European Cultural Diplomacy and Arab Christians in Palestine, 1918-1948

This open access book investigates the transnationally connected history of Arab Christian communities in Palestine during the British Mandate (1918-1948) through the lens of the birth of cultural diplomacy. Relying predominantly on unpublished sources, it examines the relationship between European cultural agendas and local identity formation processes and discusses the social and religious transformations of Arab Christian communities in Palestine via cultural lenses from an entangled perspective.
The 17 chapters reflect diverse research interests, from case studies of individual archives to chapters that question the concept of cultural diplomacy more generally. They illustrate the diversity of scholarship that enables a broad-based view of how cultural diplomacy functioned during the interwar period, but also the ways in which its meanings have changed. The book considers British Mandate Palestine as an internationalized node within a transnational framework to understand how the complexity of cultural interactions and agencies engaged to produce new modes of modernity.

Reframes the relationships between Jews, Muslims and Christians of Mandate Palestine, based on unexplored archival data Explores the motivations of Western and Eastern European cultural policies and their impact in this region Uncovers the diversity of Arab Christian cultural identity and nationalism

Autorentext

**Karène Sanchez Summerer is Associate Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Sary Zananiri** is Postdoctoral Fellow at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

Inhalt
Introduction - Karène Sanchez Summerer and Sary Zananiri.- Part I Turning the Tables? Arab Appropriation and Production of Cultural Diplomacy.- Introduction: Indigenising cultural diplomacy? - Sarah Irving.- Orthodox Clubs and Associations: Cultural, Educational and Religious Networks Between Palestine and Jordan, 1925-1970 - Norig Neveu.- Palestinian Translators and Intellectuals during Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine: Russian Language in the Experiences of Khalil Baydas and Najati Sidqi - Sadia Agsous.- Sound Power: Musical Diplomacy Within the Franciscan Custody in Mandate Jerusalem - Maria Chiara Rioli and Riccardo Castagnetti.- The Melkite Community, Educational Policy and French Cultural Diplomacy: Archbishop Grigorios Hajjar and Mandatory Galilee - Charbel Nassif.- Cultural Diplomacy in Mandatory Haifa: The Role of Christian Communities in the City's Cultural Transformation - Maayan Hillel.- Part II Showing and Telling: Cultural and Historical Entanglements under the Mandate.- Introduction: Arab Virtù and the Philosophy of History: Excavating, Exhibiting and Cultural Diplomacy in the Palestine Mandate - Philippe Bourmaud.- Palestinian Christians in the Mandate Department of Antiquities: Historical and Archaeological Narratives in a Colonial Space - Sarah Irving.- Between Diplomacy and Science: British Mandate Palestine and its International Network of Archaeological Organisations, 1918-1938 - Mathilde Sigalas.- Competition in the Cultural Sector: Handicrafts and the Rise of the Trade Fair in British Mandate Palestine - Nisa Ari.- Part III Influencing the Other: European Private and Governmental Actors.- Introduction: European Soft Power and Christian Cultures at the Crossroads in Mandate Palestine - Heather J. Sharkey.- Between Athens and Al Quds: The Greek Community in Late Ottoman and Mandate Jerusalem - Konstantinos Papastathis.- Russia and Orthodoxy in Palestine, 1900-1930s: Diplomacy, Institutions, Personalities - Lora Gerd.- Continuities and Discontinuities in the Austrian Catholic Orient Mission to Palestine, 19151938 - Barbara Haider-Wilson.- A Coherent Inconsistency: Italian Cultural Diplomacy in Palestine, 1918-1936 - Roberto Mazza.- The International Centre for the Protection of Catholic Interests in Palestine and the Latin Patriarchate's Cultural Diplomacy in the British Mandate Period - Paolo Maggiolini.- A Significant Swedish Outpost:The Swedish School and Arab Christians in Jerusalem, 1920-1930 - Inger Marie Okkenhaug.- French Cultural Efforts Towards Jerusalem's Arab Population in Late British Mandate Palestine - Dominique Trimbur.- Conclusion: Cultural Affiliations and Identity Constructs during the British Mandate for Palestine - Tamara van Kessel.- Epilogue: Secularist Networks, Cultural Institutions and Cultural Diplomacy in the Levantine Mandates - Idir Ouahes.