Pre-Zionist Palestine in the Media: Zikhron Ya’akov, 1886
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Welcome to my new series! I will be translating articles from old Arabic newspapers that discuss Palestine, and showcasing various perspectives from English-language Jewish newspapers from the same time period. Why would I spend my time on something like this? I think it’s important to unearth the truth through the mouths of people actually living in these time periods. It’s fascinating to read how people thought. Despite my knowledge of historical anti-Zionism, I was surprised to find that antisemitism in Europe was so intense that the widespread desire to establish “Jewish colonies” (yes, you read that right) was more popular (at least in the media) than I had thought.
Zikhron Ya’akov, Al-Bashir
Here is an article from Al-Bashir, a Lebanese Catholic newspaper, about the Israelite colony “Zikhron Ya’akov,” published on September 8, 1886, which you can view in full here.
Israelite Colony in Palestine
(Zikhron Ya’akov)
Zikhron is a Hebrew word that means “memory.” And “Zikhron Ya’akov” means Zikhron Ya’akov. It was a name given by Parisian Baron de Rothschild in remembrance of his father to an Israelite colony that had recently taken up residence in Palestine, which he took under his wing and gave it protection. As far as its history is concerned, a foreigner felt entitled to leave his mark. So, we wanted to quote him from an Israelite newspaper called “Garde der Tempel,” meaning ‘temple guard’ that is printed in Stuttgart, which said:
When the violent rampage perpetrated against the Jews in Russia broke loose a few years ago, it transformed into a threat, punishment, and torture, driving Russian Israelite masses to America. Likewise, some Jews from the Kingdom of Romania recently resolved to emigrate and establish a homeland for their brethren in Palestine, as there it may replace the homeland they had with their brethren in Russia. To this end, the Committee for Immigrant Affairs and Settling the Land was formed in Galați under the leadership of a man called Ya’akov Lobel. It would require each family emigrating to pay a certain amount for the committee to buy the necessary land in Palestine, prepare a livable place for migrants, and support their expenses in the initial days after they had settled in the country. The total was 200,000 francs besides donations from charitable trusts and generous people. Thereby the committee sent its authorized representatives to these places, and they toured and made inquiries in the scattered regions to purchase 360 hectares of land 15 kilometers away from land that was the ancient Caesarea Maritima for 44,000 francs. These lands were recorded on the deed of sale in the name of the aforementioned Committee Chair, Ya’akov Lobel.
When it was executed like this, the Israelites started to emigrate. Yet when they wanted to live in the Supreme Ottoman Empire, they were plagued by hardships that made their ambitions impossible. The majority of them came on ships under the Austrian company Lloyd, but they were unable to disembark because an official order was handed down from Asitana to port officials to not allow any Jews to settle in Ottoman lands; thus, the situation forced them to constantly travel. Some of them were fortunate enough to settle in Beirut, and others went back to Jaffa. There, some of them slipped into the country and were able to reach the specified area. For those who had previously migrated at a time when the High Porte’s orders were not as restrictive as these ones, they were forced to enter into Ottoman protection in order to stay in the country, though most of the immigrants were forced to remain in Haifa and reside there for a time. Because they were unable to obtain a job or work there, the 200,000 francs were used up before long, and they fell into a state of great misfortune. To make matters worse, Committee Chair Ya’akov Lobel had died, and the committee he had founded and oversaw was forced to dissolve. Moreover, the Ottoman government decided these lands must be returned to the state.
As for the migrants, they filed a lawsuit in Asitana for this estate and spent a great deal of money on lawyers, travel, etc. Yet in the end, they won their lawsuit, and the land was registered under a man called Erling, an Israelite from Paris.
Since no authorization was given to build homes for the aforementioned migrants, they were forced to crowd in houses with their dependents in Haifa. Because all the money they had ran out, they sold everything of value on-hand, but all of this was not enough for them to get what they needed. If it weren’t for their community receiving aid, they would’ve died of hunger down to the last one. The President of Mikveh Israel, an Israelite agricultural settlement, sent them some things after collecting scant amounts of money. This Israelite union was also responsible for collecting more of this aid.
Yet Baron de Rothschild’s intervention turned this problem around because he sent them a lawyer to help his coreligionists. In a meeting, he asked them to unequivocally promise him to never yield anything that was granted to them and [illegible] by his lawyers and his authorized agents for mediation. The migrants had overcome worse circumstances, so they signed, which they did not do blindly, the requested pledge. Then in fulfilling these terms, each family was allotted a monthly stipend of 12 francs distributed to the family heads. For those who had not emptied their moneybags, they initially refused to sign these terms and demanded further explanation and clarification and also asked for a public statement on Baron De Rothschild’s intentions and objectives.
However, their money on-hand dwindled completely, and they joined others in working and allowed themselves to yield to Baron de Rothschild’s aspirations. This was when they bought other lands neighboring the ones they had previously bought until the parcel reached 500 hectares. Because the authorization to build houses on these purchased lands had been delayed and they feared a longer delay, His Lordship Baron de Rothschild also ordered the construction of wooden houses in Romania, 8 meters long and four meters wide, divided into equal halves with a dividing wall that was wooden as well.
These houses arrived in Palestine a few months ago; some thirty houses were borne on sailing ships, but they were unloaded from a turbulent sea and got wet. They were forced to leave them there for a time to dry out and they weren’t able to move them to Samerina until then. Samerina is the name of the place where the Jewish [illegible] dwelt. The aforementioned thirty houses arrived a few weeks after them. The [illegible] workers of the Haifa colony focused their efforts on affixing these thirty houses in their places, and the concern now is constructing more. It is likely that within a few weeks there would be sixty houses suitable for the residents. Each of these small buildings were erected on a 75-cm-thick stone foundation. It’s no wonder that these houses had cost a hefty sum, which is no secret. Here is the account
Francs
30 houses taken from the Galati cost 30,600
Transport fee from Galati to Haifa 13,000
Customs and entry duties and transport fee from Haifa to Samerina 8,000
Bricks and brick covers 7,500
Stone foundations and affixing them in their places 5000
In addition to these sums, there were miscellaneous tasks for smoothing the wood and making it suitable for the residents; therefore, the price of each house reaches up to almost 2,100 francs. As for the aforementioned houses, they are suitable for the residents except during an intense summer, hot during the day and cold at night, and winter, which is cold night and day. There are other faults besides that [illegible]: extreme heat splits the wood and widens already split wood, and these cracks become fertile ground for pests, particularly fleas and ticks, compounding the migrants’ misfortunes. Sometimes, it is not without risk to its owners; the slightest gust of wind or a wife getting up could topple and destroy it, and a spark could turn it to ash at any given moment.
In Samerina, or rather in Zikhron Ya’akov, the name Baron de Rothschild replaced Samerina with, there were four buildings constructed from hand-carved stone, comprising four academies, each costing 3,000 francs. Today, they are preoccupied with building a large synagogue, two schools, a new hotel for management, and a house for the colony president, all of which will be made of stone. The stone is taken from the ruins of old buildings with an abundance of interest in tidying up.
In Zikhron, now there are sixty to seventy family heads, fifteen of which are accompanied by their wives and children. As for the rest, their dependents are still in Haifa. Only the men are paid the monthly stipend of 12 francs as well as an advance payment of two piasters for a day of work or 35 centimes without bread. As for express freight rates, they are paid separately. They planted approximately 3,000 to 4,000 olive tree seedlings or a 30-hectare grove. Palestinian farmers brought in their best plows. All of that provided the colony comfort and success. They are happy that it is easy for them to live in Zikhron Ya’akov. It’s been easy for them to solve issues in these areas, where the sun burns them, because they have discovered a tall hill and a group of springs barely two and a half meters deep in the vicinity of their residences. They have dug them out to five meters deep now and filled them with water that is enough to provide for their needs. They made some calculations and found that the final expenses of establishing the colony did not exceed 1.5 million francs.
To bring about order and compliance in this colony, they decided to cut off the monthly stipend of anyone who was engaged in misconduct and insubordination. This really was carried out against the first family they noticed transgressing, and the stipend was withheld until they were completely destitute, forcing them to return to Romania. In addition, when they finished building the houses, each of the migrants received land, then their monthly stipend was cut off, and each of them were forced to provide for themselves and their families with their labor. To prevent them from selling and transferring (for a price) their lands and houses, the lands and houses were kept as previously registered under the name Erling from Paris.
Despite Zionist claims of antisemitic hatred from Palestinians, and despite Ottoman opposition, this article does indicate there was a level of tolerance from the locals. Note that the Jewish individuals who settled in the area weren’t allowed to own their homes or land; the ownership of land and property was strictly controlled by higher authorities (affluent people) with vested interests in the colony’s longevity not the individual’s survival.
Perspectives from Jewish Media
The only mention of Baron de Rothschild’s colony I found was in an issue of The Jewish Standard published on September 5, 1888, when a physician left it.
There are not a lot of references to Palestine in Jewish newspapers published in 1886, so I had to look a few years before and after this Al-Bashir article was published.
In an issue of The Hebrew Leader published on May 12, 1882, an article summarized the various opinions on whether or not ‘colonizing the Jews in Palestine’ would be successful. While it did say it was one of the stranger results of Russia persecuting the Jews, it did predict success of the colony established by the Russian Jews. As for Jews who were not persecuted: “The Jews settled in the United States, England, and other countries which practice religious toleration have no desire or expectation of rebuilding Palestine into a political or religious home for all of the people of Israel. On the contrary, they are content to live where they are.”
Similarly, in a Jewish Standard issue published on January 4, 1889, an article summarized opinions on the future of Jews “in connection with the propaganda in favor of a Hebrew kingdom in Palestine.” It’s clear that while some thought this kingdom was a nice thought, many thought it was a pipe dream and some mocked this idea. Ernest Renan said it was impossible due to obstacles created by the Ottomans and the Catholics. Many other respondents agreed with Mr. Renan. One Jewish traveler joked that if Jewish state was established, he hoped to be its ambassador to Paris. Mr. Drumont thought, “the Jews ought to buy Romania as well as Palestine,” declared, “the Hebrew race will always be dispersed,” and gave “no practical suggestion for a wholesale emigration of Jews to any given country.”
While I’m disappointed not to have found textual evidence in this set of newspapers that indicates anti-Zionism (as scholastic work has found), I did find it interesting that religious tolerance and sentimentality were the drivers of moving to Palestine. These articles also affirm the fact that there were in fact people living in Palestine—that they formed vibrant, prosperous communities—and many (American/English) Jews in the 1880s called the area Palestine not Israel and viewed it more with fond nostalgia rather than a necessity for providing Jews with a safe haven. Note that all of these sources say “colony.” Many today dispute that Israel is not a settler colonial project, but in the 1880s, everyone knew that it was in fact colonialism and called it as such openly in the press.
Perspectives from US Media
An issue of The Indianapolis Journal published on December 7, 1886 mentioned Baron de Rothschild’s agricultural colony in someone’s obituary.
An issue of the Sedalia Weekly Bazoo published on August 3, 1886 mentioned Jewish agricultural colonies in Russia, which is interesting but I’m not quite sure how they’re related yet.
In an issue of the Forth Worth Daily Gazette published on September 21, 1886, they reported the “wild-cat” scheme proposed by Mr. Henry Wentworth Monk, M.P., who proposed that “The New British Empire Company” buy Palestine from the Ottomans so that the British Empire or all English-speaking countries could form a federation and establish its headquarters there. While this newspaper mocks Mr. Monk’s idea, it does showcase the casual nature that Western powers contemplate buying land that’s not theirs to further their own interests, regardless of anyone living there. It also indicates that there was no great attachment to Palestine as the Holy Land, rather it was desired for its geolocation.
An issue of the Salt Lake Herald published on November 2, 1886 reported the sermon of a “Christian Jew” who extolled how the return of the Jews to Palestine was fulfilling the prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ. Here we can see the beginning of Christian Zionist beliefs in the US.