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Geopolitics and Cartography in the “Arab Homeland”
Abstract
During the pan-Arab movement of mid-twentieth century, governments across the Arab world funded mapping projects that cartographically constructed a geographical entity called the “Arab Homeland” (al-watan al-arabe). I argue that the creation of this territory was not random or unintentional, but an important part of a larger pan-Arab discourse that sought to assert Arab control and unity across a large-scale geographic area that included the state that most non-Arab governments recognize as Israel. Maps of the Arab Homeland are ubiquitous across the Arab world, and though these maps vary slightly depending on where and when the map was produced, several consistent themes and messages are embedded in these maps regardless of their place or time of production. Informed by a critical cartographic perspective that stresses how maps work to create places and place-specific identities, instead of merely reflecting or representing some geographic reality, I analyzed official state cartographic discourses of the Arab Homeland from a broad sample of school and general reference atlases published in nine different Arab states during the height of the pan-Arab movement in the mid-twentieth century. Focusing specifically on borders and place names, my analysis highlights the politics and fluidity of mapping the Arab Homeland as well as the geopolitics of the Arab-Israel conflict. Perhaps unsurprisingly, my examination shows that all maps of the Arab Homeland use the place names Palestine (philistine) and al-Quds instead of the more Judeo-Christian place names of Israel and Jerusalem. Likewise, the borders of the Arab Homeland usually show Palestine as a united and contiguous entity that includes the territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. However, there are also notable differences in how some maps depict the Arab Homeland. For example, a few maps include the West Bank or all of Palestine as part of Jordan. I conclude that the Arab Homeland was constructed greatly in reaction to the establishment and growth of Israel, but I also propose that these maps demonstrate that geography had an important role in the pan-Arab movement of the mid-twentieth century and thus, there is a need for scholars to further examine the role of geography and territory in the pan-Arab movement.
Discipline
Geography
Geographic Area
Arab States
Sub Area
Arab-Israeli Conflict