Majallat Rawdat al-ma'arif: Constructing Identities within a Boys' School Journal in Mandatory Palestine

This article examines the role of Majallat Rawdat al-ma'arif, a journal produced by teachers and pupils in a private boys' school in Mandatory Palestine, its place within the context of the local Arabic press, and the means it used to construct identities among its readers. Although Majallat Rawdat al-ma'arif was one of many school journals that paralleled the development of the daily press in Palestine, this journal sought a much more influential and serious role than other school journals by reflecting on issues of identity. Through discussions on Islam, Arabic language, and descriptions of trips made throughout Palestine, the journal articulated a set of complex and overlapping identities, from pan-Arabism, pan-Islamism, and local territorial nationalism. In addition, Majallat Rawdat al-ma'arif rejected western culture by criticising the missionary school, and unlike the other school journals, most of which belonged to missionary schools, did not advertise western goods nor praise Jewish immigration and British colonialism.