Missions, Charity, and Humanitarian Action in the Levant (19Th–20Th Century) 21 Chantal Verdeil
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Christian Missions and Humanitarianism in the Middle East, 1850–1950 Leiden Studies in Islam and Society Editors Léon Buskens (Leiden University) Nathal M. Dessing (Leiden University) Petra M. Sijpesteijn (Leiden University) Editorial Board Maurits Berger (Leiden University) – R. Michael Feener (Oxford University) – Nico Kaptein (Leiden University) Jan Michiel Otto (Leiden University) – David S. Powers (Cornell University) volume 11 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/lsis Christian Missions and Humanitarianism in the Middle East, 1850–1950 Ideologies, Rhetoric, and Practices Edited by Inger Marie Okkenhaug Karène Sanchez Summerer LEIDEN | BOSTON This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Cover illustration: “Les Capucins français en Syrie. Secours aux indigents”. Postcard, Collection Gélébart (private collection), interwar period. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Okkenhaug, Inger Marie, editor. | Sanchez Summerer, Karène, editor. Title: Christian missions and humanitarianism in the Middle East, 1850-1950 : ideologies, rhetoric, and practices / edited by Inger Marie Okkenhaug, Karène Sanchez Summerer. Other titles: Leiden studies in Islam and society ; v. 11. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: Leiden studies in Islam and society, 2210-8920 ; 11 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020018566 (print) | LCCN 2020018567 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004394667 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004434530 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Missions–Middle East–History–19th century. | Missions–Middle East–History–20th century. | Humanitarian assistance–Middle East–History– 19th century. | Humanitarian assistance–Middle East–History–20th century. Classification: LCC BV3160 .C46 2020 (print) | LCC BV3160 (ebook) | DDC 266.00956–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020018566 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020018567 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISSN 2210-8920 ISBN 978-90-04-39466-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-43453-0 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by the Editors and Authors. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Copyright 2020 by the Editors and Authors. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Contents Acknowledgements vii List of Figures viii Notes on Contributors x Introduction 1 Inger Marie Okkenhaug and Karène Sanchez Summerer Part 1 Prologue 1 Missions, Charity, and Humanitarian Action in the Levant (19th–20th Century) 21 Chantal Verdeil Part 2 Advocacy 2 Liberated Bodies and Saved Souls: Freed African Slave Girls and Missionaries in Egypt 41 Beth Baron 3 Physical Expressions of Winning Hearts and Minds: Body Politics of the American Missionaries in “Asiatic Turkey” 62 Nazan Maksudyan 4 Spiritual Reformation and Engagement with the World: Scandinavian Mission, Humanitarianism, and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1905–1914 90 Inger Marie Okkenhaug 5 “A Strange Survival”: The Rev. W.A. Wigram on the Assyrians before and after World War I 110 Heleen Murre-van den Berg vi contents Part 3 Best Practices 6 Missionary Hubris in Colonial Algeria? Founding and Governing Christian Arab Villages 1868–1930 133 Bertrand Taithe 7 Missionary Work, Secularization, and Donor Dependency: Rockefeller- Near East Colleges Cooperation after World War I (1920–1939) 155 Philippe Bourmaud 8 “Machine Age Humanitarianism”: American Humanitarianism in Early 20th-Century Syria and Lebanon 183 Idir Ouahes 9 Scottish Presbyterian Churches and Humanitarianism in the Interwar Middle East 209 Michael Marten Part 4 Epilogue: Impact of the 1948 Crisis 10 Confined by Conflict, Run by Relief: Arabs, Jews, and the Finnish Mission in Jerusalem, 1940–1950 233 Seija Jalagin 11 Catholic Humanitarian Assistance for Palestinian Refugees: The Franciscan Casa Nova of Jerusalem during the 1948 War 253 Maria Chiara Rioli Index 277 Acknowledgements This volume is the result of a NWO (the Dutch Research Council) International- isation in the Humanities research project “Engaging Europe in the Arab World: European missionaries and humanitarianism in the Middle East (1850–1970)”, in cooperation with the IEG Leibniz Institute of European History (Mainz, Ger- many) and the IISMM, Institut d’études de l’Islam et des Sociétés du monde musulman (Paris, France). We would like to thank the Dutch Research Council for financing this research project, as well as the IEG Leibniz Institute of European History, the IISMM Institut d’études de l’Islam et des Sociétés du monde musulman and the Institut Universitaire de France for their financial and administrative support of the international workshops where some of the papers for this book were first presented and discussed. We would also like to thank Volda University College for their contribution to funding this publication. We are grateful to many colleagues in Leiden, Mainz, Paris, and elsewhere who, through their contributions to conferences, workshops and through extended email conversations over the years, helped us to flesh out our ques- tions, concerns, and approaches. Figures 1.1 Postcard, Collection Gélébart, private collection. 33 3.1 Aram (before photograph). Reproduced from “For Young People: Orphans in Turkey,” Missionary Herald vol. 94 (May 1898): 204–208 70 3.2 Boys coming to Home (before photograph). Reproduced from “For Young People: Orphans in Turkey,” Missionary Herald vol. 94 (May 1898): 204–208 70 3.3 Orphans at Oorfa at dinner (after photograph). Reproduced from “For Young People: Orphans in Turkey,” Missionary Herald vol. 94 (May 1898): 204–208 71 3.4 A rescued orphan girl (after photograph). Reproduced from “For Young People: Orphans in Turkey,” Missionary Herald vol. 94 (May 1898): 204–208 72 3.5 Village Armenians (before photograph). Reproduced from Rev. George C. Reynolds, “For Young People: A Gospel Triumph in the Land of Ararat,” Missionary Herald vol. 91 (May 1896): 212–216 75 3.6 The family at Van (after photograph). Reproduced from Rev. George C. Reynolds, “For Young People: A Gospel Triumph in the Land of Ararat,” Missionary Herald vol. 91 (May 1895): 212–216 76 3.7 An Armenian family. Reproduced from J.E. Pierce, of Bardezag, “For Young People: Who are the Armenians,” Missionary Herald vol. 87 (April 1891): 175–178 77 3.8 A group of Alumni, Bithynia High School, Bardizag. SALT Archives, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions / Photographs / Bardizag, ABAHBARD009 78 3.9 A Greek peasant woman. Reproduced from Rev. James W. Selye, of Constantinople, “For Young People: A Greek Town in Turkey,” Missionary Herald vol. 85 (October 1889): 424–427 79 4.1 Girls in the orphanage in Musch with dolls from Scandinavian donors. Note: “Barn ved Musch barnehjem?” Wikimedia, made available by National Archives of Norway, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barn_ved_Musch _barnehjem%3F_‑_fo30141712180050.jpg 105 4.2 Armenian women. Note: “Armenske kvinner,” Wikimedia, made available by National Archives of Norway, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Armenske_kvinner_‑_fo30141712190013_1469.jpg 106 4.3 Bodil Biørn and teacher Maritza with 1st grade in Mush, ca. 1912. Note: “Bodil Biørn med skoleklasse,” Wikimedia, made available by National Archives of Norway, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bodil_Bi%C3%B8rn_med _skoleklasse_‑_fo30141712180005.jpg 107 8.1 A 1917 ACRNE poster depicting the compassionate, if Orientalist, efforts of American humanitarianism in the Middle East. Library of Congress collection, retrieved from https://lccn.loc.gov/2002711981 192 figures ix 8.2 Another 1917 ACRNE poster asking for compassionate donations from American citizens. Library of Congress collection, retrieved from https://lccn.loc.gov/2002719422 193 8.3 A later poster dating from 1919 and printed by ACRNE’s successor organization; Near East Relief (NER). Library of Congress collection, retrieved from https://lccn.loc.gov/2002708879 196 11.1 Jerusalem casa nova, early 20th century, ASCTS 270 Notes on Contributors Beth Baron is Distinguished Professor of History at the City College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York and Director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the CUNY Graduate Center. From 2009 to 2014, she edited the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and from 2015 to 2017, served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North Amer- ica. Her most recent book, The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared with Stanford University Press in 2014. Earlier works include