Jewish-Arab Relations under Ottoman Rule

IAFS/JWST 3650

Istanbul

Announcements

• Map/plagiarism quiz retake on Thu–Use tally mark to indicate whether or not

you’ll take quiz

Announcements

• IAFS summer seminar in Bordeaux

Outline

• Ottoman Empire• Ottoman Decline• ID and Society in Holy Land• Holy Land Significance

The Ottoman Empire

• Anatolian roots• 1453: capture of Constantinople

The Ottoman Empire

• 16th c expansion• Diverse population• Millet system based on dhimmi structure

The Ottoman Empire

• 16th c/17th c roots of decline• Internal problems• European economic competition

Jews in 19th c Holy Land

• Early 19th c: Greater Syria’s Jewish population ~25,000–Roughly half in what became Palestine

• Mostly in cities• Most Sephardim, some Ashkenazim

Ottoman Decline (19th c)

• Turmoil in Holy Land–1831-1840: Egyptian occupation under

Ibrahim– Ibrahim gave Jews and Christians equality

with Muslims

Ottoman Decline (19th c)

• Empire-wide instability• 1839: Hatti Sharif of Gulhane• 1856: Hatti Humayun

Identity and Society in the Holy Land

• Sanjaks (districts) within vilayets (provinces)• Notables: provided security (in theory),

collected taxes• Jerusalem notables: derived power from

religious offices

Identity and Society in the Holy Land

• Identity–Peasants: loyalty to land, village– Educated Arabs: sense of living in area

called Palestine, within greater Syria

Quickthink

• 2-3 min small group discussion• Review, critical analysis• What’s the significance of the fact that in mid-

19th c we don’t yet see clear Arab identity, let alone specifically Palestinian nationality?

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• Early 19th c Holy Land poor and neglected• 1850s: Christian pilgrimage tours• Pilgrims and tourists meant revenue,

European attention

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

Lizars, Daniel. Egypt [map]. [1831?]. 1:2,100,000. “David Rumsey Map Collection.”

• Shifting geopolitics

• Egyptian autonomy

• British/French rivalry re Suez isthmus

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• Palestine (to be) increasingly important to Ottomans

• Jerusalem made directly responsible to Constantinople

• Increased stability

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• Economic and social improvements for Jews• Increased Jewish immigration• Jerusalem’s Jewish population:–1839: ~5000–1850s: ~10,000

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• British interest:–Humanitarian–Political: Jewish support for British aims in

exchange for British protection

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• New patterns of land ownership– Land title bought by small number of people– Peasants continued working land– Groundwork for later Zionist purchases

Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)

• Rise in agricultural and industrial production– Wheat, cotton, citrus, soap– Preceded Zionist colonization

Conclusions

• Ottoman control of greater Syria brought stability, based on dhimmi system

• 19th c: Greater Jewish and Christian equality unsettled this system

• Shifting geopolitics of mid/late-19th c contributed to rise in status of Holy Land