• E-Transnationalism: The Case of the Christian Zionist Community in Israel

    The creation of the Internet has allowed religious individuals and groups to connect with other people and communities from around the world in exciting new ways. However, members of religious communities have also discovered that the Internet may not only facilitate online transactions and interactions but also complicate or hamper them. This paper seeks to better understand how one religious group—the transnational Christian Zionist community in the Holy Land—benefits from online tools and forums as well as how it contends with some of the obstacles encountered online. The author first provides an overview of the theoretical framework and methodology employed. This is followed by a summary of the religious tradition and an exploration of the ways in which the Internet affects the community, enabling them to send and receive money, objects, and information transnationally and forcing them to deal with unique challenges as well as old tensions replicated online from the “real” world.

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  • The Transnationalism of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church (EOTC) in the Holy Land

    The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of transnationalism on the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church (EOTC) in the Holy Land. It demonstrates that the EOTC is a transnational organization in a number of senses. First and most obviously, the church in the Holy Land is part of the wider network of Ethiopian churches found not only in Ethiopia but also in North America and Europe. In addition, like many other churches in the Holy Land, the EOTC serves as a seasonal hub for pilgrims who visit the holy sites, particularly on Easter. Moreover, virtually all its resources are imported from abroad. Not only the clergy (none of whom are trained at the monasteries in Jerusalem) but also religious objects, literature, and significant funds reach the EOTC from overseas. Perhaps most interestingly, during the twentieth century the transnationalism of the EOTC was not merely the result of the movement of people or objects across national borders. The redrawing of national borders in both the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Eritrea) and the Middle East (Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority) created yet another dimension of the church’s transnationalism.

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