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Palestine in Algeria: The Emergence of an Arab-Islamic Question in the Interwar Period
Abstract
There is no doubt about the centrality of the Palestinian question in shaping pan-Arabism and pan-Islamism in twentieth century Arab world. Though taken for granted, this particular topic remains under-researched and in need of further elaboration to explore the ways through which the question of Palestine came to define nationalist and pan-nationalist ideologies. The literature available on the topic focuses on the Mashriq (Arab East) and mostly on post 1967. In contrast, there is lack of focus on the Maghrib (North Africa), and on the interwar period. This chapter sheds light on how Muslim reformers in interwar Algeria responded to developments in Palestine, developments that further solidified an Arab-Muslim identity as it was emerging in colonial Algeria. While the literature has mostly discussed the Messalist views on Zionism in the interwar period and its implication for Muslims and Jews in Algeria, this paper focuses on a group associated with the religious reformist movement led by the Association of Algerian Ulama. It analyzes the content in the Association's newspaper al-Shihab and in newspapers of Ibadi reformers associated with the Association. The paper argues that the question of Palestine was originally regarded by intellectuals and politicians in Algeria as one of similarly important questions in the Arab world, until 1936-9, when the Palestinian revolt shifted the question of Palestine to the centre of attention. Arabic newspapers increased reporting on the events in Palestine, on which intellectuals and political activists commented almost regularly, inserting the question of Palestine into broader narratives of nationalism and anti-colonialism in the 1930s. The Palestinian revolt came to ascertain the regional dimensions of the anti-colonial struggle and to solidify cross-border connections sharing anti-colonial platforms. It also gradually centralized Palestine in national and pan-national identities, as they were articulated in the context of anti-colonialism, and within the concepts of the ‘Muslim World’ and the ‘Arab world.’ In the case of Algeria, the two worlds overlapped and intersected, with Palestine moving gradually to occupy a central space in both. That space was the platform through which Algerians criticized colonial projects in the region and created an association with the broader anti-colonial movements. It was also the platform through which they directly and indirectly contested French colonial rule by creating regional associations based in Islam and Arabism, the tools with which Algerians resisted French colonialism.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Algeria
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries