1Prolonging the conference on “France, Western Europe and Palestine 1799-1917” which was held on November 9-11, 1997 (see the Bulletin du CRFJ, 3, Autumn 1998, pp. 163-166) the Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem continues to devote part of its public activities to the topic of foreign presence in Palestine.

2Within this framework, a series of lectures entitled “France, Western Europe and Palestine, 1799-1948” commenced in March 1999. Papers on special cases, presented in the Center, contribute to enhancing our knowledge of the multiple facets of foreign intervention in Palestine throughout this entire period.

3In March, André Mazawi (Tel Aviv University) launched the series with a lecture on “France in Jaffa between General Bonaparte and Allenby, 1799-1917: Some Comments.” Two other lectures are planned before the summer and will shed light on features of the French presence. In April, Ran Aaronsohn (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) will deal with the “Baron Edmond de Rothschild, ‘French agent’ in Palestine”, with an emphasis on the economic involvement of France and this generous benefactor. In June, Yossef Charvit will present “France in Gallilee in the Nineteenth Century” where the Power serving as a protector of Catholics in the Middle East, represented by a Jewish family, was also responsible for Jews from North Africa.

4Moussa Abou Ramadan (Haifa University) will lecture in May on “The Legal Battle between the Orthodox Arabs and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem from 1872-1941: Hellenism and Arabism”, where the Great Powers were faced with the rise of demands from one of the nations of Palestine.

5The internalization of Palestine will also be explored in a one-day seminar in June devoted to “Jerusalem and Palestine during World War I.” This seminar will deal with this very brief and unusual period. It will focus on the military  (Yigal Sheffy, Tel Aviv University and Shlomo Shpiro, Bar Ilan University), scientific issues (Jakob Wahrman, Hebrew University), military-religious subjects (Jean-Michel de Tarragon, École Biblique et Archéologique francaise de Jerusalem) and political-religious topics (Dominique Trimbur, CRFJ). An additional paper will deal with a Jerusalem community unwillingly placed in the international limelight – the Armenians (George Hintlian, Christian Heritage Institute, Jerusalem).

6Lastly, this series of lectures on instances of foreign presence in Palestine will be followed by its logical continuation in the form of a conference on “France, Western Europe and Palestine, 1917-1948” slated for November 1999. Now in its preparatory phases, this conference will be a valuable complement to the one held last November (the proceedings will be published in the Year 2000).

7For details on these conferences (time, place), contact the CRFJ.