“The American People Know So Little”: The Palestine Arab Refugee Office and the Challenges of Anti-Orientalism in the United States, 1955–1962

Abstract

This paper explores the activities of the New York-based Palestine Arab Refugee Office (PARO), the first unofficial Palestinian-led organization that defended Palestinian self-determination in the United States following the establishment of Israel. Based mainly on the private papers of PARO public-relations officer Sami Hadawi, the memoirs and writings of PARO president Dr. Izzat Tannous, as well as rare PARO publications (such as its monthly newsletter), it examines how this small, two-person operation attempted to culturally decolonize U.S. state and society, and thus Palestinians in the process.

Keywords

• U.S.-Palestine Relations
• Decolonization
• Anti-Orientalism
• Palestinian National Movement
• Postcolonialism
• Humanitarianism