Ottoman Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine (65 page)

^7.
Ibid., 52–58; Hanioğlu,
Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire
, 94–95; Strauss, “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire,” 47.

^8.
Ayalon,
Reading Palestine
, 50.

^9.
Between 1875 and 1914, 833 newspapers and periodicals appeared in Egypt. They served as platforms to criticize the
khedive
Isma‘il and his aristocracy, to protest against European influence and colonization, and to introduce new ideas to the Egyptian reading public. Ayalon, “Political Journalism and Its Audience in Egypt,” 103. Also see Nabavi, “Spreading the Word,” for the role of the press in the 1906 Iranian revolution.

^10.
Ayalon,
Press in the Arab Middle East
, 65.

^11.
Brummett,
Image and Imperialism
, 25; Yehoshu‘a, “Al-Jara'id al-‘Arabiyya,” 19; Watenpaugh, “Bourgeois Modernity,” 50.

^12.
Khoury,
Al-sihafa al-'Arabiyya.
Sadly, most of these newspapers have been lost, with the exception of
Filas
īn
(from July 1911 on) and
Al-Munādī
(1912–13), as well as scattered issues of other papers such as
Al-Quds
and
Al-Karmil.
In Palestine on the eve of revolution, only one newspaper had existed to serve its majority Arabic-speaking population: the bilingual official monthly organ of the province,
Al-Quds al-Sharīf/Kudus-u şerif.
As well, a handful of Hebrew newspapers were published in Jerusalem, and Palestine's Jews also read
Ladino newspapers from Istanbul or Salonica, the regional Arabic press, or other Hebrew or Yiddish newspapers imported from Europe.

^13.
There were eleven newspapers and magazines aimed at children in 1913 Istanbul. Emin,
Development of Modern Turkey
, 14–15.

^14.
Quoted in Buxton,
Turkey in Revolution
, 88.

^15.
Quoted in Ayalon,
Reading Palestine
, 106.

^16.
Emin,
Development of Modern Turkey
, 133–38.

^17.
Emin cites circulation figures for
Ikdam
and
Sabah
post-1908 as sixty thousand and forty thousand, respectively, and wrote that the demand for them was so high that afternoon prices were often raised forty-fold by newspaper boys. Ibid., 87. Emin also wrote that at the height of the counterrevolution the circulation of
Tanin
hit a record high of twenty-eight thousand; for most of its run, however, circulation was in the low thousands. Ibid., 131.

^18.
Ha-
erut
claimed it sold out of twelve hundred copies for its first issue, in no. 2, May 14, 1909. Avraham Elmaliach, its one-time editor, claimed they had fifteen hundred to two thousand subscribers and at their high point sold three thousand newspapers. Oral History Program at Hebrew University, interview no. 2 with Avraham Elmaliach. The German Consulate listed the subscription of
Al-Quds
at 300 (220 in the country, 80 to America), and
Ha-
erut
, a Sephardi Jewish organ, at 800 (300 in the country and 500 in Turkey [sic]). ISA 67, peh/457:482. In contrast, Khalidi argues that
Al-Quds
was the most important paper of the time, with circulation over fifteen hundred. R. Khalidi,
Palestinian Identity
, 56. A different consular report cited
Filas
īn's
subscription rate as 1,600 (465 in Jaffa; 1,200 in Turkey [sic]);
Al-Akhbār's
circulation of 600 reportedly included 50 subscribers in Egypt, Sudan, and America. ISA 67, peh/533:1493.

^19.
For information on the cost of basic commodities, wages, and currency, see Luntz, “Luah Erez Israel,” 76. Iris Agmon found that a medium level of support in cases of divorce was one
beşlik
(= 3.5
kuruş)
a day. Food for one adult could be expected to be eighty
kuruş
per month. Agmon,
Family and Court
, 112–13.
Al-Karmil's
editor complained on a regular basis about subscribers who failed to pay. See
Al-Karmil
, September 7, 1912; September 11, 1912; September 28, 1912; November 27, 1913; and November 30, 1912.

^20.
Emin,
Development of Modern Turkey
, 135. See also Ayalon, “Political Journalism and Its Audience in Egypt,” 116.

^21.
Yehoshu‘a,
Tarikh al-sihafa al-‘Arabiyya
, 18–19;
Ha-
vi
, November 17, 1908; ISA 67, peh/533:1491. Membership rates to the reader's library were three
beşliks
per month (approximately nine
kuruş)
, or more than a day's wages for laborers. See also Ayalon,
Reading Palestine
, 85, 102, 104, 18on23.

^22.
Malul, “Ha-‘itonut ha-‘Aravit.”

^23.
El Liberal
, January 29, 1909.

^24.
Permissions for some of these newspapers were granted in: BOA DH.MKT. 2851/64; BOA DH.MKT. 2744/29; BOA DH.MKT. 2689/84.

^25.
Brummett refers to this as the “self-consciousness” of the Ottoman press. Brummett,
Image and Imperialism
, 28.

^26.
Travel regulations, in
El Paradizo
, April 20, 1909; and
Ha-
erut
,
August 2, 1909; the closure of nonregistered pharmacies, in
ava
elet
, December 16, 1908;
Ha-
erut
, May 25, 1910, November 28, 1910; the procedure on registering a marriage, in
El Liberal
, September 3, 1909; and familiarizing readers with the new court building by Bab al-Zahra, in
Ha-
erut
, October 28, 1910, and January 25 and 30, 1911. The sessions of the general council reportedly were published in the newspaper
Al-Quds al-Sharīf.