Jerusalem Unplugged

Welcome back for part two of our comprehensive exploration of Zionism on Jerusalem Unplugged. In our previous episode, Arie Dubnov provided invaluable insights tracing the diverse ideological currents and forces that shaped the Zionist movement from its origins through the tumultuous events surrounding Israeli statehood in 1948.Today, we continue this illuminating discussion as Professor Dubnov analyzes the roles played by the pre-state paramilitary organizations like the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi. Their histories and divergent ideological leanings foreshadowed the fissures that emerged within the Zionist movement after 1948. From there, Professor Dubnov will guide us through the critical periods of the late 1940s following independence and the transformative 1967 Six-Day War. His nuanced perspectives shed light on how Zionist thought and praxis continuously evolved in response to changing regional realities.Finally, we'll bring the conversation into the present as Professor Dubnov examines the multifaceted manifestations and ongoing debates surrounding Zionism's place in contemporary Israeli society and the world at large.Drawing from his extensive scholarship, including his current work on the interwar ties between Zionist and British imperial thinkers, this second part promises to be a masterclass on the rich histories and reverberations of one of modern history's most influential nationalist ideologies.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first installment of a special two-part series, Jerusalem Unplugged takes a deep dive into the origins and development of Zionism leading up to the establishment of Israel in 1948. I am joined by Professor Arie Dubnov, an expert on the histories of this influential nationalist ideology.  Over the course of this thorough yet riveting episode, Professor Dubnov provides profound insights into the complex ideological currents, key figures, and pivotal moments that shaped the Zionist movement from its early beginnings through the tumultuous events surrounding Israeli statehood and Nakba. His analysis sheds light on the layered histories that gave rise to one of the most impactful nationalist movements of the modern era.This first part lays the essential groundwork for understanding Zionist thought and praxis. But the journey is far from over. In the forthcoming second episode, Professor Dubnov will pick up the thread in 1948, tracing how Zionism evolved and manifested in different forms over subsequent decades up to the present.Preparing listeners for a thought-provoking exploration, this two-part series promises to provide an illuminating episode on the multifaceted ideas, events, and ongoing impact of Zionisms. Stay tuned for part two of this comprehensive analysis.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I had the pleasure to interview Loren Lybarger, a long time resident of Palestine who devoted a few years studying the Palestinian community of Chicago which is home to one of the largest, most politically active Palestinian immigrant communities in the United States. For decades, secular nationalism held sway as the dominant political ideology, but since the 1990s its structures have weakened and Islamic institutions have gained strength. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interview data, Palestinian Chicago charts the origins of these changes and the multiple effects they have had on identity across religious, political, class, gender, and generational lines. The perspectives that emerge through this rich ethnography challenge prevailing understandings of secularity and religion, offering critical insight into current debates about immigration and national belonging. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second episode dedicated to the Balfour Declaration I have republished the presentations made by Professor Avi Shlaim and Salim Tamari at: 'The British Legacy in Palestine: Balfour and Beyond' conference held at the Palestinian National Theatre on 2 November 2017. This was a joint event from the Kenyon Institute and the Educational Bookshop, and supported by the British Council Palestine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx4-l_4iZF0&t=4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoH_0LKSxHw&t=4452sSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cherished and hated by many, the Balfour Declaration is certainly considered one of the most controversial documents in recent history. In this first episode of a series dedicated to this document, I will discuss the origins of the Declaration and offer several explanations in the attempt to understand why the British promised a Jewish National Home for the Jewish people in Palestine, when in fact the British were just crossing the Suez Canal in their efforts to defeat the Ottoman Empire.Bibliography suggested:Lorenzo Kamel, Imperial Perceptions of Palestine (IB Tauris, 2020)Gabriel Polley, Palestine in the Victorian Age (IB Tauris, 2022)Lawrence Davidson, 'The past as prelude: Zionism and the Betrayal of American Democratic Principles, 1917-1948' (2002)Jehuda Reinharz, 'Zionism in the USA on the eve of the Balfour Declaration' (1988)James Renton, The Zionist Masquerade (Palgrave, 2004)James Renton, 'Flawed Foundations: the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate' (2016)Jonathan Schneer, The Balfour Declaration: the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2010)Avi Shlaim, 'The Balfour Declaration and its Consequences' (2005)Leonard Stein, The Balfour Declaration (1961)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Country of Words: A Transnational Atlas for Palestinian Literature is a digital-born project that retraces and remaps the global story of Palestinian literature in the twentieth century, starting from the Arab world and going through Europe, North America, and Latin America. Sitting at the intersection of literary history, periodical studies, and digital humanities, Country of Words creates a digitally networked and multilocational literary history—a literary atlas enhanced. The virtual realm acts as the meeting place for the data and narrative fragments of this literature-in-motion, bringing together porous, interrupted, disconnected, and discontinuous fragments into an elastic, interconnected, and entangled literary history.Country of Words taps into the power of Palestinian literature to defy conventional linear, chronological, and artificial national frames of representation. Despite the fact that an unprecedented number of the world's population live as refugees, exiles, or stateless people, the logic of the nation-state continues to loom large over literary studies. Delving into the decentralized and deterritorialized history of Palestinian literature, the story of an entire nation-in-exile living through repetitive cycles of occupation and in multiple diasporas can facilitate an understanding of extranational forms of literary production. Ultimately, Country of Words seeks to offer new perspectives and approaches that simultaneously include and transcend national literary frames.https://countryofwords.org/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Episodio in Italiano)In questa puntata di Jerusalem Unplugged ho il piacere di pubblicare il mio intervento insieme a quello di Maria Chiara Rioli e Arturo Marzano come relatori del seminario Palestina - Israele Dal sionismo delle origini al 1948: eventi, documenti, interpretazioni che ha avuto luogo all'universita' di Bologna Dipartimento di Storia, il 22 Gennaio 2024 organizzato da Caterina Bori con la collaborazione di Francesca Biancani e Cigdem Oguz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American Jews began debating Palestinian rights issues even before Israel’s founding in 1948. Geoffrey Levin recovers the voices of American Jews who, in the early decades of Israel’s existence, called for an honest reckoning with the moral and political plight of Palestinians. These now‑forgotten voices, which include an aid‑worker‑turned‑academic with Palestinian Sephardic roots, a former Yiddish journalist, anti‑Zionist Reform rabbis, and young left‑wing Zionist activists, felt drawn to support Palestinian rights by their understanding of Jewish history, identity, and ethics. They sometimes worked with mainstream American Jewish leaders who feared that ignoring Palestinian rights could foster antisemitism, leading them to press Israeli officials for reform. But Israeli diplomats viewed any American Jewish interest in Palestinian affairs with deep suspicion, provoking a series of quiet confrontations that ultimately kept Palestinian rights off the American Jewish agenda up to the present era.   In reconstructing this hidden history, Levin lays the groundwork for more forthright debates over Palestinian rights issues, American Jewish identity, and the U.S.‑Israel relationship more broadly. We also discussed American Jews in the post October 7 world and the question of anti-Semitism on American campuses.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an edited recast of the podcast I recorded with Oliver Webb-Carter, founder of Aspects of History home - Aspects of History. After the horrific attacks of 7th October our editor discussed the long running Israel Palestine conflict with historian and author Roberto Mazza. Covering the growing Zionist movement in the early 20th century, to the Balfour Declaration through to the British Mandate for Palestine, the 1948 war and the Six Day War in 1967 Roberto discusses how we got to where we are today and whether there is any prospect for peace.This is the link of the original podcast: Aspects of History - Israel Palestine with Roberto Mazza | RSS.com Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, 80 kilometres from the war in Gaza, another religious conflict is taking place. An Australian property developer, aided by a group of armed Jewish settlers, has attempted to occupy a prized piece of land in the Armenian Christian quarter. Even though a deal to build a hotel was overturned, Armenian families are threatened with eviction from homes their community has held for centuries. Bedross tells us everything we need to know about the Armenians in Jerusalem and their struggle against armed settlers. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is settler colonialism? How does this concept relate to Israel and Palestine? What about other countries? These are all great questions which I discussed in this episode with Arnon Degani. Arnon is currently a Fellow at Molad – Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, specializing in the history of Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He recently released the Hebrew podcast series "Hesket Oslo," examining the Oslo Accords, and is currently working on the English adaptation, "Still Processing." His doctoral research focused on the integration of Palestinian Arabs into Israeli society from 1948 to 1967, as revealed through daily encounters with Israeli officials, and his upcoming manuscript titled "Our Arabs" explores this topic in depth. He is contributor to the scholarly and intellectual debate on if and how the settler-colonialism comparative framework benefits the study of Israel and Palestine. We hope you will enjoy this conversation.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm thrilled to bring you a thought-provoking talk by my good friend and friend of the podcast Louis Fishman. Our conversation today delves deep into the complex dynamics of the Middle East, focusing on "Israel, Palestine, Turkey in the post-Oct. 7th reality: A Historical Look Toward the Future." The talk was given at Northwestern University of Nov. 8.There's a twist to today's presentation. After the talk, I conducted a Q&A session with Professor Fishman, and although the questions were intriguing, a technical hiccup rendered the audience questions inaudible. However, fear not! We've preserved Professor Fishman's answers for your listening pleasure, ensuring you don't miss out on his invaluable wisdom.So, stay tuned for a journey through history and geopolitics as we explore the past, present, and future of Israel, Palestine, and Turkey in the ever-shifting post-Oct. 7th reality.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the war keeps raging in Palestine, thousands have been killed, thousands are living under threat of immediate death, hundreds of hostages are still held somewhere in Gaza, the West Bank is on the brink of exploding, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are on the rise, polarized views leave no room for dialogue, I choose to publish an interview I recorded some time ago and I was hoping to upload later in the year. I choose not to look the other way, but to keep giving the listeners crumbs of the history of Palestine and all the people that live there. With my good friend Vincent Lemire we discussed his latest book which presents the history of the Mughrabi Quarter, the one you can no longer see as it was demolished right after the conquest of the Old City by Israeli troops in 1967. In this fascinating discussion we talk about the history of the quarter, its destruction and its 'resurrection' through contemporary archaeology. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dopo tante richieste personali, ho pensato di organizzare un webinar non-accadmeico dedicato alla questione israelo-palestinese e ad Hamas, un'occasione unica per esplorare il contesto storico che ha plasmato gli eventi contemporanei che hanno portato all'attacco del 7 Ottobre e la conseguente risposta di Israele. Durante questa sessione di 50 minuti, approfondiremo le origini del conflitto, i cambiamenti politici e sociali avvenuti nel corso degli anni e il ruolo chiave svolto da Hamas. Sono ansioso di condividere questa esperienza di apprendimento con voi e di esplorare insieme il contesto storico di questa complessa questione che in tanti modi diversi riguarda anche me e la mia famiglia direttamente. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We open season 5 without any celebration. The current war on Gaza, the brutal killings of civilians perpetrated by Hamas and the equally brutal response by the State of Israel carpet-bombing Gaza indiscriminately and essentially pushing Palestinians towards a second Nakba could not be a good time to celebrate 100 episodes of Jerusalem Unplugged. In this new release I talked to Noa Shaindlinger, author of an amazing book about post-Nakba Jaffa. She explores the ways in which Palestinians negotiate physical and symbolic erasures by producing their own archives and historical narratives. With a focus on the city of Jaffa and its displaced Palestinian population, Noa argues that the Israeli state ‘buried’ histories of mass expulsions and spatial appropriations. Based on a wide-variety of sources, this book brings together archival, literary, ethnographic and oral research to engage with ideas of settler colonialism and the production of history, violence and memory, refugee-hood and diaspora. Before all of this we exchanged view about current events, a possibility for Jerusalem Unplugged to clarify its position. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this fast moving conversation with Lauren Banko we discussed her first book 'The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship 1918-1947' and the question of Palestinian citizenship as a product of colonial rule, but also adopted by local Palestinians. We also discussed hew new projects like 'Medical Deportees: narrations and pathographies of health at the borders of Great Britain, Egypt, and Palestine, 1919-1949'This three year project offers new approaches to the history of 20th century medico-legal borders and puts (im)(e)migrants’ voices at its centre. These migrants include the forcibly displaced, refugees, and labour migrants from across Asia and Africa who attempted to enter Great Britain by sea, and Palestine and Egypt overland. The second project is a monograph about icit and illicit Mobility along the Borders of Palestine between 1920 and 1950. Lastly I asked Lauren a reflection on the 30 years since the Oslo accords. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Holy Land was the destination for many Muslim pilgrims during the late medieval and early modern period. In addition to worshipping on Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif, Muslim pilgrims in the Holy Land also visited important Christian holy sites, such as the Mount of Olives, the Tomb of Mary, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. With fada’il al-Quds (“Merits of Jerusalem”) pilgrimage texts serving as their guide, Muslims visited these places and joined Christian worshippers in contemplating the sacred. Fada’il al-Quds texts informed Muslim pilgrims of the blessings (fada’il) of Christian holy sites by citing Islamic traditions, such as Qur’anic verses, hadith literature, and Companions’ sayings (athar), to sanctify each Christian site and to command Muslims to perform certain Islamic prayers there. While fada’il al-Quds texts extolled Christian holy sites, they simultaneously debated whether Muslims were permitted to enter churches in the Holy Land. Despite the debate on the legality of Muslim pilgrimage to churches and protestations against the practice by some conservative ‘ulama’, the fada’il al-Quds corpus, along with travelogue literature, reveals that Muslims increasingly visited churches, shared sacred spaces, and even participated in Christian ceremonies into the Ottoman period. Fadi in this interview and his work provides a broad historical sketch of Islamic pilgrimage to Christian holy sites and demonstrates that Muslims in the Holy Land shared sacred spaces with Christians in Jerusalem for centuries before the onset of the modern era.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On September 6, 1918, twelve individuals met at the residence of the military governor of Jerusalem.1 The room was filled with tension as the governor was trying to win the confidence of those who were still skeptical and suspicious of British rule. A few months earlier, in December 1917, General Allenby had led the British troops into Jerusalem, ending Ottoman rule in the city and paving the way for greater British success in the region. As Jerusalem was now under British rule, General Allenby appointed Colonel Ronald Storrs as governor of the city. This appointment proved crucial for the development of the city in the interwar period. In the early days of British rule, Storrs was immediately involved with the delivery of supplies for the city and, in a fashion that would characterize his governorship, he placed the distribution of food and medicine in the hands of the municipality, under the supervision of the representatives of all religiouscommunities. In this episode I discuss the establishment of the Pro-Jerusalem Society in 1918, its composition, and its aims. In presenting the society’s activities, I will focus on a particular decision first proposed by the society and later adopted by the Town Planning Commission: the adoption of Jerusalem – white – stone as the only visible building material allowed. This decision changed the way the city would look and develop.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the first episode of a short series dedicated to the British Military rule of Jerusalem between 1917 and 1920 introducing the almost forgotten figure of Ronald Storrs. Following the conquest of the city, the British established military rule which lasted until 1 July 1920. From the perspective of the local population the government of the city had passed from Ottoman rule to that of a new foreign power. However, the British were not only European Christian rulers: they had also shown their support for Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine by issuing the Balfour Declaration. Although the civil administration of the city after 1920 has been studied extensively, the military administration has been reviewed as a transitional period. Indeed, military rule forced the renegotiation of several aspects of Jerusalem: politics, urban geography, language and the economy, amongst other things, were all reshaped according to the requirements and values of the new rulers. The military establishment was generally reluctant to engage with the complexities of high politics, so how did their rule affect the city of Jerusalem? To answer this question, attention should be paid to one of the key characters of the British administration: the military governor Ronald Storrs. Military rule did not create a complex structure of government in Jerusalem, but was based upon a high concentration of power in the hands of Storrs. As military governor Storrs ruled the city almost undisturbed between 1917 and 1920, de facto reshaping the city according to his sense of aesthetics and his own values.BibliographyR. Mazza. From the Ottomans to the British (IB Tauris, 2011)R. Mazza '“The Preservation and Safeguarding of the Amenities of the Holy City without Favour or Prejudice to Race or Creed”: The Pro-Jerusalem Society and Ronald Storrs, 1917–1926' Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I discussed with Gabriel Schwake his latest book Dwelling on the Green Line, looking at the question of Israeli settlements built around the Green Line separating Israel and Palestine. Concealed within the walls of settlements along the Green-Line, the border between Israel and the occupied West-Bank, is a complex history of territoriality, privatisation and multifaceted class dynamics. Since the late 1970s, the state aimed to expand the heavily populated coastal area eastwards into the occupied Palestinian territories, granting favoured groups of individuals, developers and entrepreneurs the ability to influence the formation of built space as a means to continuously develop and settle national frontiers. As these settlements developed, they became a physical manifestation of the relationship between the political interest to control space and the ability to form it. Telling a socio-political and economic story from an architectural and urban history perspective, Gabriel Schwake tells us how this production of space can be seen not only as a cultural phenomenon, but also as one that is deeply entangled with geopolitical agendas. Lastly we discussed the red roofs, today associated with the settlements in the West Bank, but with a longer and unexpected history.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/jerusalemunplugged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.