Religion or Politics? The Many Meanings of Christianity in Mandate Palestine

A new edited volume on the emergence of new forms of "cultural diplomacy" among Christians in pre-1948 Palestine offers the opportunity to revisit both the history and the historiography of Christian institution building, communal identification, and political and social activism during the British Mandate period.This essay reviews Karne Sanchez Summerer and Sary Zananiri's new book with an eye to thinking about the meaning and coherence of "Christian" histories during this era, suggesting that alongside microhistories of institutions and people, scholars might also begin to think more broadly about the degree to which Christianity can successfully operate as an analytical category in the history of modern Palestine.