JFK’s Letter on His 1939 Visit to Palestine
Renee Parsons
Posted on February 24, 2026 by State of the Nation
https://stateofthenation.info/?p=52022

It is said that history repeats itself or perhaps the past merely echoes in a circular direction with each generation confronting a similar dichotomy as if the key to illuminating completion lies buried deep within the memory of humanity. Such recognition takes us back to 1939 when Harvard student John F. Kennedy, traveling on a life-expanding tour, found himself in Palestine, leaving the American public with melancholy thoughts of what might have been.

Kennedy may not have expected to experience what became a hundred year interference of Zionist superiority into the historic domination of Palestine’s indigenous, antediluvian population and a reverence for its extermination.

Of special interest is JFK’s letter to his father, former Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, written after completion of his visit and just prior to his departure for Bucharest. The letter, a lengthy, detailed account of the ongoing struggle between the immigration of Zionists and the native-born Arabs revealed Kennedy as deeply perceptive, analytical and well informed about all facets of the Palestine situation – as if the brilliance of Kennedy’s mind was not yet known. Reading the letter and its many factual complexity, it is obvious that JFK and his father had a great interest in Palestine and had had previous communication regarding Palestine’s dire situation.

As a practicing Catholic, it may be that Kennedy had some concern regarding the Zionists aggressive intrusion into Palestine and its devastating effect on Christianity in what was still referred to as the sacred “Holy Lands” in those days. Kennedy may also have been aware that the Palestinian Arabs had an ancient history as an indigenous, semitic population whose ancestors lived in Palestine for thousands of years, since the time of Jesus Christ, based on genetic evidence from the Canaanite era (3000 years ago).

There is no way that a few snippets from the Letter in this article will suffice to provide the full picture of JFK’s thoughtful analysis of the Arab-Israel conflict or to provide the full measure of the man that JFK was becoming. I encourage a full read of the letter in its entirety to fully appreciate how the conflict evolved since 1939 and especially as it evolved into the mass slaughter of the Palestinian people.