Ottoman Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine (75 page)

BOOK: Ottoman Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine
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28.
Al-Munādī
, April 30, 1912, quoted in Yehoshu‘a,
Yerushalayim tmol shilshom
, 109.

29.
Al-Munādī
, March 19, 1912.

30.
August 10, 1910. CZA A153/143; emphasis mine.

31.
Küdüs-u Şerif tijaret sanaet ve-ziraat odasi. Some sources claim that a Chamber of Commerce existed in Jerusalem in 1905, but I have not been able to uncover more information about it. Polus, “Kalkalat Yerushalayim.” For information on the early years of the Jaffa chamber, see al-Tawarnah, “Qada Jaffa.”

32.
Antébi to AIU (Paris), December 24, 1908. AAIU, Israel-IX.E.26. A news report from the time states that half of the members of the Jerusalem branch were Jews, which would have been very possible given the demographic basis of Jerusalem.
Ha-Po'el ha-
a'ir
, December 1908. Unfortunately we have no comprehensive list of the chamber's members, but one issue of the chamber's monthly bulletin listed new members.
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 1, no. 6, December 1909; Jerusalem). JMA, box
1779. The dues were reportedly four to twelve dollars annually. In local terms this was between 116 and 348
kuruş
, a sizable sum. J. Hardegg (Jaffa) to S. Edelman (American vice-consul in charge, Jerusalem), December 6, 1913; NACP, correspondence 1913 IV, general correspondence, 1912–35, Jerusalem Consulate (350/26/11/1–2), records of the foreign service posts of the Department of State, record group 84. Brill, an employee of the ICA, paid 42.20 francs for his annual dues in 1909. CZA, J15/6090.

33.
The Jerusalem officers of the chamber of commerce were Hajj Yusuf Wafa (president), Albert Antébi (vice-president), Selim Ayoub (secretary), and assessors Isma‘il Husayni, David Taher, and Jacob Tagger—three Jews, two Muslims, and one Christian. In Jaffa, the officers were Mahmud al-Bizre (president), Saleh Kinge Ahmet (vice-president), and committee members Darwish Chehab al-Din, George Abu Goss, Nejuib Beiruti, Nassri Talamas, and Daoud Mizrachi—three Muslims, three Christians, and one Jew. J. Hardegg (Jaffa) to S. Edelman (American vice-consul charge, Jerusalem), December 11, 1913; NACP, correspondence 1913 IV, general correspondence, 1912–35, Jerusalem Consulate (350/26/11/1–2), records of the foreign service posts of the Department of State, record group 84.

34.
J. Hardegg (Jaffa) to S. Edelman (American vice-consul in charge, Jerusalem), December 6, 1913; NACP, correspondence 1913 IV, general correspondence, 1912–35, Jerusalem Consulate (350/26/11/1–2), records of the foreign service posts of the Department of State, record group 84. See also al-Tawarnah, “Qada Jaffa,” 159.

35.
Antébi to Aharon Eisenberg (Re
ovot), July 29, 1909. AAIU, Israel-IX.E.27;
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 1, no. 6, December 1909; Jerusalem). JMA, box 1779.

36.
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 2, nos. 8–9, August—September 1910; Jerusalem). JMA, box 1779. The chamber noted that the commercial court had been discontinued five to six years prior “for reasons unknown to us.”

37.
Haifa was linked up to the Hijaz Railroad, but there was public pressure to expand it to provide local transportation to link up ‘Akka and Afula via Nazareth, and Afula and Ramle via Nablus. See
Ha-
erut
, November 21, 1910, and letter from Haifa-‘Akka French Consulate to Paris, August 16, 1911. Box 430, MAEF. It seems there was also a train between Haifa and ‘Akka, which stopped in Balad al-Shaykh-the total trip time was two hours. Letter from Haifa/'Akka French Consulate to Paris, September 23, 1913. Box 430, MAEF. On the intracity trams, see Constantinople Embassy of France to French Foreign Ministry (Paris), May 31, 1909; MAEF, microfilm roll 132, Correspondence Politique et Commerciale/Nouvelle Série (Turquie); September 21, 1909. ISA 67, peh/456:474.

38.
See Ben-Arieh,
Jerusalem in the 19th Century.

39.
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine (year 1, nos. 3–4, September—October 1909). ISA 67, peh/456:473.

40.
Its members consisted of the mufti Kamel al-Husayni; the engineer Nazif al-Khalidi; Wasfi, the city's public works engineer; Mahmud Ragheb al-Husayni, secretary of finances; as well as ‘Ali Jaralla, notary; Sélim Ayoub, bank director; and Albert Antébi, director of the AIU vocational school. Committee report reproduced in
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 1, nos. 3–4, September—October 1909). ISA 67, peh/456:473. The original is in CZA L51/6.

41.
Société commerciale de Palestine à Jerusalem,
Statuts.

42.
The bank also had to submit their balance to the grand Vizierate, the Ministry of Commerce, and the local government. Gueyrand to Pichon, July 24, 1909; MAEF, microfilm roll 132, Correspondence Politique et Commerciale/ Nouvelle Série (Turquie). For the political mission of the organization, see also Levontin and Ruppin to Wolffsohn, January 17, 1909. CZA L1/119. For the Young Turks' economic nationalism see Ahmad, “Vanguard of a Nascent Bourgeoisie.” However, I disagree with Ahmad's characterization of the non-Muslim bourgeoisie as “compradors” and his assumption that they saw their interests as lying with Europe, not with the Ottoman Empire.

43.
Gueyrand to Pichon, July 22, 1909; MAEF, microfilm roll 132, Correspondence Politique et Commerciale/Nouvelle Série (Turquie). See Levontin and Ruppin to Wolffsohn, January 17, 1909. CZA L1/119. See also
Ha-
erut, Ha-Po'el ha-
a'ir
, December 1908.

44.
For a sample share agreement see file 44/1,57/?/12, Institute for the Revival of Islamic Research and Heritage, Abu Dis (Jerusalem). The BCP aimed to raise 566,750 francs by selling individual and investor shares locally. They reported that the shares were sold at forty-five to fifty francs per share. Letter from David Levontin and Arthur Ruppin (APC) to David Wolffsohn (Cologne), January 17, 1909. CZA L1/119. See also January 6, 1909, Anglo-Palestine Bank report. AAIU, Israel-IX.E.26.

45.
Société commerciale de Palestine a Jerusalem,
Statuts.

46.
Ha-
erut
, September 10, 1909;
El Liberal
, September 24, 1909; Polus, “Kalkalat Yerushalayim”; NACP, May-June 1912 C; general correspondence, 1912–35, Jerusalem Consulate (350/26/11/1–2), records of the foreign service posts of the Department of State, record group 84; NACP, miscellaneous correspondence, January-March 1912 A, general correspondence, 1912–35, Jerusalem Consulate (350/26/11/1–2), records of the foreign service posts of the Department of State, record group 84.

47.
Levontin and Ruppin to Wolffsohn, January 17, 1909. CZA L1/119; and Gueyrand to Pichon, July 22, 1909; MAEF, microfilm roll 132, Correspondence Politique et Commerciale/Nouvelle Série (Turquie).

48.
Gueyrand to Pichon, July 27, 1909; MAEF, microfilm roll 132, Correspondence Politique et Commerciale/Nouvelle Série (Turquie). “Projet-contrat présenté par la Banque commerciale de Palestine, approuvé par le Conseil administratif avec certains amendements” and “Mazbata du Conseil Administratif,” published in the
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 1, nos. 3–4, September—October 1909). ISA 67, peh/456:473.

49.
“Examen du contrat,” published in
Bulletin de la Chambre de commerce d'industrie et d'agriculture de Palestine
(year 1, nos. 3–4, September—October 1909). ISA 67, peh/456:473.

50.
Ibid.

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