The Wrath of Jonah: Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict / Edition 2

by Herman J. Ruether, Rosemary Radford Ruether

Overview

The wrenching situation in the Middle East, recent events have shown, is as complex as it is volatile. In this immensely learned and clarifying volumehere updated and issued in paper for the first timethe Ruethers trace the tortured and contested history of Israel/Palestine from biblical times through the Diaspora, the development of Zionism, the creation of the modern state of Israel, and the subsequent conflict with Arab and Palestinian nationalism.

Magisterial in its grasp of the historical, political, economic, and religious roots of the conflict, The Wrath of Jonah also offers convincing analysis of the moral and political dilemmas facing Israelis and Palestinians today. Though they see possibilities for peace, the Ruethers are forthright about what they and others see as Israel's betrayal of its own original mandate. Their purpose, state the Ruethers, "continues to be to make a modest contribution to truthful historical accountability that must underlie the quest for justice, without which there can be no 'peace.'"

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800634797
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	03/04/2002
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Herman J. Ruether is a political scientist and former acting director of the Palestinian Human Rights Campaign.

Rosemary Radford Ruether was the author of numerous influential works in feminist theology and the history of theology. Her recent works with Fortress Press include the edited volume Feminist Theologies: Legacy and Prospect (2007) and Many Forms of Madness: A Family's Struggle with Mental Illness and the Mental Health System (2010).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction

Part 1

Classical Foundations: The Three Monotheistic Faiths

1. Peoplehood, Covenant, and Land in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

The Land of Canaan: Crossroads of Empires

Covenant People and Promised Land in Hebrew Scripture

Peoplehood, Covenant, and Land in Rabbinic Judaism

The Two Covenants, the Heavenly Land, and the Exile of the Jews in Early Christianity

The Community of Islam and the Peoples of the Book

Summary

Part 2

Historical Development of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

2. Religious and Secular Roots of Zionism

Kabbalistic Messianism and the Return to the Holy Land

European Nationalism and the Rise of Zionism

Varieties of Zionism

Summary

3. Christianity and Zionism: The Making of an Alliance

The Reformation Era and the Restoration of the Jews

Christian Zionism and European Empire

American Christian Zionism and the Foundation of Israel

4. The Emergence and Survival of Palestinian Nationalism

The Beginnings of Arab Nationalism and Its Betrayal by Western Imperialism

Palestinian Nationalism during the Mandatory Period

The Suppression and Resurrection of the Palestinian National Movement

From the Lebanese Civil War to the 1987-88 Uprising

From Oslo to the Second Intifada, 1991-2001

Palestinian Nationalism and Zionism

5. Contradictions of the Jewish State

Building a Jewish Majority: Immigration and Settlement

Making Palestinians Invisible in Israel

Making Palestinians Invisible in the 1967 Occupied Territories

Part 3

Christian Relations to Judaism and to Zionism

6. Contemporary Christian Responses to Judaism and to Zionism

The Vatican: Relations to Judaism and to the State of Israel

The World Council of Churches: Relations to Judaism and to the State of Israel

American Fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Israel

Arab Christians, Judaism, and Zionism

7. Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust: The Link to Zionism

Jewish Holocaust Theology

Christian Holocaust Theology

Conclusions

8. Zionism and International Justice: A Theological and Ethical Evaluation

The Jews: Religious Community or Nation?

Jewish Election and the Promised Land

The State of Israel and the Beginning of Redemption

Conclusions

Postscript, 2002

Notes

Index