24 · Avigdor Levy
AIU school. Again, in 1880, when he served as governor of Damascus,
Midhat played an important role in the reopening of the AIU school of
that city after it had remained closed for over a decade.^30 The supportive
attitude of the Ottoman bureaucracy had, in effect, ensured the success
of the AIU educational work within the Jewish community.
With the ascendance of Abdul-Hamid II to the throne, the attitude
of the Ottoman administration toward foreign schools had drastically
changed. The sultan regarded these institutions with suspicion and hos-
tility as colonial instruments designed to undermine the empire. This led
Abdul-Hamid to expand the Ottoman state educational system. But the
Ottoman government could do little to curb the continued expansion of
foreign schools due to the opposition of the European powers.^31
This had little relevance to the AIU schools. Although Abdul-Hamid
was opposed to Zionism, he considered Jews a positive element that
could favorably contribute to the state’s well-being. He encouraged Jew-
ish immigration to the Ottoman Empire, except to Palestine.^32 Indeed, as
of 1890, the AIU’s educational activity greatly flourished and its network
expanded in the large urban centers and was further extended to smaller
communities. By 1912, the AIU operated 115 schools in the Ottoman Em-
pire of which 71 were for boys and 44 for girls with a total enrollment
of some 19,000 students. In Istanbul, about 35 percent of the school-age
population attended AIU schools.^33
Indeed, the AIU leadership in Paris could not have been more pleased
with the attitude of the Ottoman government with regard to its activities,
as is reflected in the following passage in the AIU annual report for the
year 1893:
There are but a few countries, even among those which are con-
sidered the most enlightened and the most civilized, where Jews
enjoy a more complete equality than in Turkey. His Majesty, the
Sultan, and the government of the Porte display towards Jews a
spirit of the largest toleration and liberalism. In every respect, Ab-
dul-Hamid proves to be a benevolent sovereign and a protector of
his Israélite subjects.... The Sultan, as well as his officials, know
that Jews are among the most obedient, faithful, and devoted sub-
jects of Turkey.^34In addition to a major school system, the AIU established in the Otto-
man Empire a network of related organizations that included alumni