Jerusalem Interrupted: Modernity and Colonial Transformation 1917-present

This title offers a provocative collection of essays that explore Jerusalem's Arab life and culture, from the 1917 British Mandate to the present day. On the eve of the British Mandate in 1917, Jerusalem Arab society was rooted, diverse, and connected to other cities, towns, and the rural areas of Palestine. Over the course of the three decades of the Mandate, Arab society in Jerusalem continued to develop a vibrant, networked, and increasingly sophisticated milieu.

No one then could have imagined the radical rupture that would come in 1948, with the end of the Mandate and the establishment of the state of Israel. This groundbreaking collection of essays follows the history of Jerusalem from the culturally diverse Mandate period through its transformation into a predominantly Jewish city, detailing the often unexplored dimensions of the social and political fabric of a city that was rendered increasingly taut and fragile, even as areas of mutual interaction between Arabs and Jews continued to develop.