Israel through The Eyes of Non-Jewish Americans

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

This panel explores varying American perspectives of Israel, as seen through the eyes of non-Jews. Each paper challenges the conventional narrative of American-Israeli relations by examining how non-Jews, including a white liberal Protestant male minister, a black Christian female social worker, and the larger American public, shaped popular support for or opposition against a diplomatic, economic, and cultural relationship between the United States and Israel, its burgeoning ally in the Middle East. An examination of interfaith relations undergirds each scholar’s presentation, demonstrating that dialogue between Jews and non-Jews on Israel advanced interreligious alliances in spheres beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict, such as race relations, healthcare, and public policy throughout the twentieth-century.

The papers presented by Amy Weiss and Emily Katz both examine American non-Jewish perspectives of Palestine, and later Israel, through the travelogue and “Israel book” genres. Weiss analyzes prominent liberal Protestant Harry Emerson Fosdick’s 1927 A PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE to show that the Baptist minister endorsed Jewish nationalism, albeit with reservation, during the interwar years, prior to his well-known participation in the anti-Zionist movement after Israel’s establishment. This paper illuminates the theological and geopolitical concerns that simultaneously facilitated an anti-Zionist and pro-Arab faction within liberal Protestantism while also giving rise to pro-Zionist liberal Protestants who enthusiastically aligned with Jewish Zionists by the end of World War II. Emily Katz uses J. Ida Jiggetts’ 1957 ISRAEL TO ME to explore how the author’s distinctive female, Christian, and black identities as an American researcher in Israel in the 1950s led to her understanding of racial prejudice in Israel. Although Jiggetts studied Israeli society, Katz argues that her book actually served as a reflection of the author’s conceptions of race and Jewish-black relations in the United States in the mid-twentieth-century. Caitlin Carenen’s paper looks at American non-Jews’ reactions to Israeli responses to terrorism perpetrated by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1970s. She reveals that Israeli hardline responses to terrorism strengthened the alliance between the United States and Israel, as the American public perceived Israelis to be “tough Jews” and therefore considered them stronger diplomatic partners.

Sub Unit

• Modern Jewish History in the Americas

Chair

• Gur Alroey, University of Haifa

Individual Presentations

• “What Then Is The Truth About Zionism As It Appears to A Non-Jew?”: Harry Emerson Fosdick and Liberal Protestant Perspectives on Palestine - Amy Weiss, New York University

• “Be Sure to Remember… How They Treat You Over There”: J. Ida Jiggetts's ISRAEL TO ME and the Question of Color in 1950s Israel - Emily Alice Katz, University of California, Irvine

• “Tough Jews” Make Strong Allies: The PLO and American Perceptions of Israeli Toughness - Caitlin Elisabeth Carenen, Eastern Connecticut State University