Pierre van Paassen
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Pierre van Paassen (1895-1968) was a Dutch-Canadian-American journalist, writer, and Unitarian minister. Van Paassen was born in Gorcum, The Netherlands. He emigrated with his parents to Canada in 1914. He left theological school to serve with the Canadian army in World War I. After the war he worked as an international correspondent and columnist for the New York Evening World, in which capacity he gained fame reporting on the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, as well as on the on-going African slave trade. Van Paassen was generally considered a Zionist supporter, but, fundamentally, he was a Christian democratic socialist concerned, as he put it in "Days", for the enduring struggle for justice for individuals. He was certainly a staunch opponent of fascism in Italy, Germany and France from the 1920s, reinforced by the ten days he spent in the Dachau concentration camp in late March 1933.
In 1933 he traveled incognito to the Dome of the Rock, which is a famous Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. He was accompanied by a British Intelligence officer; both smeared their faces and hands with burnt cork, to give them an Arab appearance. They also wore long white garments, to give them a “Hadjihs” appearance. Their evasiveness was a necessity, for nonbelievers were (and still are) not allowed in areas that are considered to be the holiest places in the world of Islam. The purpose of their venture was to get an inside look into the more radical elements of Islam by listening to what the Mullahs were preaching about in regards to the political turmoil that was taking place in then British controlled Palestine. Van Paassen was shocked by the defiance that was preached, and their "call to arms" against Great Britain. He would paint an eerie image to the world about the dangers of radical Islam, and their potential to cause a crisis in that region. Three years later The Great Uprising took form.
He also reported on the Italo-Ethiopian War, the Spanish Civil War and any number of regional European conflicts. Van Paassen's autobiography, detailing the stories behind his newspaper writings, went through at least twenty-two printings in the U.S. alone. He was ordained in 1946 and became a United States citizen in 1947.
His books include:
- Days of our Years (1939; autobiography)
- That Day Alone (1941)
- Earth Could Be Fair (1941)
- Why Jesus Died (1949)
- Jerusalem Calling! (1950)
- A Pilgrim's Vow (1956)
- A Crown of Fire (1960)
- To Number Our Days (1964)
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