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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Deconstructing Zion
This Encyclopaedia, the product of over 25 years of research and critical inquiry by a non-Jewish Arab, may be considered the first work of its kind. Covering almost all aspects of Judaism, the Jews, Zionism and Israel, it departs from traditional treatments of such topics by providing both a critical deconstruction of its subject, and a creative reconstruction. The author proposes new ways of looking at the phenomena of Judaism, Zionism and Israel, as well as a new terminology in which to describe them.
This magnum opus is divided into eight volumes, each of which deals with a specific topic, and is sub-divided into chapters, which in turn are made up of individual entries. There are 2,300 such entries altogether. Though the running text is in Arabic, there are both Arabic and English-language indices.
El-Messiri has left no stone unturned in his search for the truth of Jewry. He recounts their history in great detail -- not only the history of the ancient Hebrews, but the histories (plural) of the many modern Jewish communities that are scattered throughout the world. Various entries provide information on their demographics and distribution, their chief characteristics and institutions, and their relationships with both their respective homelands and the Zionist state. There are biographies of the major personalities, both Jewish (such as Maimonides) and non-Jewish (such as Napoleon and Hitler), who have influenced Jewish lives. Judaism is also addressed as a religion. The author describes its sects and its holy books, its rituals, the crises it has passed through in modern times, and its relationship with both Zionism and anti-Semitism. Other articles provide an overview of the Zionist movement, its activities, "schools" and main figures, as well as some of the main features of the state of Israel.
The deconstructive/reconstructive work of the Encyclopaedia emerges from the detail of its analysis. The author patiently constructs an alternative general history, in the course of which he is led to reexamine the central concepts of Jewish and Zionist identity, underscoring their partial and problematic nature. In the search for a more neutral and explanatory framework, he stresses that the history of the Jews cannot be properly grasped unless we learn to see it as the history, not of a people, but of a plurality of interrelated, yet distinct communities.
General contents of the Encyclopaedia
Volume 1 (in five parts): Theoretical Framework
Theoretical problems.
Paradigm as an analytical tool.
Monistic pantheism/immanence.
Comprehensive secularism.
Functional groups.
Volume 2 (in four parts): The Jewish Communities -- Key
Issues
The nature of the Jews in all times and places.
Jews or Jewish communities?
Jews or Jewish functional groups?
The gentiles' eternal hostility to Judaism and the Jews.
Volume 3 (in two parts): The Jewish Communities -- Modernisation and Culture
Modernisation.
Cultures of the Jewish communities.
Volume 4 (in three parts): The Jewish Communities -- Histories
Histories of the Jewish communities in the ancient world.
Histories of the Jewish communities in the Muslim world.
Histories of the Jewish communities in the Western world.
Volume 5 (in three parts): Judaism -- Concepts and Sects
Judaism -- some central questions.
Concepts and basic doctrines.
Jewish religious sects.
Volume 6 (in four parts): Zionism
Definition and basic themes.
History of Zionism.
Zionist organisation.
Zionism and the Jewish communities.
Volume 7 (in five parts): Israel -- The Zionist State
Normalisation and the functional state.
The settler/colonial state.
Racism and depopulation.
The settler/colonial system.
The crisis of Zionism and the Israeli question.
Volume 8: Supplements and Indices
The mechanics of the Encyclopaedia.
Definition of main concepts and terms.
Historical tables of the main events in the history of humanity at large, as well as in the specific histories of both the Jewish communities and Palestine.
Topical index: comprehensive index of all the volumes, parts, chapters and entries.
Arabic alphabetical index.
English alphabetical index.
