traNSLatioN aND coNqueSt • 193Ha- Ḥerut also supported Zakka’s paper more circuitously. the he-
brew paper encouraged members of Jerusalem’s Jewish community to
study arabic under Zakka’s instruction. “Mr. Iliya Zakka, editor of an-
Nafīr,” ha- Ḥerut reported in November 1910, “is thinking about start-
ing evening classes in arabic language just for Jews, at a low price. Our
brothers, and especially the russian youth, will be able to advance in
a short time through this excellent opportunity, as Mr. Zakka knows
russian very well.”^34 having russian Jewish immigrants study arabic
with Zakka would not only expand the base of arabic knowledge into
the ashkenazic community (a goal advocated by many of ha- Ḥerut’s
contributors) but also supplement Zakka’s income, permitting him to
continue to publish his newspaper and encouraging him to print arti-
cles supportive of the Zionists.
it is difficult to determine whether ha- Ḥerut’s staff believed that
Zakka was actually, as they put it, “one of the righteous gentiles whose
great sympathy for the Jews” comes from the fact that he was “a free-
thinking and truth- loving man,”^35 or whether they thought they were
in reality purchasing support that would otherwise not be forthcom-
ing. if, however, Yaʿqub Yehoshuʿa, historian of palestine’s arabic
press, is correct that Zakka’s paper ceased its support and attacked
Zionism whenever Zionists’ money failed to come Zakka’s way, then
one assumes that ha- Ḥerut’s editors understood the nature of their re-
lationship.^36 In any case, the Zionist institutional leadership apparently
did engage in more explicit, direct quid pro quos with certain arabic
newspapers (including, it seems, Zakka’s an- Nafīr), offering monetary
subventions in exchange for their support.^37
(^34) Zakka’s knowledge of russian was likely acquired during his studies in the russian
teachers’ institute in Nazareth. See Yehoshuʿa, Tārīkh aṣ-ṣiḥāfa al- ʿarabiyya fī filasṭīn fī
al- ʿahd al- ʿuthmānī, 1908– 1918 , 52. Ha- Ḥerut noted that the classes will be immersion-
style, “arabic- in- arabic according to the modern method.” ha- Ḥerut 3:9 (November 11,
1910), 2.
(^35) ha- Ḥerut 2:133 (august 16, 1910), 2.
(^36) Yehoshuʿa, Tārīkh aṣ- ṣiḥāfa al- ʿarabiyya fī filasṭīn fī al- ʿahd al- ʿuthmānī, 1908– 1918 ,
- See also Khalidi, Palestinian Identity, 58.
(^37) See, e.g., Jacobson to Frank, october 28, 1913, cZa Z3.1642. For Zionist financial
documents naming Zakka, see cZa L2.167. See also cZa J15.6175 for an- Nafīr receipts.
Given the prevalance of bribery in Late Ottoman palestine, perhaps these “subventions”
should be understood in this context. Before Zionist immigrants even took their first
steps in palestine, while still on their ships, they already found the need for bribery. as
Neville Mandel writes, “they simply resorted to the common expedient of bribing the
port authorities and anyone else . . . who tried to block their way.” “everything,” Mandel
asserts, “had its price: entry and release of baggage at the ports, permits to buy land and
to build on it could all be bought.” Such a culture, he notes, was not unfamiliar to Jewish
immigrants from russia. Mandel, “Ottoman practice as regards Jewish Settlement in
palestine,” 35.