Campos 237237The “Voice of the People” [lisān al-sha‘b]: The
Press and the Public Sphere in Revolutionary
Palestine
Michelle U. Campos
We said in our last article that it is required of every free
Ottoman to show his ignorant brother the benefits of the con-
stitution ... and that will not (come about) except through
speech and meeting. The best speakers in these days are the
newspapers, and the newspapers are the ears of [our] needs
and necessities after the constitution.
It is true that the establishment of the newspapers was one of
the most important of that work which is required of us after
the constitution, but which newspapers do I want? Free news-
papers whose aims are the reform of the self ... The newspa-
per is the mouthpiece of the people [lisān al-sha‘b]—its rights,
duties, demands, aims, happiness and anger all are published.
The newspaper enlightens and elevates the nations by what
it prints in its articles and what it recommends of financial,
political, scientific, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and
cultural reforms. And in another respect it informs the people
about the political situation in foreign lands, and their rela-
tions with the state and the government, and their contacts...
al-Ittihad al-‘Uthmani (1, no. 37),
“What Is Required of Us After the Constitution”In this defining article, the Beirut-based newspaper al-Ittihad al-‘Uthmani
[Ottoman Union] outlined the leading role it saw the press taking in the