Peace-Making and The Problem of Palestine: Maude Royden as Public Theologian

Growing international tensions in the late 1930s tested Maude Royden’s deep pacifist convictions.   Concerned about Nazi Germany’s expansion, Royden also focused on Palestine. She toured the region in spring 1938 to witness members of her Peace Army offering welfare support to both Arabs and Jews. Public talks and written statements followed, including a book titled The Problem of Palestine, published in the spring of 1939.  A recognized public theologian, Royden’s calls for peace in the region reflected her vision for interfaith understanding and reconciliation. She argued that a Jewish state, while necessary, should not be built at the expense of the Arabs, and the British government should put aside imperial concerns and meet the needs of all inhabitants of the region. In 1946, when invited to testify to the Anglo-American commission (on Palestine), she warned that the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine would bring more conflict.