Entangled loyalties in the Middle East Discussions on Fascism, Nazism and antisemitism in the Arabic Jewish press, 1933-1948

This thesis examines discussions on the positions and identities of Jews in the Middle East within the context of debates on Fascism, Nazism and antisemitism. It focuses on the Arabic Jewish press in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon in the period 1933-1948. It analyses the ideas of its editors and main contributors and their regional and transregional intellectual networks and allegiances. The debates of Jewish writers in the Arabic language are situated within the context of the Arabic reform and revival debates known as the Nahda, as well as the cultural and political reorientations in the Middle East following the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the continuation of British and French colonial rule. It demonstrates that discussions on Fascism, Nazism and antisemitism in the Middle East, including those of Jewish writers, were embedded in this context of reorientation. Yet their discussions unfolded not only within a national or regional context; they also did so within a context of, and in dialogue with, global intellectual responses and debates. The thesis demonstrates that the authors took part in an ‘entangled public sphere’ in which they could challenge, transform and mobilize ideas on the globalizing concepts of race and ethnicity, cultural and civilization, religion and sectarianism. The analysis of how they utilized these concepts ultimately reveals the integrationist visions of the authors for Jews in the Middle East. The thesis demonstrates that despite political challenges and turbulences on the national, regional and international level, including the Zionist movement and rivalling nationalisms, Jews in the Middle East could adhere to a multi-layered set of loyalties.