Arab Jew in Palestine

Abstract

Using sources on everyday life of average citizens, the article shows that an Arab–Jewish hybrid identity already existed in Palestine in the late nineteenth century, prior to the introduction of Arab or Jewish national movements. Afterwards it competed with them over the loyalty of its original members. Arab–Jewish identity was part of Palestine’s modernizing order rather than its old one. It prevailed in joint neighborhoods, religious festivals, spoken languages, schools, and joint coffee shops. Unlike other Middle East Arab–Jewish communities, in Palestine it included both Ashkenazi Jews and a certain type of Zionist.