ABSTRACT
Christian and certainly Druze participation in the Palestinian national struggle diminished, especially since the early 1930s. This trend coincided with the intensification of the Islamisation process of the national struggle. The Middle Class in mandatory Palestine was composed disproportionately of Christians, who played a major role in internal commerce. The Palestinian Christian community was heavily affected by the conflict between the Palestinian national and Zionist movements. The Christians’ activism came to be expressed through the political sphere, cultural activities, journalism, and civil society. Traditionally, Greek Orthodox Christians were most prominent in both the Communist and Arab nationalist movements, not only in Palestine, but generally in all of the Fertile Crescent. The low level of Christian and Druze participation in the 1936–1939 revolt was in fact an indication of a structural crisis within the Palestinian national movement rather than an issue of the loyalty of minority groups.
