260 Mediated Publics
the revolution, according to Brummett, Image and Imperialism in the
Ottoman Revolutionary Press, 25. Yehoshu’a writes of a similar response in
Mesopotamia: from the official bilingual government organs that appeared
in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul on the eve of the revolution, after the revo-
lution there were seventy political, literary and caricature newspapers.
Ya’akov Yehoshu’a, “Al-Jara’id al-‘Arabiyya allati Sudirat fi Falastin: 1908–
1918,” al-Sharq 2, no. 8 (February 1972), 19.
23.ost of these known Arabic newspapers that appeared in Palestine in this M
period have been lost, with the exception of al-Karmil, Falastin, and al-
Munadi, as well as scattered issues of other papers. For information on
the papers, see Yusuf Khoury, al-Sihafa al-‘Arabiyya fi Falastin,1876–1948
(Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1986).
24.s Khalidi cautions, it is difficult to quantify the reach of the press, but we A
do have information on subscription rates from the period, which ranged
from 300–500 for smaller newspapers to up to 2,000 for the more popu-
lar newspapers. As an example of scope (rather than a precise figure), the
German Consulate listed the subscription of al-Quds, a Christian-edited
paper, at 300 (220 in the country, 80 to America); ha-Herut, a Sephardi
Jewish organ, at 800 (300 in the country and 500 in Turkey [sic]). Israel
State Archives [ISA], 67/peh457:482. A different consular report cited
Falastin’s subscription as 1600 (465 in Jaffa; 1200 in Turkey [sic]);
al-Akhbār’s circulation of 600 reportedly included 50 subscribers in Egypt,
Sudan, and America. ISA, 67/peh533:1493. Undoubtedly the papers them-
selves sought to convince readers of their desirability; ha-Herut claimed it
sold out of the 1200 copies of its first issue, in no. 2, 14 May 1909. Avraham
Elmaliach, its one-time editor, claims they had 1500–2000 subscribers and
at their high point sold 3000 newspapers. Oral History Project, Institute for
Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Interview #2 with
Avraham Elmaliach.
25.embership rates were three bishliks per month (approximately 9 qurush), M
whereas the average annual subscription to a single newspaper was around
70 qurush. ISA, 67/peh533:1491. Still, considering the fact that the average
day laborer earned at most 8 qurush per day, it is unlikely that many work-
ers could afford newspapers on more than a sporadic basis. For informa-
tion on the cost of basic commodities, wages and currency, see Avraham
Moshe Luntz, Eretz Yisrael Almanac (Jerusalem: n.p., 1909), 76. We also
have a record of a “Readers’ Library” [Maktabat al-Mutālli’], where readers