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"In Accordance with the Best Traditions of American Democracy": Arab Americans, Zionists, and the Debate over Palestine, 1940-1948

Jenison, Denise Laszewski
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1511310258842165

Abstract Details

2017, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History.
The historiography surrounding the role of the United States in relation to the creation of Israel is wide-ranging and covers a variety of perspectives. The voices of Arab Americans, however, are largely absent, due in part to a belief that the Arab American population was too small, fragmented, and disinterested in politics to have tried to influence American politics. This dissertation challenges that idea by examining the rhetoric, imagery, and messages of Arab American groups and their supporters in comparison with those of Zionist organizations and their proponents, with a specific focus on the efforts of the Institute of Arab American Affairs. By doing so, this work shows that members of the Institute viewed the United States as a reference culture and sought to convince Americans that the Arabs of Palestine were the best reflection of American identity and ideals. This work is thematically organized, examining how the Institute engaged with issues such as race and religion, democracy and justice, national security, and modernization to challenge previously held stereotypes regarding both Arabs and Jews and their respective claims to the Holy Land. Thus, this work shows that not only were Arab Americans politically active prior to the June War of 1967 between Israel and its Arab neighbors, they had a sophisticated understanding of what issues and ideas were important to a (white, Christian) American audience and sought to win that audience’s support in order to influence policy makers, while combating Zionists’ use of similar arguments to gain American support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The failure of the Institute and other Arab organizations during this time period to secure U.S. recognition of an Arab state in Palestine was not, therefore, due to inaction or indifference by the Arab American community, but rather to its inability to break through the dominant frames promoted by Zionists and their supporters that a Jewish state in Palestine would be best able to take up the American mantle in the region.
Mary Ann Heiss (Committee Chair)
Timothy Scarnecchia (Committee Member)
Janet Klein (Committee Member)
Julie Mazzei (Committee Member)
243 p.
History
Arab American; Arab; Institute of Arab American Affairs; Palestine; Zionism; US Foreign Relations; Diplomatic History; Cultural History

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jenison, D. L. (2017). "In Accordance with the Best Traditions of American Democracy": Arab Americans, Zionists, and the Debate over Palestine, 1940-1948 [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1511310258842165

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jenison, Denise. "In Accordance with the Best Traditions of American Democracy": Arab Americans, Zionists, and the Debate over Palestine, 1940-1948. 2017. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1511310258842165.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jenison, Denise. ""In Accordance with the Best Traditions of American Democracy": Arab Americans, Zionists, and the Debate over Palestine, 1940-1948." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1511310258842165

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1511310258842165
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.