Emile Touma (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: إميل توما,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אמיל תומא, March 16, 1919 – Aug. 27, 1985), was a Palestinian and

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

political historian, journalist and theorist. Emile was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

to a wealthy

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

family in 1919. He attended the Orthodox School in

, then went to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to the St. George's School to complete his high school studies. He enrolled in

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

but left it in 1939 when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started. In that year he joined the

Palestine Communist Party The Palestine Communist Party ( yi, פאלעסטינישע קומוניסטישע פארטיי, ''Palestinische Komunistische Partei'', abbreviated PKP; ar, الحزب الشيوعي الفلسطيني) was a political party in British Mandate ...

. In 1944 Touma, Fuad Nassar and

Emile Habibi Emile Shukri Habibi ( ar, إميل حبيبي, he, אמיל חביבי, 28 January 1922 – 2 May 1996) was a Palestinian-Israeli

established a new newspaper, ''

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

'', which published its first edition on 14 May 1944. In January 1947 Touma travelled to a conference of Communist parties of the British Empire in London, where he argued against

partition of Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as Re ...

. He was arrested in Lebanon in 1948. In 1949 he returned to

and continued working as editor-in-chief of ''Al-Ittihad''. In 1965 he joined the eastrization foundation in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

where he got his PhD in History for his dissertation on

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

, "The March of the Arab Peoples and the Problems of Arab Unity" ("مسيرة الشعوب العربية ومشاكل الوحدة العربية") In 1942, along with Dr.

Haidar Abdel-Shafi Haidar Abdel-Shafi (Heidar Abdul-Shafi) ( ar, حيدر عبد الشافي June 10, 1919 – September 25, 2007), was a Palestinian physician, community leader and political leader who was the head of the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid C ...

, and the late Mukhlis Amer, Habibi and Mufid Nashashibi, Touma was a founder of the Palestinian National Liberation League. He wrote 15 books and hundreds of articles about politics, history and culture. He was married to Chaia Karberg, an Israeli ceramic artist of Jewish background, originally from Moldova.

Commemoration

*The Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies, established in 1986, is named for him. *In 2004 a street was named for him in Haifa's

Wadi Nisnas Wadi Nisnas ( ar, وادي النسناس; he, ואדי ניסנאס) is a formerly mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel, which is becoming mixed again. ''Nisnas'' is the Arabic word for mongoose, an indigen ...

References

External links

Touma's biography at Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies
1919 births 1985 deaths Writers from Haifa 20th-century Palestinian historians National Liberation League in Palestine politicians Palestinian communists Israeli communists Israeli people of Palestinian descent Arab citizens of Israel Israeli newspaper editors Israeli Christian socialists Palestinian Christian socialists {{Israel-bio-stub