Home Cultural Studies 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947

  • Mohamed-Ali Adraoui
View more publications by Manchester University Press
To Publisher Page
The breakup of India and Palestine
This chapter is in the book The breakup of India and Palestine

Abstract

This chapter looks at how the partition of Palestine in November 1947 was understood by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In what ways did Islamist forces in the Arab world, foremost among them the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, attempt to respond to what was perceived as a major infringement of the religious rights of all Muslims in the world to a sacred land? What were the repercussions for Islamist movements in the decades following partition with regard to the calls of the Brotherhood to resist the division of Palestine? Using little-exploited diplomatic archives (American ones in particular), this chapter demonstrates the central role of Islamist movements in triggering a broad Arab reaction to the division of Palestine. It also highlights the centrality of Palestine in the Islamist imagination and how it influences the sociology, composition and evolution of the forces of political and radical Islam.

Abstract

This chapter looks at how the partition of Palestine in November 1947 was understood by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In what ways did Islamist forces in the Arab world, foremost among them the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, attempt to respond to what was perceived as a major infringement of the religious rights of all Muslims in the world to a sacred land? What were the repercussions for Islamist movements in the decades following partition with regard to the calls of the Brotherhood to resist the division of Palestine? Using little-exploited diplomatic archives (American ones in particular), this chapter demonstrates the central role of Islamist movements in triggering a broad Arab reaction to the division of Palestine. It also highlights the centrality of Palestine in the Islamist imagination and how it influences the sociology, composition and evolution of the forces of political and radical Islam.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xvi
  7. Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
  8. Part I: The partition of British India
  9. 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
  10. 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
  11. Part II: The partition of Palestine
  12. 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
  13. 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
  14. Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
  15. 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
  16. 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
  17. Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
  18. 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
  19. 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
  20. 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
  21. 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
  22. Afterword 278
  23. Index 289
https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526170323.00013

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xvi
  7. Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
  8. Part I: The partition of British India
  9. 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
  10. 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
  11. Part II: The partition of Palestine
  12. 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
  13. 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
  14. Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
  15. 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
  16. 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
  17. Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
  18. 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
  19. 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
  20. 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
  21. 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
  22. Afterword 278
  23. Index 289
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 3.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.7765/9781526170323.00013/html
Scroll to top button