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

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

• 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, 1915–1938 - 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.

“In addition to some particularly impressive arguments presented here, the complete volume is invaluable for scholars in the field … . From the Swedish School to the politics and culture of archaeological exploration and dig sites, to an examination of the Palestinian novel, the shared effort [in this book] to better understand the history of Palestine’s Christians and their relationship to the broad world is an essential step in our understanding of this important minority group.” (Noah Haiduc-Dale, REMMM Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, Vol. 150, 2021)