36 • cHAPTeR 1
another segment of the population of Late Ottoman palestine that
has received substantial scholarly and popular interest in recent years
is the community of Sephardim. the label sefaradi literally means
Spanish and technically refers to Jews who emigrated from the Iberian
peninsula, especially in the aftermath of the expulsion of 1492. For a
variety of reasons, however, the term came to be used as a catch- all for
non- european, non- Ashkenazic Jews, that is, for “easterners” (Hebrew:
mizraḥim), whether or not they had any family history in Spain. though
the use of this term as an all- inclusive “Jewish other” category is partly
attributable to ashkenazic ignorance of or disinterest in the details of
non- Ashkenazic difference, there is much more to the story. When the
Spanish Jewish exiles came to the Ottoman Middle east, they found
diverse Jewish communities, some of which had been in existence for
centuries. these pre- Sephardic Middle eastern Jews included Greek-
speaking romaniot, ashkenazim, Italians, and arabic- speaking mus-
taʿribūn.^77 Over time the Sephardim came to dominate many of these
communities, including in palestine, both politically and culturally.^78 In
palestine the Ottoman sultan regarded the Sephardic leadership as the
central authority among local Ottoman Jews. By the mid- nineteenth
century, these Jews came to be represented by an imperially appointed
chief rabbi, always of the Sephardic rite, known in Ottoman turkish as
the hahambaşi and in hebrew as the rishon le- ẓiyon.^79 In other words, re-
gardless of their place of origin, most Middle eastern Jews in palestine
were officially affiliated with the Sephardic community.
That there was a significant population of native Arabic- speakers
among the Jewish community— even among the ideologically Zionist
community— of Late Ottoman Palestine further highlights the intrigu-
ing complexities of identity in this historical setting. Focusing on this
community, a number of scholars have recently raised the question of
whether we might regard these Jewish Arabic- speakers as “Arab Jews.”
Just as we speak of american Jews, German Jews, european Jews, and
and institutions (in today’s sense) officially called themselves ‘Arab,’ sometimes with
‘Palestinian’ as a modifier; hence the Arab executive, the Arab Higher committee, the
Arab Workers’ congress, the Palestinian Arab Workers’ Society, and so forth. Moreover,
I want to be sure to distinguish between the arab and Jewish communities in palestine,
and use of the term ‘Palestinian’ with reference to a period in which Palestine was still
undivided might cause confusion.” Lockman, Comrades and Enemies, 18.
(^77) Levy, The Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire, 3– 4. See also my entry on “mustaʿribūn”
in the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, 2nd ed.
(^78) On the waves of Sephardic immigration to palestine, see eliav, Ereẓ yisraʾel vi-
shuvah ba- meʾah ha- 19 , 92– 95.
(^79) elmaleh , ha- Rishonim le- Ẓiyon; haim and eliachar, Teʿudot min ha- osef shel Eliyahu
Elyashar, 17– 18.