Palestine’s Jewish Community Unites1

Abstract

During the years following the Young Turk Revolution, the Jewish community in Palestine, the Yishuv, started to unite, transforming into a national community, with Hebrew becoming the main form of communication, connecting Ashkenazim and the Sepharadim, religious and secular, and the Zionist and non-Zionist Jews. It also blurred differences between the Jewish immigrants and the local Jewish population. Through Ottomanism, Jews set out to claim their homeland, which included adopting an Ottoman identity, with some even joining the army out of a new sense of patriotism. By strengthening their ties with Istanbul, new divisions between the Jewish community and the local Palestinian population began to emerge.