Reviving Forgotten Jewish Heroes: An Aspect of the Early Twentieth-Century Zionist Perception of the Crusader Period in Palestine

To date little attention has been paid to the perception and representation of the Crusader period in Palestine in works by Zionist scholars and activists in the early years of the British Mandate. To help fill this void, this essay analyzes the work of Ben-Zion Dinur and some of his contemporaries as it relates to Jewish armed resistance and heroism. These scholars revived Jewish heroes from the Crusader period in Palestine to convey Zionist ideals and shape a national narrative.