Asabiyyah versus mamlakhtiyut. Factionism and sense of statehood in the political culture of the Holy Land (1920-1959)

  • Iñaki Iriarte López Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Keywords: Arab nationalism, Zionism, asabiyyah, mamlakhtiyut, factionalism
Agencies: Grupo de Investigación de la UPV-EHU de Historia intelectual de la política moderna: conflictos y lenguajes jurídicos y políticos (IT163-22) financiado por el Gobierno Vasco.

Abstract

This article analyzes the failure of Palestinian nationalism to overcome cultural, religious and political factionalism, as opposed to the success of Zionism in managing it during the period 1920-1959. To this end, he focuses on two concepts specific to the political culture of each: the asabiyyah, in the Palestinian case, and the mamlakhtiut, in the Jewish case. The first term, which is the protagonist of Ibn Khaldun’s Prolegomena, has been usually translated as «tribal solidarity» and «sectarianism» but it would also be that element which «gives body» and «vigor» to a group. Regarding the second term, it was coined by David Ben Gurion to express the transcendent scope of the State and the need to put its construction before the internal tensions motivated by political, religious and cultural differences.

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Published
2026-06-09
How to Cite
Iriarte López, I. (2026). Asabiyyah versus mamlakhtiyut. Factionism and sense of statehood in the political culture of the Holy Land (1920-1959). Historia Y Política, 55, 313-343. https://doi.org/10.18042/hp.2026.AL.04