, many different com- munities organised themselves in the Holy Places: Latins, Greeks, Armeni- ans, Georgians, Syrians, Nubians, Copts, Ethiopians, and Maronites. How- ever, struggle over these sites mainly involved the Armenians, the Greek Orthodox, and the Latins, since the others were too poor to be significant players.3 1. Under Ottoman Rule The Ottoman victory at Constantinople in 1455 and the capture of Jerusa- lem in 1517 increased the influence of the Orthodox Church. The Armeni- ans and the Orthodox were recognised as millets, or communities, whereas Latins were supported by powers with which the Ottomans were in conflict.4 Although Christian communities of different traditions existed, only Ortho- dox and Latin millets, along with Armenians and Ethiopians, had significant standing before the nineteenth century. Extraordinary challenges in the nineteenth century meant that the Otto- man administration strengthened its provincial (Sanjak) organisation, lead- ing to the Sanjaks of Jerusalem and Gaza realising greater importance.5 The Christian world also showed a growing interest in the Holy Land, from Ethiopia, the Americas, Russia, Germany and Britain. Russian involvement with the Orthodox grew alongside French influence among the Latin, East- ern and Oriental Catholic communities.6 The emerging pattern of the San- jak framework owed a great deal to the importance of Jerusalem and the 3 Ibid, p. 15. 4 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘The Religious, Political and Social Status of Christian Communi- ties in Palestine’, in The Christian Heritage in the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (London, 1995), pp. 237-256; id., ‘Les chrétiens palestiniens: Politique, droit et sociéte, 1917-1948’, in De Balfour à Ben Gourion – La France, L’Europe occidentale et la Palestine, 1917-1948, eds. Dominique Trimbur & Ran Aaronsohn (Paris, 2008), pp. 357-406. 5 Ibid, p. 245. 6 Sotiris Roussos, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and Community of Jerusalem. Church, State and Identity’, in The Christian Communities of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, ed. A. O’Mahony (Cardiff, 2003), pp. 38-56. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225656 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ITS PALESTINIAN-CHRISTIAN IDENTITY 257 Holy Land to Christians in general, but its institutional expression should be noted. The jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate had existed since Roman times and covered Western and Eastern Palestine.7 As the Ottoman Empire declined, new influences were brought to bear in the Middle East. Russia increasingly displayed ambitions to become a new focus for Orthodoxy. This was part of a larger vision, seeing themselves as a ‘third Rome’, and from 1843 Russian influence became more obvious. This was demonstrated particularly through the organisation known as The Impe- rial Palestine Society, with its activities in education and welfare among the Arab Orthodox.8 2. The British Mandate in Palestine (1917-1948) Up until the First World War, two Empires, the Ottoman and Russian, sustained Eastern Orthodoxy, and Orthodoxy was part of the fabric of these states.9 The mandate administrations of Britain and France, the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following the Armistice of Mudros (30 October, 1919), greatly affected the Christian com- munities. Instead of dealing with a single Islamic authority, Britain and France had to confront different political realities. Alongside this develop- ment, the emerging Arab nationalism in the region complicated Christian loyalties, since it cut across ecclesial identities.10 The British mandate policy towards the religious communities under their jurisdiction continued the Ottoman policy of autonomous rights. A 1922 census, the first undertaken in Palestine, and designed to test the relative numerical strength of different communities as the basis for proportional 7 O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 23. 8 Anthony O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian-Arab Orthodox Christians: Religion, Politics and Church-State Relations in Jerusalem, 1908-1925’, Chronos, 3 (2000), pp. 61-91 p. 27. See also D. Tsimhoni, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Jerusalem during the Formative Years of the British Mandate in Palestine’, Asian and African Studies, 12 (1978), pp. 77-122; Helen Bryer ‘Arab Orthodox Christians of Jerusalem and Palestine in the Inter-war Period: A Study in Religious and Political Identity and Church-State Relations’, in Christianity in the Middle East: Studies in Modern History, Theology and Politics, ed. A. O’Mahony (Lon- don, 2004), pp. 232-262; Laura Robson, Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine (Austin, 2011). 9 O’Mahony, ‘Palestinian Christians’, p. 27. 10 Ibid, p. 28. 995069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd5069_JECS_2011_1-2_13_Marsh.indd 225757 227/02/127/02/12 110:580:58 258 LEONARD MARSH representation for a proposed legislative council, revealed significant findings. Christians comprised 9.6% of the total population. According to this census, the Christian community was strongly urban (76%). The largest Christian community in the British mandate census was Greek-Arab Orthodox. How- ever, it declined in proportion to the general Christian population from 45.7% (39,727) in 1922 to 43.5% (33,369) in 1931.11 Since the middle of the nineteenth century the Palestinian Christian com- munity had been in a process of continual change and fragmentation. Con- flict within the Greek-Orthodox community, between the Greek hierarchy and the Arab Orthodox, concurrent with increased institutional commit- ment among other Christian churches, finally led to Arab Orthodox affilia- tion with Latin, Eastern Catholic and Protestant forms of the Church. Further difficulties for the Greek Orthodox patriarchate during the British mandate period were created by the refusal of the British authorities to allow financial help for the Greek patriarchate from Greek government sources. Serious difficulties for the patriarchate were soon to follow, including the loss of revenue from Romania and Bessarabia owing to the upheavals of the First World War. The Greek patriarchate sought to deal with these financial difficulties by selling land, notably land in and around Jerusalem, to Zionist land agen- cies.12 A British commission of enquiry rejected Greek interference but urged consideration to be given to the interests of the Arab Orthodox community. The Greek clergy continued to control the patriarchate and manage its prop- erty and income. The British continued to support Orthodox interests, wish- ing to maintain the arrangements for the Holy Places that had existed under Ottoman rule known as the ‘status quo,’ until a permanent solution could be agreed upon.13 11 J.B. Barron, Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 (Jerusalem, 1923). 12 Roussos, ‘The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate’, p. 46. See also Sotiris Roussos, ‘Patriarchs, Notables and Diplomats: The
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Prayer Practices Among Palestinian Christians in Occupied Palestinian Territory
    MARI PARKKINEN Prayer practices among Palestinian Christians in Occupied Palestinian Territory rab Palestinian Christians face many challenges 31–3) and adjustment to mortal illness or near-death living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; life situations (Phelps et al. 2009: 1145–6; Fry 1990: Arestrictions of movement, a poor employment 746–7). However, the effects of religion or prayer in situation and rising emigration. According to previous coping are not always positive. Research reports sug- research, religion and prayer provide strength and hope gest that for example for those with mental health in the midst of the ongoing conflict. This research has issues religious forms of coping may not be optimal used qualitative methods and the data was collected (Bryan et al. 2016: 50–1; Strawbridge et al. 1998: in the occupied Palestinian Territory in February–April 122–3). Negative correlations of religious coping and November 2017. Thirty-five participants were have also been reported in relation to the death of a interviewed about their practice of prayer. The inter- friend (Park and Cohen 1993: 572–4). views were semi-structured. The aim of this paper is to Coping in the midst of the Israel–Palestine con- examine how prayer is utilised among the Palestinian flict has been studied comprehensively. In the field Christians to cope in stressful life situations and how of psychology and health research, the research has prayer types are utilised across generations. Content been focused on the effects of exposure to violence analysis revealed four prayer types: petitionary, ritual- and war-related environments. The results indicate istic, meditative and thanksgiving.
    [Show full text]
  • The Latins of Cyprus Published by the Research, Studies and Publications Service of the House of Representatives, Republic of Cyprus
    The Latins of Cyprus Published by the Research, Studies and Publications Service of the House of Representatives, Republic of Cyprus Coordination and supervision Georgia Andronikou, Service Director Anthi Tofari, Senior Ofcer for Research, Studies and Publications Research and texts Natassa Haralambous Andreas Papayiannis Sofa Papadopoulou Marianna Moyseos Elena Makrygiorgie Editing Natassa Haralambous Andreas Papayiannis Sofa Papadopoulou Translation Anastasia Korae Design Athena Sheittani Printing Government Printing Ofce ISBN 978-9963-39-084-4 (print) ISBN 978-9963-39-087-8 (ebook) © House of Representatives, Nicosia, November 2020 Javal Nechrou Avenue, 1402 Nicosia, Cyprus telephone: +357 22407315, fax: +357 22407290 [email protected], www.parliament.cy Table of contents Preface 7 Message by the Representative of the Latin religious group 9 Publisher’s note 11 Name and origin 13 The settlement and the frst years of the Latin Church in Cyprus 14 The Latin Church in Cyprus during the Frankish Rule and the Venetian Rule 15 The Latin Church in Cyprus during the Turkish Rule 19 The Latin Church in Cyprus during the British Rule 20 The Latin Church in Cyprus from Independence to date 21 Latin infuences on the Orthodox church architecture 22 Walls and fortresses during the period of the Frankish Rule and the Venetian Rule 25 Music 29 The assizes of the kingdom of Jerusalem and Cyprus 30 Infuences on Literature 31 Efect of the Latins on the Cypriot dialect 33 Toponyms related to the times of the Frankish Rule and the Venetian Rule 34 The
    [Show full text]
  • Nr. XI M E S Sag E from the Grand Master
    Città del u N e Nr. XI Vaticano J 2008 News Letter ORDO EQUESTRIS SANCTI SEPULCRI HIEROSOLYMITANI MESSAGE FROM THE message GRAND MASTER II from the PastoraL LETTER from HIS BeatITUDE GrAND MASTer PatrIARCH MICHEL Sabbah LatIN PatrIARCH OF JERUSALEM III n January 2008, I had the privilege of returning to the Holy Land after an absence of thirty years. 2008 ProjeCTS I FInanCED The changes I observed were both disheartening BY THE EQUESTRIAN and encouraging. ORDER OF HOLY SEPULCHRE OF JERUSALEM The disheartening changes included the terrible X wall, still under construction, which divides Israel from the West Bank and which is a vivid reminder of occupation and indeed of distrust; a second chan- ge was the shrinking number of Christians in the Holy Land as too many continue to leave the land where their ancestors have lived since the time of Jesus for greater economic, political and professio- IMPRESSUM nal opportunity elsewhere; a third change was the GRAND MAGISTERIUM OF THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER evidence of growing Islamic and sometimes anti- OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF Christian fundamentalism. JERUSALEM ➣ 00120 Vatican City II News Letter NR. XI · JUNE 2008 MESSAGE FROM the graND MASTER The encouraging changes I observed included the continued strengthe- ning of Christian institutions, especially schools, which serve all members of the community, not just Catholics; the increasing spirit of ecumenical cooperation among the Christian churches; the untiring efforts at inter- religious understanding and cooperation. I was profoundly impressed by the marvelous work done by His Beatitude Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, who will be retiring this year from administrative responsibility but not from his outstanding priestly work, and by the obvious spirit of service and dedication of his coadjutor and designated successor Archbishop Fouad Twal.
    [Show full text]
  • Jesus Christ Liberator Then and Now
    Jesus Christ Liberator Then And Now Facing The Legacy Of Injustice The 10th International SabeelConference March 7-13, 2017 120 Years marking the First Zionist Conference 100 Years marking the Balfour Declaration 70 Years marking the Partition Plan 50 Years of occupation 30 Years marking the first Intifada 10 Years of PalestinianDivisions 2017, A Year of Jubilee PB 1 Bethlehem Monday March 6th Recommended day of arrivals 2:00 pm Check-in & Registration 6:00 – 9:00 pm Dinner at hotel (3rd floor dining room) Bethlehem Bethlehem Hotel Tuesday, March 7th– Bethlehem 6:00 am Checkpoint experience visit with EAPPI 5:30-9:00 am Breakfast (3rd floor dining room) International Sabeel Conference Sabeel International th 8:00 am Optional sightseeing tours in Bethlehem (Political and Religious) 11:00 am OCHA briefing on the Humanitarian Situation in the West Bank and Gaza. Speaker: Catharine Cook (2nd floor conference room) The 10 12:15 pm Lunch at Bethlehem Hotel 1:30 pm Depart hotel to Church of St. Catherine’s for worship 2:00 pm Opening Worship at Church of St. Catherine’s Sermon: Rev. Naim Ateek 3:00 pm Depart for Bethlehem Hotel 3:15 pm Welcome – Vera Baboun, Mayor of Bethlehem 3:30 pm The Background and Resulting Impact of the Balfour Declaration 1) Mary Grey: The Theological Underpinnings of the Balfour Declaration 2) Peter Shambrook: The Historical and Political Context that Produced the Declaration 3) Leslie Orr: The Practical Steps Necessary to Address Balfour’s Legacy Today 4:30 pm Coffee break 5:00 pm Q&A 5:30 pm The Balfour Declaration
    [Show full text]
  • Lebanese Christian Nationalism: a Theoretical Analyses of a National Movement
    1 Lebanese Christian nationalism: A theoretical analyses of a national movement A Masters Thesis Presented by Penelope Zogheib To the faculty of the department of Political Science at Northeastern University In partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Northeastern University Boston, MA December, 2013 2 Lebanese Christian nationalism: A theoretical analyses of a national movement by Penelope Zogheib ABSTRACT OF THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University December, 2013 3 ABSTRACT OF THESIS This thesis examines the distinctiveness of Lebanese Christian identity, and the creation of two interconnected narratives pre and during the civil war: the secular that rejects Arab nationalism and embraces the Phoenician origins of the Lebanese, and the marriage of the concepts of dying and fighting for the sacred land and faith. This study portrays the Lebanese Christian national movement as a social movement with a national agenda struggling to disseminate its conception of the identity of a country within very diverse and hostile societal settings. I concentrate on the creation process by the ethnic entrepreneurs and their construction of the self-image of the Lebanese Christian and the perception of the "other" in the Arab world. I study the rhetoric of the Christian intelligentsia through an examination of their writings and speeches before, during and after the civil war, and the evolution of that rhetoric along the periods of peace and war. I look at how the image of “us” vs.
    [Show full text]
  • Why the Eastern Christians Are Fleeing the Middle East?
    International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 4, No. 10(1); August 2014 Why the Eastern Christians are fleeing the Middle East? Shak Bernard Hanish, PhD Associate Professor Lead faculty for Political Science National University 11255 North Torrey Pines Road La Jolla, CA 92037 USA Abstract Christians in the Middle East are facing critical conditions due to several factors. Large numbers of them are fleeing the area in search for safety and stability. Although they belong to different sects, they are simply called Eastern Christians. The paper discusses the current situation of the Eastern Christians in the Middle East, due to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism in the region, especially with the phenomenon of “the Arab Spring” and the events the followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In my paper, I will discuss the phenomenon of Christians fleeing the region especially in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt where a large number of them are forced to leave their land of origin. They are becoming a target of extremism and they fear Islamists taking over some governments in the region. I will discuss the reasons behind such exile, who force them to leave, who facilitate their migration, and what are the implications of such an escape on Christianity in the East and the culture that survived nearly two thousand years. I will present possible solutions to the problem to keep Christians of the East in the region to save their culture and pluralism. Keywords: The Middle East, Eastern Christians, Islamic Fundamentalism, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt Introduction Christians in the Middle East are facing critical circumstances due to several factors.
    [Show full text]
  • Palestinian Christians and the Old Testament
    1 The Elements of Palestinian Christian Hermeneutics of the Old Testament The reader will at once recognize the inherent complexity of the title, “Palestinian Christian Hermeneutics of the Old Testament.” It contains at least four aspects. The first, and the foundation of the present discussion, is the question of hermeneutics, or as more generally described, the “art of understanding.”1 The second facet of the title qualifies the task of hermeneutics and limits its scope to the understanding of a given text, namely, in this case, one in the Old Testament. This is further qualified by the interpretation of the Old Testament from a Christian perspective, and if that were not multi- faceted enough, the Christian hermeneutics of the Old Testament under consideration here is modified by yet another factor, namely, 1. Hermeneutics can have two dimensions. “Used in a narrower sense, hermeneutics can refer to the method and techniques used to interpret a text. In a wider sense, it can refer to the conditions which make understanding possible and even to the process of understanding as a whole.” Bernard C. Lategan, “Hermeneutics,” 3: 149. ABD 3 PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS AND THE OLD TESTAMENT a class of individuals and communities commonly identified as “Arab Christians” who live in Israel and Palestine. As the title states, this chapter examines Palestinian Christian hermeneutics of the Old Testament (PCHOT). Each of the aforementioned components has a significant bearing on PCHOT and thereby warrants a brief explanation. As intimated above, hermeneutics
    [Show full text]
  • What Native Christians in the Middle East Continue to Face: Why It Matters for Both the Caring and the Unconcerned
    What Native Christians in the Middle East Continue to Face: Why it Matters for Both the Caring and the Unconcerned By Habib C. Malik [The annual Earl A. Pope Guest Lecture in World Christianity, delivered at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at 7:00 pm.] There have been Christians and Christian communities living in the Middle East since the dawn of Christianity. After the better part of twenty centuries in and around the Land of the Lord’s Incarnation and Resurrection, however, the presence of these native Christians is threatened with nothing less than termination. What exists today of these communities are the few tenacious remnants scattered throughout the Levant, Iraq, and Egypt of the earlier far larger and more geographically prevalent ones that have steadily dwindled over time due to sustained stresses and pressures brought on historically for the most part from the encounter with Islam. Today, in the early 21st century, the rise of militant and violent Islamism combined with a pervading apathy in the wider world as to the plight of these beleaguered Christian communities threaten to hasten the final demise of Christianity in and around its original birthplace. The bleak future for Christians native to the Middle East, I submit to you tonight, relates organically to the state of Christians and Christianity in today’s largely post-Christian secular Europe, and in the West as a whole. Many will dismiss this alleged connection out of hand, but it continues to impose itself thunderously in the face of all such denial and disinterest.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernard Sabella, Bethlehem University, Palestine COMPARING PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS on SOCIETY and POLITICS: CONTEXT and RELIGION
    Bernard Sabella, Bethlehem University, Palestine COMPARING PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS: CONTEXT AND RELIGION IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE Palestinian Christians, both in the Palestinian Territories (Palestine) and in Israel, number close to 180,000 altogether. Close to 50,000 of them live in the Palestinian Territories while roughly 130,000 live in Israel. In both cases, Christian Palestinians make up less than 2 percent of the overall population. In Israel, Christians make up 11% of the Arab population of over one million while in Palestine the Christians make up less than two percent (1.7%) of the entire population of three million. (1). In 1995 a survey of a national sample of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza on attitudes to society, politics and economics was conducted. It included surveying a group of 340 Christians from different localities in the West Bank and Gaza. (2). This survey provided a basis for comparing attitudes of Christians to those of their Muslim compatriots. In March 2000, a survey was conducted for the purpose of comparing the attitudes of Palestinian Christians in both Palestine and Israel. The same questionnaire was used, except for some modifications, in both the 1995 and 2000 surveys. (3). While the two surveys do not add up to a longitudinal study they, nevertheless, provide a basis to compare between two samples of Palestinian Christians in Palestine in 1995 and 2000 and between Palestinian Christians in Palestine and Israel for the year 2000. The responses of Muslim Palestinians in the 1995 survey also provide an opportunity to compare their responses with those of Christians in Israel and Palestine.
    [Show full text]
  • Kairos Palestine Study Guide
    four-week congregational study plan KAIROS PALESTINE a moment of truth faith, hope, and love— a confession of faith and call to action from Palestinian Christians 1 Mennonite Central Committee | Matthew Lester Mennonite Central Committee worker Ed Nyce talked with Abdul J’wad Jabar, whose farm bordered an Israeli settlement in the valley of Bequa’a, Palestine, in 2001. MCC’s partner organizations in Palestine and Israel identified information-sharing as MCC’s most helpful contribution toward peace. CONTENTS SECTION 1 ...............................................................................1 What is the Kairos Palestine document and why should we study it? SECTION 2 ...............................................................................4 The reality on the ground—background facts and maps SECTION 3 ...............................................................................9 A four-week lesson plan outline for congregational study SECTION 4 ............................................................................. 14 Brief history of Mennonite involvement in Palestine-Israel SECTION 5 ............................................................................. 16 The text of the Kairos document © 2016 Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Mennonite Palestine Israel Network (MennoPIN) ISBN 978-1-5138-0108-7 2 four-week congregational study plan KAIROS PALESTINE a moment of truth INTRODUCTION Kairos Palestine is the Christian Palestinian’s word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. Its importance stems from the sincere expression of Palestinian Christian concerns for their people and their view of the moment of history they are living through. It is deeply committed to Jesus’ way of love and nonviolence even in the face of entrenched injustice. It seeks to be prophetic in addressing things as they are, without equivocation. It is a contemporary, ecumenical confession of faith and call to action.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Radboud Repository PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/156224 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2019-12-04 and may be subject to change. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies ISSN: 1353-0194 (Print) 1469-3542 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cbjm20 The Language of the Nation: The Rise of Arabic among Jews and Christians (1900–1950) Heleen Murre-van den Berg To cite this article: Heleen Murre-van den Berg (2016) The Language of the Nation: The Rise of Arabic among Jews and Christians (1900–1950), British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 43:2, 176-190, DOI: 10.1080/13530194.2016.1138641 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2016.1138641 © 2016 The Author(s). Published by British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Published online: 25 Jan 2016. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1247 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cbjm20 BRITISH JOURNAL OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, 2016 VOL. 43, NO. 2, 176–190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2016.1138641 OPEN ACCESS The Language of the Nation: The Rise of Arabic among Jews and Christians (1900–1950) Heleen Murre-van den Berg Institute for Eastern Christian Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ABSTRACT This essay explores the ways in which in the period following the First World War, non-Muslim communities participated in the establishment of Modern Standard Arabic as the foremost symbol of the new states that replaced the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Owen Harris Hellenes and Arabs at Home and Abroad Greek
    Hellenes and Arabs at Home and Abroad: Greek Orthodox Christians from Aleppo in Athens Owen Harris A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Studies University of Washington 2021 Committee: Kathie Friedman Mary Kay Gugerty Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies ©Copyright 2021 Owen Harris University of Washington Abstract Hellenes and Arabs at Home and Abroad: Greek Orthodox Christians from Aleppo in Athens Owen Harris Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Kathie Friedman Jackson School of International Studies Abstract: In this thesis, I show how communities living together in relative equality in Aleppo, Syria, and fleeing the same conflict, experienced very different outcomes depending on which religious community they belonged to. Members of the Greek Orthodox Christian community from Aleppo who have moved to Athens reported that their new home is exactly the same as the community they left behind. Members of the Muslim community from Aleppo in Athens did not agree with this statement. Why do Greek Orthodox Christians fare so much better than their Muslim compatriots in Greece? I argue that this inequality is a result of opportunities and challenges created by policies instituted during the great unmixing of peoples in the early 20th century and the refugee crisis in the early 21st century. Greek Orthodox Christians are equal citizens in a secular Arab republic that values ecumenism and members of the Greek diaspora in a Hellenic republic that privileges Greek ethno-religious belonging. They are Arab Hellenes, equally Greek and Syrian. Drawing on data collected in interviews with members of the Greek Orthodox Syrian community in Greece, as well as Syrians of different faiths in other countries, I examine what went right for Greek Orthodox Syrians in Athens and suggest policy tools that government and civil society can use to create similar conditions for Muslim Syrians in Greece.
    [Show full text]