Arab nationalism in its traditional form was the way in which secular Arab Christians like Edward had found and kept a place for themselves, while simultaneously avoiding the charge of being too 'Western.' It was very noticeable among the Palestinians that the most demonstrably 'extreme' nationalists–and Marxists–were often from Christian backgrounds. George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh used to be celebrated examples of this phenomenon, long before anyone had heard of the cadres of Hamas, or Islamic Jihad. There was an element of overcompensation involved, or so I came to suspect. Christopher Hitchens
About This Quote

The article above mentions an interesting concept. You can see many Arab Christians in Arab Nationalism, but they are acting as individuals instead of being part of an organized group. This shows that they are separate from the rest of the people in their country because they are not used to associating with others. They are also trying to show that they are different from the other Arabs because they are not part of their culture or religion, which is why they associate with Christians and Marxists.

Source: Hitch22: A Memoir

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