Palestine: A Modern History (ص 11)

غرض

عنوان

Palestine: A Modern History (ص 11)

المحتوى

24 = Crystallisation 1908-1914
immigration and land acquisition by them. Furthermore, membets of
thé (Ottoman) ruling Committee for Union and Progress, with branches
in Palestine; endeavoured to exercise inter-party pressure to draw the
attention of the ruling junta to ‘the danger which menaces the country
and the peasants from Jewish immigration’.®
The Forms and Forums of Arab Opposition to Zionism
By the end of 1909 sustained vocal opposition to Zionist immigration
had become the order of the day. The mounting Palestinian
opposition was promoted and adequately expressed by: the only Arabic
newspapers in Palestine al-Asma? and al-Karmal. The‘ editor of the
latter paper- played a leading role in publicising the Zionist threat to
Palestine and the Palestinians. Najib al-Khuri Nassar, a native of
Tiberias, had worked with the Jewish Colonisation Association as an
agent .and: thus was able to speak with authority’on the aims and the
means of Jewish colonisation in Palestine. He founded al-Karmal
(1909) with the express purpose of writing .agaifist the Yishuv in
Palestine as that the Arabs would not continue to sell land to the
Jews.? Complaints from Jews about articles which had: appeared in
al-Karmal resulted in its temporary suspension in ‘the early summer and
again in the winter of 1909. ‘
The notables found in the new Ottoman Parliament an opportunity
to: articulate Palestinian Arab opposition to Zionism and Jewish
immigration. At the beginning of June 1909; Hafez’ Bey al-Sa’id, the
deputy from Jaffa, submitted a question to the Chamber, asking what
Zionism implied and if the national movement of the Jews was
compatible.with the interests of the Empire. He also demandeéd that
the port of Jaffa be closed to Jewish immigrants.” Though the forum
was modern, the old role of the notable as an intermediary between the
ruler and the.fuled persisted.
Towards the end of the year there was a note of exaspération in the
air. In October, al-Ahram sent a correspondent to Palestine to report on
the local situation. ‘The Palestinians are concerned about the Zionist
Movement; constant immigration creates fear and anxiety for the
country is now‘ almost in the hands of foreigners.”* Furthermore, the
reporter recorded thatthe Palestinians accused the Zionist Movement in
Palestine of seeking to establish an independent kingdom, and asserted
that some rich* Jews had undertaken to pay sums of money to the
Ottoman Government so' that the Ottoman Jews in Palestine would be
spared military. service and could devote all their efforts towards
colonisation, at a timé.when Muslims and Christians had no alternative
Po
Crystallisation 1908-1914 25
but to undergo the hated military service.
Amidst resentment and suspicion of Governmental collusion, a
significant development took place in the same year’ opposition to
Zionism and Jewish settlément began to-assume an organisational form.
In October 1909, Albert Antebi observed that a group was being
formed among the local population to prevent sales of land to Jews.!2
In addition to the familiar platforms of protest — newspaper articles
telegrams and delegations — to the. various levels of authority, the year
1910 witnessed the emergence of a call for an Arab boycott of Jewish
goods and businesses in retaliation for ‘Zionist boycott of Arab labour
and shops. .
In May 1910, the Arab press attatked the Sursuq family for their
intention to sell the villages of Fulah and ‘Afulah to the Jews. The
inhabitants of Nazareth: and’ Haifa despatched twé telegrams to the
Central Government protesting against Jewish land purchases and
accusing the Zionists! of seeking to deprive the local population of its
land.” Al-Karmal warned against mortgaging any land with the Anglo-
Palestine Company because of its Zionist identity. In the ‘middle of
May, a group of Arab deputies demanded an assurance from Tala‘t Bey
that Jews would not be permitted to take “possession: of the ‘local
population’s lands and that mass Jewish immigration would not be
tolerated.’4
Protestations to the Ottoman authorities were not in vain. When an
official of the British Embassy in Constantinope spoke to Tala‘t Bey
about the renewed land restrictions, he was told that ‘they weré ‘the
outcome of complaints of the local inhabitants who: feared a fordign
Jewish invasion’ .25
By the sutnmer of 1910, several influential Arabic newspapers ‘in
Damascus (al-Muqtabas) and in Beirut (al-Mifid, al-Haqiqa, and al-Ra‘i
al- Am) were won over to the campaign against the sale of Arab lands to
Jewish settlers and becaitie part of the anti-Zionist ptéss caniphign. In
Some cases Najib Nassar’s efforts were instrumental in drawing the
attention of the editors to the Zionist danger.'®
During debates in Parliament the Palestinian deputies urged the
Government to take action against ‘Jewish immigration and land
purchases and were energetically promoting and propagating the notion
of the incompatibility between Ottoman interests and Zionist aims in
Palestine. ‘During March and April Dr. Jacobson réported from
Constantinople that the Arab deputies, especially Ruhi' Bey al-Khalidi,
Ww . . . . . +
vere conducting a campaign for new legislation against Jewish immigra-
tion into Palestine.”!7

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

مجموعات العناصر

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