The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Spring 5-11-2018 Dr. Khalil Totah: Arab-American Quaker Educator and Palestinian Nationalist Crusader, 1914-1948 Amy Smith University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Amy, "Dr. Khalil Totah: Arab-American Quaker Educator and Palestinian Nationalist Crusader, 1914-1948" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2880. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2880 This Open-Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DR. KHALIL TOTAH: ARAB-AMERICAN QUAKER EDUCATOR AND PALESTINIAN NATIONALIST CRUSADER, 1914-1948 By Amy M. Smith B.A. University of Maine, 2010 M.A. University of Maine, 2013 A DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) The Graduate School The University of Maine May 2018 Advisory Committee: Nathan Godfried, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History, Advisor Elizabeth Mckillen, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History Ngo-Vinh Long, Professor of History Liam Riordan, Professor of History Seth Singleton, Libra Professor of International Relations DR. KHALIL TOTAH: ARAB-AMERICAN QUAKER EDUCATOR AND PALESTINIAN NATIONALIST CRUSADER, 1914-1948 By Amy M. Smith Advisor: Dr. Nathan Godfried An Abstract of the Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) May 2018 Born in Ramallah, Palestine, in 1886 Dr. Khalil Totah belonged to a generation of Syrians who grew up with an appreciation for the “modern” spirit that was sweeping the world. They looked forward to a social order that fostered Arab independence, but were also concerned with universal human problems. Totah’s life coincided with a period of tremendous transformation and change in the Middle East. Some historians, most recently Erez Manela, have argued that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson inspired a rising global consciousness and that his rhetoric fostered the spread of anti-colonial movements across the Middle East. Totah and his fellow intellectuals were not so much inspired by Wilson’s words, but rather they viewed them as support of a pre-existing sentiment. Greater Syrians had been developing ideas of freedom and democracy since their cultural and intellectual renaissance in the mid-19th century. Like many peoples across the globe they were not so much taken by Wilson’s “new” vocabulary as they were validated by it. There were many circumstances which influenced the political and nationalist movements of the Middle East. The story of Dr. Khalil Totah provides one small piece of a larger transformation in Syria. His writings show the evolution of Arab nationalism in Palestine during a transformative era. Totah and his contemporaries had an alternate vision of world order shaped by their own social experiences. This study also shows a clear difference between the interests of the United States political and economic elites, who preached about democracy, and intellectuals in emerging nations who sought independence. An examination of Totah’s views on the challenges facing Palestine during his lifetime offers a way to understand the development of Palestinian national consciousness in the first third of the 20th century. DEDICATION For my husband and my three children – I would have never had made it this far without your love and support. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank Nathan Godfried and Elizabeth McKillen, who supported and encouraged me during my time as a graduate student at the University of Maine. The author would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Ngo Vihn Long, Liam Riordan, and Seth Singleton, who served on the author’s thesis committee. Additionally, the author would like to thank Fuad Shehade and Ziad Khalaf for their help in locating sources in Ramallah. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION................................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………...…vii 1. INTRODUCTION: THE WINE OF WILSONIANISM............................................................ 1 A Shining City From Afar.....................................................................................................11 Historiography……………………………………………………..………………….……15 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………..21 2. CHAPTER ONE: FROM MAINE TO PALESTINE...........................................…………….24 Missionaries in a Foreign Field............................................................................................ 25 Go Send Your Daughters To Exile.......................................................................................30 Childhood in Ramallah.........................................................................................................33 Rumors Greatly Exaggerated................................................................................................37 The Effendiyya……………..………………………………………………………………39 3. CHAPTER TWO: A RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY..............................................................44 A Land of Milk and Honey…………………………………………………..……..……..46 A New Generation of Missionaries………………………………………………..………48 . A Seeker of Learning………………………………………………………………..…….54 A Syrian in America……………………………………………………………..………..60 . To Make Democracy Safe for the World............................................................................ 63 A Most Important Asset…………………………………………………….………..……68 iv 4. CHAPTER THREE: A NEW PALESTINE............................................................................. 73 The Terrible Turk................................................................................................................ 76 Savage Wars of Peace..........................................................................................................79 A Second Lincoln................................................................................................................82 Marriage and War................................................................................................................83 Return to Ramallah…………………..…………………………………...……………….88 In The Interest of Power…………………….……………………………….……………91 . You Can Live “Civilized” If You Want To…………….…………………..……………..94 5. CHAPTER FOUR: AN ERA OF HOPE AND PROSPERITY............................................... 96 Struggles for Unity..............................................................................................................99 The United States Weighs In.............................................................................................103 My Mirror, My Sword...................................................................................................... 105 Dar Al Muallim……………………………………………...……………….……..……107 Arab History………………………………………………………...……………………111 Advocating for Palestine…………………………….………………………..……….…115 6. CHAPTER FIVE: “THE BALFOUR DECLARATION OR ARAB FRIENDSHIP”......... 120 Devolution……………………………………………………………………………..…121 The Modern Middle East……………………………………………………...………….131 Now or Never……………………………………………………………………...…..…138 A State of War.................................................................................................................. 145 Liberty Caps and the Keffiyeh...........................................................................................150 The Hate of Those You Guard...........................................................................................154 v 7. CHAPTER SIX: IN RESTLESS AND DREAMLESS AMERICA…...................................161 Arab-Nazis In America………………………………………….……...……………… 173 The “Arabists” and the Partition of Palestine……………...………………….....………175 The Refugee Problem…………………………………………………...……………….179 A People Without a Land……………………………………………….………………..183 8. CONCLUSION: DYNAMITE IN THE MIDDLE EAST...………………………..…….….185 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................196 APPENDIX: BIOGRAPHICAL TIMELINE……………………………………..……………207 BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR............................................................................................. 208 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Totah as a Young Schoolboy During his Early Quaker Years………...………..……. 50 Figure 2: Khalil Totah Collecting Wildflowers in Maine, circa 1912…………………….…..…70 Figure 3: “Our Flower Trip Won the Cup,” FBS Boys circa 1927………………………..……127 Figure 4: Totah’s oldest child Nabil with Totah’s mother Azizeh circa 1934………….....……137 Figure 5: Bilingual Graduation Program, FBS circa 1939……………………………………..156 Figure 6: Debate at Fort Dix on Immigration into Palestine, 1946……………….………...….170 vii INTRODUCTION: THE WINE OF WILSONIANISM The ports ye shall not enter, The roads ye shall not tread, Go mark them with your living, And mark them with your dead. -The White Man's Burden, Rudyard Kipling It is well to remember this, for to study Arab nationalism