While Arab-Americans had established their first anti-Zionist groups immediately after the Balfour Declaration, Protestant anti-Zionism remained unorganized until the late 1930s. In early 1937, former AUB professor Harry Roscoe Snyder (1906-1988) and the Oriental scholar Elihu Grant decided to establish an informal association that would be friendly to the Arab Cause and opposed to Zionism. The organization, which originally had no name, assumed the name ‘American Friends of the Arabs’ (AFA) in 1938. Snyder, Grant and the philosopher William E. Hocking, the author of several anti- Zionist articles in the Protestant press, as mentioned above, formed the executive board. From the beginning, Fuad Shatara and Habib Katibah from the Arab National League (ANL) were also intimately involved in the endeavor. During its two-year existence, the organization sought to coordinate the anti-Zionist efforts with the Arab National League and lobby the administration against taking sides with the Zionist cause. The organization helped to build a long-lived network of opponents of Zionism, which would outlast the creation of Israel in 1948.
The leading figure behind the organization was Harry Snyder, a young activist, who had served as Methodist minister from 1925 until 1927 and as an adjunct professor at the AUB from 1927 until 1929.302 Of the two, Elihu Grant, a well-known biblical scholar
and archeologist, was certainly the more prominent, although it was Snyder who largely directed the business of the nascent organization. Both Snyder and Grant shared a Methodist missionary background. After his ordination as a Methodist priest in 1900,
301Kaufman, “George Antonius and American Universities,” 395–96. 302“Inventory of the Harry Roscoe Snyder Papers,” 2011,
103 Grant went to the Ottoman Empire to work as a superintendent at the American Friends School in Ramallah and Jerusalem from 1901 until 1904.303 Here he met the young
Khalil Totah, whose career he encouraged, becoming his mentor. Khalil Totah would also later become the director of the American Friends School in Ramallah and upon his return to the US, a pro-Arab activist for the Institute of Arab American Affairs, as will be discussed in Chapter Four.304 Upon his return to the US in 1904, Grant taught
biblical literature first at Smith College and then from 1917 at Haverford college until his retirement in 1937. In 1928, he returned to Palestine to conduct excavations in Beit Shemesh.However, Grant’s interest in the Middle East transcended scholarly interest and he became an advocate for Arab interests, in particular in Palestine.305
In the beginning, the form of the new group was unclear. The question whether to form a small elite group or an organization with a more public appeal stood at the center of the deliberations between the group’s core members: Snyder, Grant and the ANL’s Fuad Shatara.306 William Hocking also raised concerns about the character of the
group, expressing that it was “neither necessary nor desirable that a pro-Arab propaganda group should be formed; such a group would antagonize and be
antagonized.”307 Instead, he advocated a non-polemical approach. Nevertheless, he
later joined the executive board of the association.308 As a result of these discussions,
the association was planned as an informal body with little public profile, which sought to organize and coordinate pro-Arab sentiment within the American elite. For this purpose, Snyder intended to send a regular circular letter to personalities supposedly friendly to the Arabs ranging over the entire country. Habib Katibah helped Snyder to create a list of recipients. Names were collected through different means, including
303 G. Ernest Wright, W. F. Albright, and John W. Flight, “Elihu Grant,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 88 (1942): 2.
304Colin Rutherford, “The Education of Dr. Khalil Totah” (Master Thesis, 2010). 305 Wright, Albright, and Flight, “Elihu Grant,” 2–3.
306Harry R. Snyder, “Letter to William E. Hocking,” April 29, 1937, HRSP 9.21. 307William Ernest Hocking, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” April 30, 1937, HRSP 9.7. 308Harry R. Snyder, “Letter to Mr. Holmes,” February 8, 1939, HRSP 9.8.
104 scouring the lists of non-partisan organizations dealing with the Middle East or during the speaking tours of Amin Rihani and Fuad Shatara.309 This collaboration underlined
that the AFA was a joint project of anti-Zionist Arab-Americans and Protestants. The first AFA newsletter stated that there was a general problem with the perception of the Arabs in the US. The letter lamented not only the “profound ignorance of the Arab, (…), but also the suspicion, distrust, and prejudice that exists and is being
nurtured in this country.”310 With a touch of self-criticism, the letter noted: “Perhaps
those of us who know the Arab more intimately have failed to do our part to help our fellow American understand him. Certainly we have neglected to coordinate our efforts
to this end.”311 Calling on a feeling of patriotism, the letter compared the Arab Cause
and American Exceptionalism, maintaining that the Arab “struggle for liberty and
equality (…) is following in the footsteps of our forefathers. (…) Perhaps this may
explain the respect and admiration the Arab holds for the American.”312 The letter
drafted a program on how to raise sympathy for the Arab Cause in the US, mentioning the spread of information, the holding of events and the coordination of activities which sought to portray the Arab political life and culture in a favorable light.313 Most of the
answers to the newsletter were positive. Many of those who chose to join belonged to the missionary Protestant groups most associated with anti-Zionism at the time. Among those were such influential figures as Stephen B.L. Penrose, the future president of the AUB, or William W. Eddy and Halford L. Hoskins, who in their later function as State Department officials for the Middle East supported its anti-Zionist policy. Hoskins was particularly enthusiastic about the initiative and offered to
309Habiba Katibah, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” March 1, 1937, HRSP 9.12; Habiba
Katibah, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” March 9, 1937, HRSP 9.12; Habiba Katibah, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” May 11, 1937, HRSP 9.12.
310Harry R. Snyder, “First Newsletter,” 1937, HRSP 9.34. 311 Ibid.
312 Ibid. 313 Ibid.
105 collaborate in it.314 Others sympathized with the endeavor but chose to abstain. Daniel
Bliss did so in order not to “embarrass the University, (…which) has to keep a neutral
position.”315 In sum, the responses clearly showed that there was a demand for a
mainstream pro-Arab, anti-Zionist organization, which did not only appeal to Arab- Americans but to a broader segment of the population.
Few of the answers were also anti-Semitic and a small number of persons declined. The Orientalist and later head of the AUB Stephen ‘Bikes’ Penrose, then working at Whitman College, who entertained friendly relations with Snyder, immediately accepted. However, Penrose raised some concerns about the character of the new organization. He was fearful of alienating the Jewish population: “I do feel that considerable diplomacy would be necessary in presenting our intentions publicly. It is one thing to admire and seek to foster Arabian traditions of culture, but it is another to appear to back them politically against the encroachment of the Zionism. I would make a perfectly well friend of the Arab if it did not necessarily involve my becoming an enemy of the Jew. If you can assure me that the letter would not be an implication of the former, all of my doubts would be set at rest. Do not feel, I beg you, that I am pro- Jewish or anti-Nordic, or anything of the sort. I simply feel that it is not wise to antagonize a group of people who have themselves a considerable cultural tradition,
and who are not all as black as they are painted.”316 In his response, Snyder addressed
these concerns, stating that being pro-Arab does not imply being anti-Jewish and that he wished to convince the Jews in a non-partisan fashion. Still, he argued that it was
“impossible to divorce a cultural renaissance from its political aspects (…)”, implying
that the Arab cultural renaissance was incompatible with Zionism.317Despite Snyder’s
assertions, anti-Semitism remained an issue for the organization during the whole course of its existence. In the second newsletter sent in November 1937, Snyder mentioned the receipt of letters from sympathizers who wished to turn the pro-Arab body into an anti-Semitic organization. He rejected these demands, without
314Halford L. Hoskins, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” May 24, 1937, HRSP 9.8. 315Daniel L. Bliss, “Lettter to Harry Snyder,” February 11, 1939, HRSP 8.16. 316 Stephen Penrose, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” May 25, 1937, HRSP 9.21.
106 condemning anti-Semitism explicitly. In the letter, he also announced for the first time the official formation of an organization under the name of ‘American Friends of the Arabs’.318 The next circular letter was sent in July 1938 under the new name of the
association. The letter emphasized the non-partisanship of the organization, although the fight against Zionism remained the primary goal. The letter again addressed the issue of anti-Semitism, arguing that that pro-Arab advocacy was not equal to anti- Semitism: “We have wholehearted sympathy for the Arab cause in the Palestine
conflict but we oppose any action that is anti-racial and, particularly, anti-Semitic.”319
In a private letter, Snyder also mentioned that he had rejected overtures by Nazi organizations for collaboration.320 Such associations were always liable to damage the
anti-Zionist cause.
Despite such assertions, Snyder shared the obsession with Jewish power and wealth with many anti-Zionists. Thus, he repeatedly drew a picture of an all-powerful Zionist lobby, although the 1930s marked a low point of American Zionist influence in comparison to the years before 1917 and after World War II. Thus, in October 1938 he wrote in a newsletter that “The Zionist lobby is well organized and powerful and will
prevail if each one of us does not protest vigorously.”321 The Pro-Palestine Federation,
a Christian Zionist group launched in 1930, presented the biggest challenge to Protestant anti-Zionism at the time. Counting about 300 members, it was the most public face of Christian Zionism during the pre-war years.322 Harry Snyder sought to
counteract the actions of the Christian Zionists. The latter had petitioned President Roosevelt in June 1937 to intercede with the British to facilitate the partitioning of Palestine and the easing of restrictions on Jewish immigration. In response, Harry
318Harry Snyder, “Newsletter of the American Friends of the Arabs,” November 24,
1937, HRSP 9.34.
319Harry R. Snyder, “Newsletter of the American Friends of the Arabs,” July 27,
1938, HRSP 9.34.
320H.S. Kissell, “Letter to H.S. Kissell,” February 8, 1938, HRSP 8.10.
321Harry Snyder, “Newsletter of the American Friends of the Arabs,” October 17,
1938, HRSP 9.34.
107 Snyder launched a counter petition. The petition called on American non-interference and neutrality in the Middle East.323 The AFA’s own lobbying showed some signs of
success when the State Department accepted an audience with the group in October 1938. Despite the visible sympathy and access the anti-Zionists enjoyed there, Snyder still had the feeling that the sympathizers of the Arab Cause were on the defensive, as he wrote to Halford Hoskins, whom he invited to join the delegation: “The Zionists are up to their old tricks once more and this time their Washington lobby is operating very effectively. The pressure they are bringing to bear on our State Department to
intercede with Great Britain on their behalf cannot easily be resisted.”324 Snyder seems
not to have been aware that the State Department was actually committed to an anti- Zionist stance. This would change with his visit there. On October 21, 1938, the delegation of Arab-American and AFA activists, including Snyder, Rev. Charles Edward Souter and Dr. Leland W. Parr, but without Hoskins who had declined, visited the State Department. In a 45-minute talk with Secretary of State Hull, they pressed against involvement of the US in the affairs of Palestine and inveighed against the Zionists. A latter newsletter noted that they felt that they had made a difference in the discussion and that therefore there was no further need for action in this matter.325 The
Arab-American part of the delegation, which included representatives from the ANL and Muslim groups, equally gained the impression that Jewish organizations enjoyed little influence on the government’s foreign decision makers.326 This was certainly a
realistic assessment.
Indeed, Zionism had remained alien to the State Department even after the election of President Roosevelt, an appointment which was enthusiastically welcomed by many American Jews. After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, record numbers of Jews sought refuge in Palestine. In 1936, the Arab Revolt erupted after a series of strikes to
323Harry Snyder, “Petition to President Roosevelt,” June 28, 1937, HRSP 9.34. 324Harry R. Snyder, “Letter to Halford L. Hoskins,” October 15, 1938, HRSP 9.8. 325Harry R. Snyder, “Newsletter of the American Friends of the Arabs,” October 31,
1938, HRSP 9.34.
326Shukry E. Khoury, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” October 25, 1938, HRSP 8.10; Harry
108 halt this immigration. In order to accommodate Arab demands, the British downsized the contingent of Jewish immigrants. Faced with an increasing Jewish refugee problem in Europe, the Zionists pushed the US to intercede with the British to ease immigration restrictions. They argued that the British policy was in contravention to the Balfour Declaration and that the US had therefore the right and the duty, in line with the 1924 Anglo-American treaty, to intervene. However, the State Department used its influence in a very limited fashion only and pursued the same policy of non-intervention it had during the 1920s. In contrast to missionary and business interests, Zionism, or the American Jewish immigrants in Palestine, were never considered to be a general US interest, despite the fact that Americans had invested more manpower and money in Palestine than in all the Arab countries combined.327 In truth, there was no Zionist
influence in the State Department – on the contrary.
Besides Arab-Americans, the Protestant anti-Zionists of the AFA were also eager to cooperate with the group of anti-Zionist Reform Jews. In a letter to Arthur H. Sulzberger, the anti-Zionist editor of the New York Times, Harry Snyder seems to have sought to appeal to him by again expressing support for changing the immigration laws and opening the borders for Jewish refugees. However, this opinion seems also to have been partly motivated by an effort to equate the persecution of Jews in Germany and the Zionist policies vis-à-vis the Arabs in Palestine. This tendency was clearly noticeable in the letter: “In connection with the bitter Arab-Jewish controversy over Palestine, we [AFA] always have and always shall denounce selfish, intolerant, imperialistic ambitions of both the Zionists and the British in Palestine, as we now
denounce the inhuman, brutal acts of the German Government against the Jews.”328
Despite such questionable comparisons between Nazism and Zionism, defending himself and his association from accusations of anti-Semitism remained a primary concern for Snyder, as he did in a NBC radio broadcast during prime time. He claimed that “(…) we are not anti-semeitic (sic!) in any sense. We are wholeheartedly opposed to political Zionism (as are non-Zionists among the Jews themselves) but that does not imply anti-Semitism any more than does opposition to Nazism imply anti-German
327 Manuel, The Realities of American-Palestine Relations, 305–8.
109
feelings. Be assured that it hardly behooves us as a Christian nation to refuse to accept
the refugees and yet insist that little Palestine keep its doors open to them.”329 Although
his criticism of US refugee policy was certainly to the point, it served as a rhetorical vehicle for Snyder to again implicitly compare Zionism and Nazism. Such equations of Zionism and Nazism were popular among anti-Zionists at the time and even gained wider currency after the horrors of the Holocaust.
There was little activity of the AFA after these events. A certain Charles H. Carhart from Chevy Chase Md. made an interesting remark in light of the future of pro-Arab advocacy. He suggested to use the notion Palestinian instead of Arab: “In the general uninformed opinion among us the Arabs are the people of Arabia; the Jews belong in
Palestine, having taken their home from Judea. (…) Would it not be better to present
the case as between Palestinians, whose ancestors have lived in the land for many centuries, and a group of foreigners, supported by foreign money and permitted to come into the land by a foreign government that began by conquest and is sustained
by armed force.”330 Perhaps this was something to pursue. In the last years of his life,
Elihu Grant authored one more book on the Palestinians titled ‘Palestine Today’, which was published in 1938. It was based on his last trip to the country during which he had talked with its political elite, including the Mufti.331 It was a passionate defense of the
Arab Cause in Palestine and distributed by the ANL and the American Friends of the Arabs as propaganda. The publication of ‘The Arab Awakening’ by George Antonius in February 1939 was welcomed as a major success by AFA.332 There is no record
that the association sent any more newsletters after late 1938 and its activity soon ceased. In 1942, Elihu Grant passed away and Harry Snyder joined the war as a
329Snyder, “Newsletter of the American Friends of the Arabs,” October 31, 1938. 330Charles H. Carhart, “Letter to Harry Snyder,” October 24, 1938, HRSP 8.9. 331 Elihu Grant, Palestine Today ([Printed by J.H. Furst Co.], 1938).
110 military intelligence officer in the Arab Gulf. 333 Protestant anti-Zionist activism would
resurface after the war with a vengeance.