Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Middle Eastern Studies
Advisor
Simon Davis
Subject Categories
Intellectual History | Political History
Abstract
Print media has been an indelible component of the Palestinian National Movement – playing a critical role in many episodes of its fraught history. Time and again it has formed the discursive and rhetorical spear of various ideological movements and factions, utilizing iconography, poetry, and incendiary political writing to project a unified and popular struggle to the diaspora and the world. Perhaps the most understudied period in the modern Palestinian struggle and the role of the print media in the 1930s – a period of increasing internal political struggle and external material pressures. This is particularly true when it comes to coverage of Zionist activities in Palestine, which significantly increased due to regional considerations and geopolitical developments. Furthermore, the new ideational factors and material considerations were beginning to shift the political consideration, with new concepts coloring and framing the political struggle.
Through the use of in-depth historical research and archival material, this dissertation will trace how rivalries within the elites played out within the various printing presses owned by established but contending families. This paper will locate how these rivalries reflected in the coverage of Zionist activities like land theft and “labor conquest”. Furthermore, as Palestine became the workshop for new ideas from Europe – in particular, Communism, what did these established elites have to say about those writing on class struggle and the overthrow of antiquated systems of power.
Recommended Citation
AlGhussein, Walaa, "Mandated to Report: The Role of the Nationalist Press in Reporting Zionist Land Expropriation and Labor Conquest in Palestine During the 1930s" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3613