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praiseworthy” in the respective religion, “and to pay no attention to
the negative.” as a result, Makaryus “never mentions anything blame-
worthy” about the Jews. rida concludes by noting that “some Jewish
leaders have praised the book and approved its use for teaching in
their elementary schools due to its brevity and its simplicity.”^150 One
wonders— as it seems rida did— to what extent Makaryus offered a
sympathetic reading of Zionism simply to appeal to his intended audi-
ence, regardless of any negative attitude he may have held toward the
movement. at the same time, it is overly simplistic and anachronistic
to attribute any positive words about Zionism by a non- Jew in the arab
world to the author’s financial interests. After all, Makaryus knew that
the book would also be read by non- Jews (and could have expected it
to be reviewed by none other than rashid rida), and other interests
could have dictated a different approach. Makaryus’s perspective on
Jews and Jewish history, as articulated in his writings in al-Muqtaṭaf
and his Tārīkhal-isrāʾīliyyīn, along with his relations with Jewish con-
temporaries, might well have given him a more sympathetic estima-
tion of the Jewish national movement. his admiring language about
Zionism may have been at least partly related to his perception of the
Jews as the arabs’ racial relatives, as Semitic, eastern cousins returning
home.
the subject of palestine and Zionism continued to interest these
journals. at the start of 1914, before the Great War began, al-Muqtaṭaf
published a three- page article called “the Colonization of palestine.”
the article, though not written in support of the Jewish settlement
enterprise, is not particularly critical of it either. the article focuses
on the agricultural advances made by the Jewish colonies in palestine.
the penultimate paragraph makes clear that the primary grievance the
author has is not against the Jews but rather against the local Ottoman
regime: “What we demand of the Israelites in this regard is much less
than what we demand of the local government.” the writer calls on
the Ottomans to “strengthen security, protect rights, ease traffic routes,
found agriculture schools throughout the country on its [the Ottoman
government’s] vast lands so that the fellahin will actually learn the
principles of agriculture.” In this way, it would seem, the arabs of pal-
estine might also be able to flourish along with the Jews. The author
acknowledges, however, that merely establishing security and preserv-
ing rights are not simple tasks for a government that has so many other
states covetous of its possessions.^151
(^150) Al-Manār 7:12 (august 1904), 472– 73.
(^151) al-Muqtaṭaf 44:1 (January 1914), 51.