College Journals, Educational Modernism and Palestinian Nationalism in Mandatory Palestine: Majallat al-Kulliyyah al-‘Arabiyyah

Abstract

This article examines the role of Majallat al-Kulliyyah al-‘Arabiyyah, a ‘School Journal’ published by the Arab College in Jerusalem during the Mandatory period. This School Journal was a key agent of modernisation, enlightenment and national awareness among the Palestinian people. A period of intense national struggle, the Mandatory period was replete with political and military upheavals that decided the fate of the country and ended with the expulsion of more than half of the Palestinians and the Palestine Nakba of 1948. Among the most significant cultural changes during the Mandate, that had a major positive impact on Palestinians, was the expansion of the press, including the School Journals. These School Journals played a crucial role in widening the circle of education in Palestine, reducing illiteracy rates, advancing modernisation processes in Arab society and, importantly, promoting Palestinian Arab nationalist ideas as an instrument of national struggle against British colonialism and the Zionist settler movement in Palestine. The article focuses on Majallat al-Kulliyyah al-‘Arabiyyah as the most widespread and influential Arab School Journal during the Mandate period and analyses the key role played by this School Journal in Palestinian educational institutions and the Palestinian national-political struggles during the Mandatory period.