Mapping Exile and Return Paperback

One of the most persistent, if vexing, issues facing not just theology but also politics, sociology, and other disciplines, is the state of affairs in the Middle East, particularly the ancient land of Palestine. For theology, the problem is especially nettlesome on account of the shared history and tradition with Israel. Palestinian Christians bear the enormous brunt of suffering and dispossession in the current situation, yet are burdened even more by Christian political appropriation of Zionism. Through an analysis of Palestinian refugee mapping practices for returning to their homeland, Alain Epp Weaver takes up the troubled issue and argues against the political theology embedded in Zionist cartographic practices that refuse and eliminate all evidence of co-existence. Instead, Epp offers a political theology of redrawing the territory compatible with a bi-national vision for a shared Palestinian-Israeli future.