Some progress!

Last week was full of a lot of progress, but the more I researched, the more confused I became as to what I should focus on. In the week since our last workshop, I have continued my research and am happy to say that my path for this paper has become a little clearer. I had considered dropping the discussion of Palestine at all in my paper since it’s often a touchy subject and sources are difficult to find, and focusing on the more general topic of how Arab identity coalesced during the 1920s and ‘30s. However, after I examined The Syrian World some more, especially as the journal moved into 1930, I decided to follow up on my original topic because I found a lot of interesting articles that will help me build an argument.

One major reason for this decision is that there are already a variety of great studies of Arab-American identity, including Between Arab and White: Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora by Sarah Gualtieri. One chapter in her book discusses Palestine and political activism and this has proven to be helpful for me.  The rest of the book focuses a lot on the creation of identity and a racialized self-image, and I do not feel like I have much more to add to that subject after reading this and other works on the subject. One relevant book that I started reading this week is America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood by Lawrence Davidson. He discusses many important matters in great depth but I feel like there is room to add some new insights from my research.

I want to redefine my research question to ask simply how the issue of Palestine became an area of common ground for most Arabs in the United States, and how Arab nationalism and the Arab-American identity solidified partially through identification with Palestine. There was often disagreement within the Arab-American community over the French and British mandates. To remind you all of the history, under the League of Nations, Britain was given a mandate over Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq. France controlled Syria and Lebanon. A majority of Arabs viewed the mandates negatively (as the many revolts during the rule of the British and French demonstrate), but certain groups like Maronite Christians in Lebanon allied themselves with the French and therefore had an affinity with the mandatory powers. Therefore, though there is an overwhelmingly negative perception of the mandates in the Arab papers at this time, the Arab community still exhibits a diversity of opinion. However, it is interesting that almost across the board, Arabs viewed the growth of a Zionist state infrastructure and the displacement of Palestinians as an issue of great importance and a cause to actively rally around. I’ve found a lot of interesting cases of this activism that I look forward to incorporating in my research.

These two excerpts I found in The Syrian World from other Arabic papers in the U.S. demonstrate how various Arab groups felt this affinity with the Palestine issue.

From Syrian Eagle, a January 1930 article entitled “Unity Spells Success for Arabs”:

“…This same spirit characterizes the activities of the Palestinian Arabs these latter days. Whether the incentive is their own, or whether it is the Syrians who are showing such active interest in the Palestinian question lately, we do not pretend to discuss, because the Syrians seem to now be in control of the guidance of Palestinian destinies. But, whatever the case, we cannot fail to admit that the Palestinians are bound to succeed in their endeavors because of the strong determination characterizing their efforts.”

There is a lot to analyze here, such as the perception that it was inevitable that Arabs would prevail over Zionism. As it became increasingly clear over the next two decades that this would not be the case, the disenchantment of the Arab community is important to examine.

From Al-Bayan, a January 1930 article entitled “Jews of New York Being Disillusioned”:

“Now the former illusions of the American supporters of Zionism are being dissipated, thanks to organized Arab propaganda. Instead of the visionary homeland which they aspired to erect, they have come to realize that the Arabs have in the land sacred places which they hold inviolable, as well as traditions which surpass by far anything that the Jews may claim. Besides, the Arabs in Palestine are strong in numbers and have millions of their Arab brothers in neighboring countries who would never permit an alien people, whomsoever that people may be, to carry out its designs against Palestine which the Arabs hold so dearly.”

There is a lot to interpret in this as well, especially since the supposed “disillusioned” Zionists of New York are probably a mistaken image held by the writers of Al-Bayan that does not reflect reality. I look forward to doing more research in Zionist newspapers as well as mainstream news outlets like The New York Times to see perceptions on the other side.

This quote makes evident that regardless of the facts on the ground, there is a growing identification with Palestinians and a belief that Arabs will unite to prevent the creation of a Zionist state.

For next week, I will finish looking through The Syrian World since I have one more reel left (and I must return them by Monday). I’ll finish Davidson’s America’s Palestine for more secondary reading and delve into the writings of Arab figures I have previously mentioned and do some more research in The New York Times. I hope I can get some writing done for a few sections of my paper too.