PreOccupation: A Not-So-Brief History of Palestine

This three part mini-series explores the ways that resistance factions carry out their side of the information war, and the impact of the "resistance industry" on the culture of the Arabic speaking world. It is a story that will take you from Beirut to Gaza and back. Enjoy!

In this bonus episode, I break with the historical theme of the podcast to share some thoughts on Israel's recent assassination in Lebanon and some of the social trends that have emerged during this war.

It is widely known that in the 1870s, Palestine was administratively transformed into the Mutessarifat of al-Quds al-Sharif.  What is much less well known is the story of how this administrative district came into existence. Join me as we take a deep dive into the administrative boundaries of late Ottoman Palestine.

Season 3 is a deep dive into Palestine's "Hamidian era." That is, the period under the rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II. In this season 3 prologue, we explore the circumstances that gave rise to Sultan Abdulhamid II, and the hotly contested legacy that follows him to this very day.

Last episode we saw how the notables of Palestine cleverly adjusted to the demands of modernity, emerging as winners in the Ottoman reform era. But just as the sky parted above the urban elite, storm clouds began to gather over the fellahin of the countryside. This, then, is the story of how modernity came crashing down upon the peasants of Palestine, creating a devastation so irreparable that its impact continues to be felt to this very day.  

This interview originally aired on "Stories from Palestine", a great podcast where the host, Kristal, uncovers the mysteries of contemporary Palestine through interviews with Palestinian experts.

In this interview, Kristal and I discuss the emergence of Palestinian identity.

Enjoy!

The period of the Tanzimat - a time of rapid, relentless, state-sponsored modernization - ran from 1840 to 1876. In less than four decades, a highly decentralized empire that stretched across three continents made a great leap toward becoming a modern nation-state.

Like all social, political, economic and technological disruptions, the modernization of Palestine came with its own set of winners and losers. This, then, is the part of the story where we finally get to see how Palestine's social classes responded to the shocks and tremors of the Tanzimat. 

In part 1 of the season 2 finale, we will see how the urban notables of Palestine responded to the challenges of modernity.

I am joined by Dr. Usamma Makdisi to discuss his most recent book "The Age of Coexistence". In this book Dr. Usamma Makdisi explores the politics of pluralism during the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world. Rather than judging the Arab world as a place of age-old sectarian animosities, "Age of Coexistence" describes the forging of a complex system of coexistence, what Makdisi calls the “ecumenical frame.” He argues that new forms of antisectarian politics, and some of the most important examples of Muslim-Christian political collaboration, crystallized to make and define the modern Arab world.

Dr. Andrew Delatolla is a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Leeds. His book "Civilization and the Making of the State in Lebanon and Syria" explores the ever-shifting civilizational standards that were imposed upon the Ottomans by the West, and the implications that this had for the inhabitants of the region.

In part two of "The Bloody Birth of the Arabs", we explore how the violence of 1860 gave voice to a new message:

"Hob al watan min al iman." Love of your nation is part of your faith.

This episode is a deep dive into the local and foreign attempts to reach the children of Palestine (and beyond) using European colonialism's most successful institution; the modern school.

In classrooms inside and outside of Palestine, local visionaries, Christian missionaries, and the Ottoman state found themselves competing for the hearts and minds of children, giving rise to the political movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.