Some Considerations Regarding the Persistence of the Economic Elite in Mexico in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

This article presents an analysis of some of the most important works on the persistence of the economic elite in Mexico during the first half of the twentieth century. The study seeks to answer the following question: How did the formation and character of the Mexican economic elites change during this period? It examines the effect of events such as the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) and the agrarian reform programmes, as well as political instability and institutional uncertainty, on the persistence or weakening of the landowning and industrial elite who had consolidated their power during the Porfiriato period (1876–1911).     

Becoming Hebrew. The Creation of a Jewish National Culture in Ottoman Palestine

This paper discusses the factors that resulted in the formation of the short-lived Socialist Republican Party (SRP0 in December 1951, with emphasis on the Sudan government's role in its formation. Rivalry between the Khatmiyya and the Ansar was a strong factor in the formation of the party. The Sudan government hoped that the party would develop into a centre party representing the people of the Sudan and that would enlist the support of the Khatmiyya. The paper argues that this movement was too late as the political map of the Sudan had by then been drawn and there was no chance of success for the SRP in the circumstances. The formation of the SRP indicates a crisis of government; the Sudan government's frustration and despair led to the formation of the party. This is evident in the British documents and the private papers of the civil servants of the Sudan government which, in addition to the papers of the SRP, are the main source of this paper.     

British intelligence and the role of Jewish informers in Palestine

The ‘Holiday of Holidays’ is a unique event of coexistence in the Israeli landscape as well as in the entire Middle East. The festival unites the three religions: the Christian Christmas, the Jewish Hanukkah and the Muslim Ramadan. It has been taking place for the past 15 years in November–December in the Wadi Nisnas neighbourhood of Haifa, Israel. This is a colourful celebration of art, music, fragrances, tastes and magnificent holiday lighting that creates syncretism between old and new, languages and religious symbols. The organizers choose universal elements: food, commerce and art, which are disengaged from conflictual contexts. Beyond the commercial-tourist aspect, this festival creates ‘another place’ with encounters between hostile groups.     

胡适与20世纪上半期现代朝鲜文坛

本论文以20世纪20年初到40年代为中心,主要考察了胡适和朝鲜现代文坛的文人间的交流.探究了朝鲜文坛对胡适新文学思想的接受、应用,以及胡适的新文学思想对正处于转型期的朝鲜现代文坛的影响及其原因.阐明了朝鲜现代文坛和胡适的关联及其表现在中朝现代文学交流史上的地位与意义.     

The Demise of the Kurdish Emirates: The Impact of Ottoman Reforms and International Relations on Kurdistan during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Since the West's very early flirtations with the modern Near East, and especially in the past 100 years of East–West relations, there has been considerable difficulty in understanding and defining the Middle East, the Arab world, pan-Arabism, Arab nationalism, and Middle Eastern identities in general. The Western impulse of conflating national identity with language, state, and ethnicity – often subsuming Arabic language into Arab ethnicity – has contributed to this misunderstanding and misreading of the region. For, while the Middle East can be accurately referred to by way of the generic ‘Arab world’ label, the appellation itself is a misleading oversimplification that conceals an inherent diversity and multiplicity of Middle Eastern cultures, ethnicities, languages, and nationalities. And while there is certainly a dominant Arab ethnos, there are also significant numbers of Middle Eastern peoples and nationalities with historical memories and ethno-cultural bonds that challenge the dominant Arabist paradigm. This article proposes a new reading of modern Middle Eastern history and attempts to bring back to the foreground of Middle East Studies the issue of language as a key factor in shaping (and misshaping) the region, with the hope of rediscovering a broader, more honest, and less ideologically tainted discussion on the Middle East and Middle Eastern identities.     

The Educational Philosophy and Curriculum of the Palestinian Nationalist Movement: From Arab Palestine to Arab-Islamic Palestine

The educational curriculum produced by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is said to be situated on the intellectual basis of faith in Allah. The curriculum presents Islam as one of three essential components of the Palestinian identity. The place given to Islam in the educational philosophy and curriculum of the PA signifies a departure from the place given to Islam in the PLO's earlier documents and Fatah's earlier discourse; in fact, owing to the elevated position of Islam, the discourse in the curriculum more closely resembles that of the PLO's Islamist opposition, namely Hamas. This article compares the Palestinian identity discourse as it is presented in the PA educational philosophy (1998) and school curriculum (2000–2006) with the identity discourse in the PLO's earlier philosophy of education as well as Hamas' philosophy of education. The explanation for this change in the discourse of the Palestinian nationalist movement takes into account Fatah's bid to maintain legitimacy in a deeply divided society and Hamas' challenge to Fatah in the Palestinian arena as well as the background of the Islamic revival across the greater Muslim world.     

澳门归侨与中国和平统一大业

地处中国南大门的澳门,因其独特的历史地理条件而成为一个多元文化的国际城市.20世纪六七十年代东南亚地区排华,使得大批华侨华人迁居澳门,此后仍有归侨陆续回流至此.现在,归侨和侨眷人口在澳门总人口中占有较大比重.随着澳门归侨人口的不断增加,出于维护自身正当权益的需要,先后有十多个归侨社团在澳门成立.近十年来,澳门归侨社团利用其独特优势,积极举办各种形式和多种主题的“反独促统”活动,加强海内外侨界的联系互动,为促进中华民族和平统一大业作出了很大贡献.     

The Impact of the USSR on Lithuania's Domestic Policy and Its International Orientation in the Third Decade of the Twentieth Century

This article investigates links between domestic and foreign policy, topics which are usually discussed rather than analyzed in any detail. The case of the USSR and Lithuania is taken as an historical example of the impact of the external factor on domestic policy, and an attempt is made to elucidate how the Soviets tried to influence and correct Lithuania's policy in the inter-war period by providing financial assistance to parties and their press. In this way they sought to set Lithuania against Poland and fuel the conflict between them, so that they would not become reconciled, would not create the so-called Baltic Union with Latvia, Estonia and Finland and would not orient themselves to the West. Using financial and other levers of secret policy, the Soviets contributed significantly to pushing the pro-Western Christian Democratic Party away from power in Lithuania so that the Nationalists, who sought to establish closer relations with the USSR, came to be established. The overseas financing of parties which remained unknown to the public distorted the political process of Lithuania and hindered the maturing of social awareness.     

Hasan Bey Shukri and His Contribution to the Integration of Jews in the Haifa Municipality at the Time of the British Mandate

The relations established between the Jews and the Haifa mayor Hasan Bey Shukri were undoubtedly one of the special and fascinating features in the history of the Jewish–Arab conflict at the time of the Mandate. Shukri's ability to create a common language with the Jews made the Municipality an institution graced with cooperation whose like did not exist in other mixed cities in Mandatory Palestine. It was particularly evident in the setting of the escalation in the Jewish–Arab conflict generally. Shukri believed this conflict could be settled, and that the foundation for Jews and Arabs living together lay in the sides talking to each other as a basis for making peace. Now, for the first time in Palestine, the Jewish side had the opportunity to cooperate in a municipality controlled by Arabs by participating in its management. This situation accorded with the assumption prevalent among some of the leadership of the Jewish Yishuv that understanding could be reached with the other side in mixed municipalities. This article sets out to analyze the relations that formed between Shukri and the Jews. It shows that the cooperation that materialized between them was based on mutual trust, stemming from an identical approach by both sides to municipal activity.     

Ethnicity and National Memory: The World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC) in the Context of the Palestinian National Struggle

The article examines the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC) as a community of memory, operating within the realms of Israeli national memory, endeavouring to refurbish them but dismantling them instead. A central thrust of the analysis (which refers to the period 1975-1999) concerns the anomalous relationship between nationalism and ethnicity. WOJAC's aspiration was to operate in the national arena, to counterbalance the claims of the Palestinian leadership on the right to the Land and on the refugee question. But to its chagrin the State institutions construe its activity as ethnic subversion. The fluid transition from national to ethnic interpretation reflects the contradiction that underlies Jewish nationalism and its ambivalence towards practising 'Mizrahi ethnicity'. Deriving from this contradiction, and from the praxis of construction and dismantlement that characterizes the activity of WOJAC, a contingent examination is undertaken of analytical categories such as 'national identity', 'Zionism', 'history', 'place', and 'territory' in the Middle East.     

21世纪民族国家的命运

一、民族国家的产生和发展民族国家 (Ｎａｔｉｏｎ—Ｓｔａｔｅ)是在中世纪废墟之上产生的。到 15世纪末 ,将欧洲分裂成一块块封建领地的中世纪封建制度逐渐丧失了生命力 ,在经历10 0 0年民族之间的战争、迁徙和融合之后 ,欧洲形成了一批新的民族。随着资本主义的发展 ,按照民族特性建立统一的政治共同体的要求 ,成为历史的趋势。民族国家的出现是一件具有重大历史意义的事件。民族国家同以往那些政治单位的分分和和、循环往复有着本质的区别。它不仅为政治共同体找到了民族这个有天然凝聚力的基础 ,而且创造了一种全新的社会组织形式。民族…