![]() It may also prove useful to apply the theories of Frantz Fanon, preeminent postcolonial theorist, to the Maccabean Revolt. ![]() ![]() While this might at first glance seem like an anachronistic characterization, the key elements of economic extraction, political domination, and cultural conversion that characterize modern colonial pursuits were all present in the era of our Ḥ anukah story, despite the absence of industrial capitalism, Westphalian nation-states, and Christian or European Enlightenment ideologies. The Macedonian (and later Seleucid) domination of Judea had a fundamentally colonial character. But if we’re interested in understanding and identifying with the actions of the Maccabi fighters, we should try examining the geopolitical dynamics of the era using a modern theoretical framework. Our modern sensibilities make the thought of disgruntled Jews waging violent war against their brothers to fight against Greco-Roman ideals truly frightening. While our central enemy was the Yevanim (Seleucid-Greek Empire), the first phase of the revolt was launched against the Judean adherents of Hellenic culture and civilization, the urban upper class who hoped to develop Jerusalem into a cosmopolitan center of the expansive Seleucid-Greek Empire. Frantz Fanon provides us with a broad framework for better understanding the actions and motivations of the Maccabi guerrilla underground.Ĭentral to the Ḥ anukah story, yet often ignored or dismissed in many of our cultural reproductions of the narrative, is the very real, very violent conflict between the Maccabean rebels and their Hellenized Jewish neighbors.
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