I am a historian specializing in modern Israel-Palestine and the neighboring Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East (19th-21st centuries), with a focus on the subfield of Jewish-Arab/Muslim studies. Trained in Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, I employ intellectual history, cultural history, and literary analysis to examine the multifaceted relations—religious, cultural, intellectual, and social—between Jews and Arabs/Muslims from medieval to modern times. A central aim of my research is to illuminate how Arab and Jewish scholars in the modern Middle East have reappropriated and repurposed their communities’ shared histories and interwoven legacies. Engaging with these historical interactions provides a rich context for understanding the enduring influence of tradition, history, and language on contemporary concerns in the region. Furthermore, my study of these multidimensional relations seeks to illustrate how these shared histories shaped various forms of Arab nationalism(s) and Zionism, and informed responses to British colonialism. My scholarship thus spans multiple fields and disciplines, reflecting its interdisciplinary and comparative nature.
