Late Ottoman Palestine and Arab Nationalism

Question 1

What does Tamari argue was in a turning point in Arab-Ottoman relations?

Answer 1

Revival of derogatory epitaphs towards Arabs - revival in ethnic tensions

Question 2

Who launched an anti-Arabist campaign?

Answer 2

Cemal Pasha

Question 3

Who challenges the argument that there was no specific campaign against Arab nationalism, but rather a centralising and modernising campaign, as reflected in Turkification of state schools and institutions of higher education?

Answer 3

Kayali

Question 4

What is the motivation of Arab nationalists in their anti-Ottoman historiography?

Answer 4

‘Othering’ and positioning themselves on the right side of history - internalised Western, anti-Ottoman discourse.

Question 5

Which two historians reflect the ‘neo-Ottomanism’ trend?

Answer 5

Tamari and Doumani

Question 6

What is the motivation behind the revive interest in Palestine’s Ottoman past?

Answer 6

Part of writing Ottoman Palestinians back into history - cannot start in 1917. Also due to failure of pan-Arab nationalism

Question 7

How many were in the Ottoman Empire in 1914 and what was the confessional breakdown?

Answer 7

1914 - 20 million, 80% Muslim - rest very mixed.

Question 8

The control of which three cities was central to the standing of the Ottoman Empire? Why?

Answer 8

Hijaz, Jerusalem, Damascus - needed to control Islamic holy cites and pilgrimage roots

Question 9

Other than its religious significance, why was Palestine important to the Ottoman Empire?

Answer 9

Commercial significance - tax revenues

Question 10

What was the religious breakdown of Palestine in 1904?

Answer 10

89% Muslim, 10% Christian, 1% Druze.

Question 11

By how many people did the population of Palestine increase from 1908-14? Why?

Answer 11

Over 74,000. Better security, nutrition, public health, steady economic growth

Question 12

What are examples of ‘technologies of change’ in late Ottoman Palestine/OE?

Answer 12

Hijaz railway, telegraph (17,000miles of telegraph lines), water pumps, identity papers

Question 13

When was an Ottoman land law introduced?

Answer 13

1858

Question 14

What are two reasons the land law failed?

Answer 14

Assumption that fellahin would register lands; that land registry would be impartial and effective

Question 15

What law was introduced in 1864? What was one of its main consequences?

Answer 15

Wilayat Law - creation of provinces, districts, subdistricts. Shifted role of tax collection from rural sheikhs to urban notables

Question 16

What were two main links which enabled Palestine to stay connected to the rest of the Empire?

Answer 16

Trade links e.g. to merchants in Aleppo and Damascus and seaports. Pilgrimage too. Cultural links - AUB, magazines, dailys, books published in Beirut and Damascus

Question 17

How were local political bonds created?

Answer 17

Ottoman Parliament and Arab political societies in later years

Question 18

What were four main ways that the West ‘intervened’ in the OE/Palestine?

Answer 18

Consulates in Jerusalem; exploration e.g. 1865 Palestine Exploration Fund; photographers; construction and tourism

Question 19

What did Lord Kitchener complete in the 1870s?

Answer 19

Survey of Western Palestine

Question 20

What is a succinct summary of whether there was a ‘Palestinian identity’ in this period and the meaningfulness of this question?

Answer 20

There was a local identity but whether it qualifies to be called nationalism is not so interesting anyway - obviously Palestinian nationalisms developed when borders were decided

Question 21

When was Jerusalem established as an independent Ottoman district? (mutasarrifiyya)When does it become an administrative unit?

Answer 21

1872. 1887.

Question 22

When did Palestinian deputies raise the issue of Zionist land purchases in the Ottoman Parliament?

Answer 22

1908-12

Question 23

What was founded in 1911?

Answer 23

Filastin

Question 24

What was the significance of the creation of an independent Jerusalem administrative unit?

Answer 24

Framework which allowed emergence of an elite which could promote the idea of a nation. Representative.

Question 25

When was there a civil war in Nablus? What was it about?

Answer 25

1841-58. Positions of civil governor and shaykh

Question 26

What enabled an increase in notable power in the late Ottoman period?

Answer 26

Needed them to implement new legal codes and new taxing procedures - consolidated power bases and roles as patrons of villages

Question 27

What was the name of the school founded by Sakakini? When was it founded? What was significant about it?

Answer 27

al-Dusturiyyeh. 1909. First secular, non-state school - radical in its politics. Humanist.

Question 28

What suggests the Ottoman affiliation of Sakakini's school?

Answer 28

Uniform had Ottoman flag

Question 29

Who has emphasised the autonomy and power of elites in this period?

Answer 29

Muslih

Question 30

What should we emphasise about the influence of colonialism in this period?

Answer 30

Not victims of colonialism - could make the most of Western and Zionist intervention e.g. Sakakini as translator for Zionist activists.

Question 31

When did a commercial bourgeoisie begin to form?

Answer 31

After Crimean War - esp. after 1867.

Question 32

To what does Scholch attribute economic growth in this period?

Answer 32

EU economic penetration of south/easts Med periphery; incorporation into global economic system; improved security situation after 1850s.

Question 33

What three roles were played by local and foreign merchants?

Answer 33

Landowners, moneylenders, tax farmers

Question 34

What were the major crops in this period?

Answer 34

Wheat, sesame, olive oil, barley

Question 35

How many factories were there in Palestine before WWI and how many were owned by Arabs?

Answer 35

1236. 75%.

Question 36

Who settled in Haifa, when?

Answer 36

350 Templars - after 1867

Question 37

What did the Ottoman Map from 1914 show?

Answer 37

Palestine as an administrative unit - was not - mutasariflik of Jerusalem

Question 38

What did the ottomans publish in 1915? What was it?

Answer 38

Filastin Risalesi - official army publication/handbook

Question 39

What has Tamari pointed out about the 1915 ottoman map?

Answer 39

Includes towns beyond the M of J - Akka, Nablus, Galilee region

Question 40

Who argues that the Naqab is excluded from the 1915 ottoman map because the area south of Beersheba was considered wilderness?

Answer 40

Foster

Question 41

What does Doumani argue about the different historiographies of the ottoman Period?

Answer 41

Operate within a single discourse - narrow, similar periodisation, agreement on active forces of change

Question 42

What has Campos stressed existed for most of this period? What happens by wwi?

Answer 42

Civic ottomanism - pressures begin to unscramble the omelet