- 6 أيلول 2017
- مقابلة خاصة
By Ali Qleibo
Diaries and journals were a prominent feature of daily life at the turn of the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century among the Jerusalemite Ottoman-era Arab (ottoman culture, values and fluency in Turkish language gave the jerusalemites their identity in a way similar to Victorian society and values) bourgeoisie. A personal record of events, experiences, thoughts, and observations that formed a discourse with the self was common practice. My father, born in 1892, and a contemporary of Aref el Aref has bequeathed us small booklets in which he had jotted down entries that included detailed price list of the vegetables he bought, the people he saw and brief account of everyday encounters. The preponderance of this literary discourse is a suggestive of a high level of literacy, mental acuity and culture. Significantly this form of literary expression served as the first draft for the writers that were to flourish during the British Mandate such asAref el-Aref, Ishak el Husseini, Khalil el SakakynyWasefJawhariehand IhsanSalihTurjman among others…
When Aref el Aref assumed his position in 1930 as District AdministrativeOfficer قائم مقام in Bir El Sabe'بير السبع(known by its biblical nameBeer Sheba),he found himself in a conundrum. Righteous, reserved and pious he wrote in his diary, that became part of his forward to his seminal oeuvre, "The Bedouin Tribes of Bir El-Sabe'."
"From the very first moment in Bir El-Sabe', I realized thatit would be impossible to proceed with my workandresolve theendless disputes among the contentious Arabian tribes withouta full understanding oftheir culture and common practices. I could notdiscern and judgerightly without knowing their manners and customs. So I started to follow their news and search for their cultural landmarks, and learn to discern their customary laws and practices, what is socially sanctioned to them and what is tabooed…."
His quests for justice as District Officer among the Bedouins of BirEl-Sabe lead him to the realization of "justice" as a culture specific concept and prompted his total immersion as a participant observer in Bedouin tribal life. His research culminated in his classic book "The Bedouin tribes of Bir El Sabe'." The book of which a few copies survive in private libraries presents a compendium that is a main reference work for ethnographers and folklorists and whose topics encompass justice among Bedouins, the legends, myths, customs and manners and of the obsolete trial by fire, albas'a (البشعه)
Historian, journalist, and politician, el-Aref is recognized for his pioneering historical works on Jerusalem, Gaza,Asqalanعسقلان (known by its biblical name Ashqelon), his ethnographic work on the Bedouin tribes, and his analytical insights into the Nakba. A long inventory of his pioneering books remains the major reference for any serious student of Palestine. Educated in the best Ottoman tradition, el-Aref rose to great prominence during the British Mandate as District Administrative Officer in Jenin, Nablus, Beisan, Jaffa, Bir El Sabe', and Gaza. In the Jordanian era, he was appointed twice as mayor of Jerusalem, and he was the last Arab director of the Rockefeller Museum.
Aref el-Aref represents the consummate isami (self-made) personality. The adjective “isami” عصامي is a positive term that is often ascribed to the Hamidi(named after the Ottoman sultan who ruled 1876-1908) generation of Palestinians whose exemplary moral fibre, unique visions, indefatigable energy and charisma accounts for their great success. The isami, self-made man, was distinguished by the fact that he came from a modest background, had no inheritance to depend on, and worked his way up, dependant on his own merits without the traditional nepotistic mediation. Together with the other pioneers, the children of the effendis and dignitaries from the major Palestinian cities, this generation created the Palestinian Nahdah, (Renaissance). In Jerusalem this generation includes Dr. Ishaq Musa el-Husseini, Is’af el-Nashashibi, Khalil al-Sakakini, and TawfiqKan’an to name a few. Their works formed the nucleus of our modern Palestinian literary library. The loss of Palestine, the Nakba, and the ensuing brain drain stymied their work.
The dynamic vitality of Palestinian culture whose pioneers forged the path into the twentieth century is a testimony to the roots of Palestinian modernism in Ottoman culture and values. Western Historical narratives on the modern period of Jerusalem are often based on religious myths and Western encounters with the city. This literature hasa warped view of Jerusalem in particular and Palestine in general in which the local Arab Palestiniansare marginalized and almost invisible. Though at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Jerusalem was a small provincial centre, it is not necessarily true that Ottoman rule was backward and calamitous as has been previously portrayed. Looking at the sources available, most of the accounts depicting Jerusalem as a dreadful place misruled by the ‘terrible’ Turks are in fact Western accounts. The modernization in Palestine, contrary to British accounts, did not begin with the British mandate.
Ottoman reform in Jerusalem, as well as the rest of Palestine and greater Syria, did not begin with the Ottomans. Modern historiographers trace the history of modernism in Palestine and greater Syria to Mohammad Ali, viceroy of Egypt, who in 1831 conquered and occupied Palestine for nine years by an Egyptian army led by his son Ibrahim Pasha and wrested power from the Ottomans in Egypt, Palestine and most of Syria. The Egyptian rulers issued a series of reforms, which left a lasting impact on legal and political affairs; these reforms were revolutionary and form the basis of modernization. Law and order were enforced, including maintaining security on the roads – a factor which made Jerusalem and the rest of the country much safer and more accessible to foreign visitors
In 1840 the Ottoman Turks succeeded in driving the Egyptians from the country, with the aid of several European powers, and reinstituted their rule. The returning Turks continued these reforms through a policy known as the Tanzimat. This was designed to allow the Ottomans (indeed it referered to all ottoman subjects including the Turks)to develop the skills to run the economy and society in a modern way and to develop the technology they needed to develop modern armies and the economy need to sustain such forces
To revitalize Ottoman Moslem culture and updating it the educational system and curriculum was completely secularized and a new secular elite was created. The Ottoman government created schools and universities in Istanbul based on the western European model. As early as 1891 The Ottoman government opened the first general secondary school in Jerusalem, (Rushdiya). All the children of the city, regardless of their religion could attend classes in Arabic, Turkish, French and the basic sciences. The Tanzimat reforms focused heavily on reforming the Ottoman education system. Ottoman education had been dominated by the Islamic Clerics, but the reforms reduced their influence
As Ottoman citizens, the Jerusalem born politicians, writers and intellectuals chief among who stands Aref el Aref were the beneficiaries of the modern educational system, which was developed by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The curriculum generally paralleled the Western model. French and German specialists were even invited to teach in Istanbul’s major colleges. Significantly, the last Sultan used his power as Caliph and Caliph opened the doors to children of the less affluent classes, giving them an opportunity to compete for admission in competitive schools, colleges, the higher posts in civil service and the army. Primary and secondary schools and colleges in Istanbul (called al-Asitana at the time) welcomed young Arabs, fluent in the Turkish language, into their classrooms. From Nablus, Gaza, and Jerusalem, families sent their children to the imperial capital to acquire the necessary training to assume the administrative functions now open to Palestinians.
Born to a humble family, Aref el-Aref’s father was a vegetable vendor in سويقة علونAllun Market. An outstanding student in primary school, he persuaded his father to send him to secondary school in Istanbul alongside Palestinians from families such as Khalidy, Hasna, Tamimi, Hashem, Qleibo, and Abdel Hady. The number of Palestinians as Muslim Sheikhs, Ottoman functionaries, parliamentarians, and young students in boarding schools was staggering. Together with the other Arab nationals, Istanbul in 1900 seems to have been teeming with Arabs.
El-Aref attended school at the Marjan Preparatory School in Istanbul. Because of his excellence, he entered and won an academic contest. He enrolled at the Mulkiyya College in Istanbul. He was proficient in Turkish and eventually mastered Russian, German, English, French, and Hebrew, allowing him to read primary source materials.El-Arefsupported his college studies by writing in a Turkish newspaper. Later he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a translator. During the war against Russia, he was conscripted, and then imprisoned in Siberia. His return home took him via Manchuria, Japan, China, and Egypt via the Red Sea to arrive to Jerusalem already under British occupation: a great adventure that is well documented in his published diary.
Ironically, Sultan Abdul Hamid did not reap the fruits of the modernism whose seeds he had sown. His reforms created the pioneer statesmen and intellectuals who matured and found employment in Mandate Palestine. A historic lacuna exists whereby historiographers invariably attribute the modernization of Palestine to British colonialism, undermining the role of the last Ottoman Sultan in jolting traditional Palestine into modernity.
The collection of Aref el-Aref works provides scholars and laymen with a thick description of the history and ethnography of Palestinian cities. His avowed objective was to highlight the Arab character of these Beer Sheba, Gaza, Ashqelon and Jerusalem as meansto reinforce the nascent Palestinian national patriotism with knowledge. In his seminal work, The History of Jerusalem, he sought to clarify the historical relations between the contemporary Palestinians and the history of the city of Jerusalem and underline its Arabic character. El-Aref traces the history of Jerusalem to its ear beginnings as a Jebusitecity state, before the arrival of the Hebrews. But he focused his in depth description on the history of the city from the Mamluke period whence the archival record became his main source of information.
The inventory of Aref el-Aref’s books makes a very long list. It is difficult to single out any of his books as his masterpiece; each is a special and unique contribution to a major aspect of Palestine. A copy of The Detailed History of Jerusalem (المفصل فيتاريخ القدس) is always next to my bed. The book, over one thousand pages, provides an in depth description of history of the Holy City. In addition to the detailed historical outline of Jerusalem, the book is interspersed with personally translated long excerpts from travelers and pilgrims both Moslem and Christian over the past 18 centuries describing their impressions of the city, its markets, customs, and way of life. Various narratives proffering key historical events are objectively presented. In addition, he provides a full description of contemporary Jerusalem crafts, schools, mosques, markets, water systems, etc. In short, the various cultural, economic, educational, and religious aspects of modern 1947 Jerusalem are also fully archived in the concluding chapter. The fluidity of the language and the simplicity of the vocabulary, harnessed by the expert eye of a reporter cooperate to present an extremely engaging reading.
Aref el-Aref felt at home among the tribal Bedouins and loved Bir El-Sabe'. It was there that he built his beautiful villa that has been preserved by the Israelis as a museum. During the various positions as a government functionary he occupied in Palestine, he simply rented. Apart from their years as colleagues in Istanbul and as District officers throughout the British Mandate an in-law affinal relation ties our families; his wife from the illustrious Borno Family in Gaza was the aunt of my wife. My uncle, AbedlRazzaqQleibo, although he had held the same position as el-Aref throughout Palestineand was the last District Administrative Officer قائم مقامin BirEl-Sabe’, turned to Banking andis one of the co-founders of Bank of Palestine in the early 1950's. As a child I had been to el Aref's home in Ramallah on family visits. He was already very old and spent much of his time in his library. His children tried to buy the villa to preserve their father’s literary and intellectual heritage, but to no avail. Mrs. Faridah el-Amad, his daughter, told me that his extensive library was finally donated to Al Quds and Birzeit universities and the children and grandchildren shared the books of sentimental value.
Only in Gaza, the bastion of Palestinian chivalry, the landlord would not rent el-Aref’s residence. His faithful friends from Asqalan, Al Majdal, Bir el-Sabe’, and Gaza consecrated the house he once occupied as a museum in loyal memory of the man they loved and respected.
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The plethora of diaries and journals deployed in the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century by the Jerusalem Ottoman Arab Bourgeoisie is astounding. Our grandparents, my father's generation, wrote down their private thoughts, entries of events and purchases of the day and excerpts of poems or inspired quotes by classical writers. Theirs was the period of gallantry, erudition and penmanship.
Dr. Ali Qleibo is an artist, author, and anthropologist. He has lectured at Al-Quds University and held a fellowship at Shalom Hartman Institute; he was visiting professor at Tokyo University for Foreign Studies, Japan. As a specialist in Palestinian social history and through his work at the Jerusalem Research Center, he has developed the Palestinian Social and Muslim Tourism Itinerary. Dr. Qleibo has authored various books, including Surviving the Wall,Before the Mountains Disappear, and Jerusalem in the Heart. A renowned oil painter, he has held numerous art shows.He may be reached at aqleibo@yahoo.com.
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