Post 6: The Heart of the Middle East
"In the Middle East, the use of a single letter -- say, an 'e' instead of an 'a' -- can be a political statement, or at the very least a declaration of identity. Take the case of Ramla -- or, al-Ramla, or Ramle, or Ramleh, or Ramlah. Present-day Israelis use 'Ramla,' which is how the road signs read in English; in classical Arabic, its 'al-Ramla'; in spoken Arabic, and throughout its history from the eighth century AD, including during the British Mandate from 1917-1948, it was 'Ramle.'" Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree
These topics, and The Lemon Tree, mark a shift in this course, a shift from focusing on the effects of people on their physical environments to an emphasis on the ways in which people carve up, extract resources from, fight over, move over, push others out of, and give meaning to the landscapes in which they live. It is, in other words, a focus on how people live in landscapes, how we give meaning to places, and how our meanings and desires are often gained with negative impact on others peoples and their lands.
The Lemon Tree is not an easy book to read, for a couple of reasons. Although its written well, the history of Palestine and Israel is deep, complicated, and contested. Tolan embraces this complexity, and I think its important for you all to understand it is as well. Some things are too important to be simplified or flattened. Complex problems have complex histories, and often complex solutions, too. That said, there are a lot of terms, places, people, and concepts that you will need to know. Tolan also has an annoying habit of introducing terms or people and then not explaining them right away. Stay focused -- he eventually does, I promise. But to help you keep track, I will post some terms and concepts that I think its important on this blog.
Also, keep track of places. There are maps in The Lemon Tree, but don't forget to use your Atlas. Of course, places are important in a geography class, but they are especially important when reading this book.
As Tolan implies in the very beginning of The Lemon Tree -- in his "Note on Spelling and Pronunciation" -- this book is first and foremost a book about a place. Palestine, Israel, the Holy Land, the Levant -- a place with many names. In this case, as Tolan points out, names matter. Before the birth of Israel in 1948, many cities, towns and geological formations were known by Arabic names, used by the Arab population. These names were adapted by the Ottomans and then, after World War I, by the British when they administered Palestine under the British Mandate. After the wars of 1947-1948 (known as the War of Independence or the Nakba, depending on your point of view), many place names were "Hebraized," that is, altered to sound more like Hebrew, the language of the state of Israel.
So what's in a name? In this case, everything. As Tolan writes, "I have decided...to use the classical Arabic 'al-Ramla' when looking at the city through Arab eyes and "Ramla" when describing the place through the Israeli experience...I tend to use the pronunciation favored by the person through whose eyes the reader is seeing at a particular moment." While leading to some confusion, I think this geographic relativism is crucial to Tolan's project. Although no book is perfect, Tolan attempts -- and is mostly successful -- to portray the story of Palestine/Israel in an objective way, even though the people he writes about certainly have their own perspectives. As a work of non-fiction, written not by an academic but a journalist, The Lemon Tree is nevertheless very well-researched (just check out the notes in the back). Most of the time, Tolan is very good about using multiple sources to give a variety of perspectives on certain issues, especially the more controversial ones.
Ultimately, Tolan is telling the story of two inter-connected families, and the house they both shared in al-Ramla/Ramla. But in the process, he is also telling a much bigger story. Some of you may know a lot about this subject, and some may know very little. Either way, I urge you all to keep the topics of the course in the mind as you read.
For this week, again, the focus is on colonialism and nationalism. Colonialism is a process whereby foreign territories are acquired and controlled for material gain or acquiring land. It has happened throughout recorded history, but the process of colonialism accelerated after Columbus' accidental "discovery" of the Americas. Nationalism, on the other hand, is often (but not only) a reaction of colonized peoples. Nationalism is a term that refers to the longing by one "nation" (an ethnic group, not politically synonymous with a "country") for self-rule. In this usage, nationalism is not simply patriotism but a particular political philosophy. States, in contrast, are bounded, self-governing territories that incorporate many "nations" and "ethnicities." By these definitions, the United States is actually a state, not a nation -- we live in a country that is formed from many ethnic, racial, and cultural groups.
Terms for Introduction-Chapter 5 of The Lemon Tree:
The Crusades
Jewish diaspora
Ottoman Empire
Collapse of the Ottoman Empire after WWI
British Mandate
Balfour Declaration
Kibbutz/kibbutzim
Zionism
Theodor Herzl
Early Jewish immigration to Palestine (prior to 1936)
The Great Arab Rebellion
The White Paper
WWII (in general)
Bulgaria during WWII
Nuremburg Laws
Jewish Deportation
The Holocaust
UN Partition Plan
Wars in Palestine, 1947-1948
The War of Independence/the Nakba
King Abdullah/Transjordan/Arab Legion
Expulsion from al-Ramla
Ramallah
The "West Bank" of the Jordan River
Boundaries of Israel after 1948
Migration from Bulgaria
Refugee life in Ramallah
Gaza (Gaza Strip, Gaza City)
Egypt/King Farouk
Pan-Arab Nationalism
Right of Return
UN Resolution 194
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