Issam
Khalidi
The
number of newspapers and periodicals established in Palestine from World War I
to the end of the Mandate was striking: is totaled 200, with 48 founded by
1929, 85 in the 1930s, and 67 between 1940 and 1948. [1]
By the late 1920s and early thirties, Palestinian
journalists played a central activist role in enticing the public to rebel
against British rule, in concert with other struggles in the rest of the Arab
world. Indeed, as the Shaw investigation of the causes of the 1929 riots
concluded, Palestinian journalists were the chief inciters of the uprising and
hence, according to the report, ought to be subject to increased scrutiny and
censorship. Third, significant strides in education and the number of
Palestinians seeking it created a continually developing readership base for
the newspapers.[2]
Named
for Mount Carmel in the Haifa district, Al-Karmel was founded in 1908,
by Najib Nassar (1865 - 1947), a Palestinian Christian and staunch
anti-Zionist, whose editorial warning of the dangers posed by Zionism to the
Palestinian people were often reprinted in the Syrian newspapers. After the
demise of the Ottoman empire in the wake of World War I, Al-Karmel
continued to be published during British Mandatory. It was closed in 1942, as a result of economic difficulties and burdens that
have accompanied Nassar. Writing of Al-Karmel and another
early Arab Palestinian newspaper, Filastin, Rashid Khalidi characterizes
them as "instrumental in shaping early Palestinian national consciousness
and in stirring opposition to Zionism."[3]
It was not coincidental that Jaffa should have been a
center for the Arab reaction to Zionism, or that Haifa should have been the
venue for another newspaper that devoted extensive attention to the danger
posed by Zionism, Najib Nassar’s al-Karmel (named of Mount Carmel, which
overlooks the port of Haifa), which first appeared in 1908. [4]
Compared to Filastin
and Al-Difa’,
this newspaper did not publish much about sports. Sports news appeared marginally, narrative and non-analytical. However, Al-Karmel was distinguished for its
national tendency in bringing up sports news. Its national attitude was clear on many issues such as
Zionist sports and the exploitation of the latter of sport in achieving its
political goals. It called for boycotting Zionist sports; expressed its support to Arab clubs and
societies and warned against
falling into sectarian quagmire.
Beginning in the 1920s, Jewish clubs in
Europe and the region came to Palestine to compete with Jewish clubs there.
They flew flags that resembled the Zionist flag, a provocation that local Arabs
vigorously protested. In January 1925, for example, the executive committee of
the Muslim-Christian Association sent the High Commissioner for Palestine a
protest against the flying of the Zionist flag at a football match held in
Jerusalem, claiming that the ordinance regulating the flying of flags – issued
in 1920 and banning the carrying or exhibition of “the flag or emblem of any
State … for the purpose of any partisan demonstration” – had been violated.[5]
Al-Karmel reported on a game related to this issue:
The contest of a ball game took place on Sunday afternoon in Haifa. We were told the British were winners; that
the Zionist flag was flying alongside the British flag. Is it true that it is permissible for
people to raise their own flags, or the outsider [the Zionist] has a special treatment in the policy regarding the
management of Palestine? [6]
This newspaper expressed its dissatisfaction
regarding the smuggling of Jews through the exploitation of the Maccabi games, and the sale of lands in the Jordan
Valley:
At the time when the Jews entered Palestine, and amidst the disclosure of the smuggling of weapons by Jews in big shipments, following the demonstration of the Maccabi of its teams of tens of thousands, and after the Jews revealed the cover of their real policy that they want to build a strong Jewish kingdom in the Arab countries. And after killing Al-Qassam and some of his company, and arresting others. In the midst of the people's intellectual agitation and the government's attempt to settle them and numb their nerves. Here came the selling of Ghor Nimrin in the Arab Emirate [to the Zionists], and the Emirate's [Transjordan] government was forced to allow this after its withdrawing the draft law that prohibits the transfer of lands to foreigners to replace it with a better, as it said.[7]
As a reaction to the Zionist
domination on sports arena and the marginalization of the Arabs from the
Palestine Football Association (established in 1928) by the Zionists, some Arab
young men established the Arab Palestine Sports Federation APSF in 1931, it
stopped functioning at the end of 1930s. In September
1944 it was re-established and continued functioning until late 1947. Its
re-establishment was a turning pointing in Palestinian sports. PSF prevented Arab teams from meeting with its
Jewish counterpart. This newspaper supported
this decision. In October 1932, it reported:
We were informed
that the Nadi Al-Ittihad al-Adabi Al-Ittihad Literary Club team has met
last Saturday and Sunday with the Hapoel Sports team in Tel Aviv. We were very
upset to see this club violating the agreement of the Arab clubs, which states that it is a shame for any Arab team to meet with
Zionist teams. Arab teams have to take the Mu’awiya Damascus Club team as example, it has rescinded of meeting with the Zionist teams after submitting to
the request of the Arab teams. The blame falls on the governing body of this
club.[8]
It is important to understand in this regard
that Palestinians did not see Jewish immigrants to Palestine primarily as
refugees from persecution, as they were seen by most of the rest of the world.
They saw them instead as arrogant European interlopers who did not accept that
the Palestinians were a people or had national rights in their own country,
believed that Palestine instead belonged to them, and were coldly determined to
make that belief into reality. There was further a stubborn insistence on the
part of most Arabs on seeing Jews as members of a religious rather than a
national group (this attitude was to linger on among Arabs generally for
several decades). Thus, while an attempt to come to some sort of accommodation
with Zionism might have been diplomatically wise, it was most probably doomed
to fail because of both the drive of the Zionist movement for supremacy in
Palestine, and the natural resistance to this drive of the indigenous
population." wrote Khalidi. [9]
In early 1920s, the British established a horse
racing club they called the Gymkhanna for the police, the Palestinian gendarme
and the British administration staff. In April 1928, the name was changed to the
Jaffa Race Club after a decision made to include
Arab members who participated in its management. Later on, it became known as Nadi
Al-Ittihad al-Yafi Jaffa Union Club. In 1926, a horse racing club Nadi
Tashji’ al-Riyada (the Sports Promotion Club) was founded in Acre, few
months later it organized a large sporting competition (bicycles, jogging, high
jump) and horse racing. As historical documents indicate that, later on, this
club turned into a betting center for horse racing. A series of articles by the
writer Asma Tuba from Acre, the Lebanese writer Mustafa Al-Aris and the editor of
Filastin began to appear at the end of the 1920s criticizing bets
on horse races.
Al-Karmel also contributed to the warning of the consequences of
this type of sports:
One of the means of extorting
money from parents who have now nothing but paying for these races held by the
Sports Promotion Club in Acre. It does
not take one month until we get the news of a new race. Is in Palestine a peace
of mind and a stillness of thought that such races drive them to spend their money on every other month. Usually, [horse] races are
held once a year, or one of the seasons of the year once, and this is enough.[10]
Haifa
was known for its flourishing economy and culture. Few social-athletic clubs
were founded in mid and late 1920s: Salisi (Salesian), al-Nijma al-Baida’
(White Star), Ittihad al-Carmel, Islamic Sports Club.[11]The newspaper office located
in Haifa; therefore, it reported a number of news about the clubs in this city,
which characterized by its athletic growth.
Islamic
SC in Haifa became known for its active athletic young men. It became a
destination for sport teams from different places to compete with. The last
time it hosted the Air Force Squad from Amman and competed with. Unfortunately, the ISC was not lucky as usual,
it lost 4 to 1.[1
These national positions of Al-
Karmel made it far from slipping into the maze of sectarianism. In one
article, Al- Karmel describes the reasons behind sectarian nomenclature
and explains its position on missionary associations, and expresses its opinion regarding the closure of the Moslem
youth societies their doors in
the faces of the Druze and Christian youth:
We hoped that the Islamic
sports clubs would have included all young people and raise them to respect order and sports. Now we ask
the Islamic sports club in Haifa whether it worked with [our] advice, and how
many members it has and has this number increased? If not, why? Is the purpose
of establishing the club only to provide fun and entertainment for
some young people? Or its purpose is organizing young Arab generations, training
and strengthening their bodies? So, if it is the first, call it a private club. If it
is the second, make it include all Moslem and Christian youth.[13]
We believe that it was the establishment of
Christian youth associations were behind the formation of Muslim youth
associations in Arab and Muslim countries. Muslims noticed that Christian youth
associations for young men and women are either missionary or colonial traps -
although many young men and women of Arab Christian and Muslim communities are
members in these associations for good faith - those members whose national affiliation is not
impeccable. Muslims wanted to avoid Christian associations and form
independent Islamic associations that have nothing to do with the colonialist
and the vanguard of colonialism and his apostles and propaganda. This
association was formed under the name of the Muslim Youth Associations, and its
doors were closed by that name in the face of Christian and Druze Arab youths
who put their Arab national before any other consideration or who firmly
believe that religion is for God and the nation for all.[14]
Also, Al-Karmel urges
sports clubs and Muslim youth associations to work with
perseverance in order to
organize and integrate all young Arabs in its ranks. Was our proposal [request] accepted? Will we
hear that Moslem youth associations are beginning to hold meetings and show the
criticalness of the situation arising from the corruption of morality? Do
sports clubs make us feel that there is a movement that can organize and generate a desire in
young people to integrate into sports clubs. [15]
In
general, Al-Karmel political and national orientation clearly reflected
upon the way it treated sports teams, and dealt with the Arab and Jewish athletic
meetings. Sport at that period was not based on institutional foundations that
would qualify it to have its advanced journalism. Sports reports at that time used
to be punlished spontaneously.
Today, many
intellectuals and academics pay particular respect to this newspaper for its
national and anti-Zionist attitude, although its owner, Najib Nassar,
complained at the time that his people did not appreciate what he was doing.
The question here is: will we continue to neglect people like him and their achievements, then, many years after their departure we begin exploring their achievements paying tribute to them in
recognition of their efforts? This happened not only in the case of Najib Nassar, but also in many similar cases, some of which covered with dust and ceased to exist due to negligence.
References
[1] Rashid
Khalidi, The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (Boston:
Beacon Press, 2007) p.26.
[2] Mujar
al-Bahri, A Quick Journey into Palestinian Journalism. This Week in
Palestine, Issue No. 196, August 2014.http://archive.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=1739
[3] Rashid
Khalidi, The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (Boston: Beacon Press, 2007), 217.
[4] Rashid
Khalidi, The iron cage 91
[5] Palestine Weekly, 24
March 1925.
[6] Al-Karmel,
January 16 1924
[7] Al-Karmel 18
January 1936
[8] Al-Karmel 10
October 1932.
[10] Al-Karmel 9 July
1932
[11] The Salesians of Don Bosco (or
the Salesian Society, officially named the Society of
St. Francis de Sales) is a Roman Catholic Latin Rite religious
institute founded in the late nineteenth
century by Italian priest Saint John Bosco to help poor children during the Industrial
Revolution. In Mandate
Palestine Salesian societies were spread in Bethlehem and Haifa.
[12] Al-Karmel 1 May
1928
[13] Al-Karmel, 14
September 1935.
[14] Al-Karmel 1 February
1936.
[15] Al-Karmel 15
February 1936
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