Utaifa wa kieneo wa Kipalestina, kama wazo la Palestina lenyewe, una mianzo mingi na vyanzo vingi. Katika kitabu chake *Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness* (1998), Rashid Khalidi anatoa hoja kwamba utambulisho tofauti wa kitaifa wa Kipalestina, uliojikita katika ardhi ya Palestina, uliibuka mapema karne ya 20. Lakini wakati huo huo, Khalidi na wanahistoria kadhaa mashuhuri wa Palestina ya kisasa, akiwemo Beshara Doumani (1995), Ilan Pappe (1999), Baruch Kimmerling na Joel S. Migdal (1993, 2003), wote wamependekeza kwamba kabla ya kuibuka kwa Uzayuni wa kisiasa mwishoni mwa karne ya 19, utambulisho wa kitaifa wa kienyeji wa Kipalestina ulikuwa ukijengeka (Pappe 1999: 3). Hisia hii changa ya utambulisho wa kitaifa wa kieneo wa Kipalestina katika Palestina ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Dola ya Ottoman haikuhusiana na Uzayuni. Hata hivyo, ingawa harakati changa ya kitaifa ya Kipalestina ya kienyeji ilitangulia kuibuka kwa Uzayuni nchini Palestina, harakati hii pia ilichochewa na shughuli za walowezi wa Kizayuni na za ununuzi wa ardhi katika kipindi kilichotangulia Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia.

Palestinian territorial nationalism, like the idea of Palestine, has multiple beginnings and multiple sources. In Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (1998), Rashid Khalidi argues that a distinct Palestinian national identity grounded in the land of Palestine emerged in the early 20th century. But, at the same time, Khalidi and several prominent historians of modern Palestine, including Beshara Doumani (1995), Ilan Pappe (1999), Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal (1993, 2003), all suggested that before the appearance of political Zionism in the late 19th century, a local Palestinian national identity had been in the making (Pappe 1999: 3). This nascent positive Palestinian national territorial identity in late Ottoman Palestine was not connected to Zionism. However, although an incipient local Palestinian national movement preceded the advent of Zionism in Palestine, this movement was also spurred on by Zionist settlement and land-purchasing activities in the period prior to the First World War.

Katika Palestina ya marehemu ya Ottoman, idadi ya watu wa wilaya tatu za utawala za Palestina (Jerusalem, Nablus na Acre) ilikuwa kwa wingi mkubwa Waarabu Waislamu na Wakristo. Wayahudi walikuwa wachache, takriban 25,000; wengi wao walikuwa wacha Mungu sana na waliishi mijini. Hadi kuja kwa Uzayuni wa Ulaya mwishoni mwa karne ya 19, mahusiano kati ya Wapalestina (Waislamu, Wakristo na Wayahudi wanaozungumza Kiarabu) yalikuwa ya amani na imara, yaliyojengwa na karne nyingi za kuishi pamoja, historia ya pamoja na nchi moja ya pamoja (Khalidi, W. 1984). Kumbukumbu za Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1897–1972), raia Mkristo wa Palestina wa Jerusalem, zinazojulikana kama The Diaries of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, zinatoa ushahidi wenye nguvu wa kuibuka kwa utambulisho wa eneo wa Kiottoman wenye tabaka mbili katika Palestina ya marehemu ya Ottoman, na wa kuishi pamoja, utofauti wa kitamaduni na kuchanganyika kwa Jerusalem ya Ottoman, mfano mdogo wa usasa wa marehemu wa Ottoman huko Palestina. Katika ulimwengu wa Wapalestina wa ujana wa Jawhariyyeh, mipaka iliyotenganisha maisha ya Wakristo wa Palestina, Wayahudi wa Palestina na Waislamu wa Palestina ilikuwa ya kubadilika-badilika.

In late Ottoman Palestine, the population of the three Palestinian administrative districts (Jerusalem, Nablus and Acre) was overwhelmingly Muslim and Christian Arab. The Jewish minority numbered about 25,000; the majority was deeply religious and urban-based. Until the advent of European Zionism in the late 19th century relations among the Palestinians (Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews) were peaceful and stable, forged by centuries of coexistence, shared history and shared country (Khalidi, W. 1984). The memoirs of Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1897– 1972), a Palestinian Christian citizen of Jerusalem, The Diaries of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, provide compelling testimony to the emergence of a two-tier Palestinian Ottoman territorial identity in late Ottoman Palestine and for the co-existence, cultural diversity and intermixing of Ottoman Jerusalem, a microcosm of late Ottoman modernity in Palestine. In the Palestinian world of Jawhariyyeh’s youth, boundaries separating the lives of Palestinian Christians, Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Muslims were fluid.

Usasa wa Jerusalem ulikuwa ni sehemu ya mienendo ya ndani ya Mji wa Kiothmani, na napendekeza kwamba muundo wa kijamii wa mji wenye kuta ulikuwa wa maji zaidi kuliko inavyoaminika kwa ujumla. Zaidi ya hayo, napendekeza kwamba mfumo wa robo, unaoonyesha mgawanyo wa Mji wa Kale katika maeneo yaliyofungwa kwa misingi ya dini, ulianzishwa na kulazimishwa juu ya mji kwa nyuma kupitia kanuni za kikoloni za Uingereza. (Tamari 2006: 28)

Jerusalem’s modernity was a feature of internal dynamics in the Ottoman City and I propose that the social structure of the walled city was much more fluid than generally believed; further I suggest that the quarter system signalling the division of the Old City into confessional bounded domains was introduced and imposed retroactively on the city by British colonial regulations. (Tamari 2006: 28)

Nchini Palestina, mapinduzi ya uchapishaji na usambazaji wa vitabu yalianza mwishoni mwa kipindi cha Waothmani na yalikua kwa kiwango cha viwanda katika nusu ya kwanza ya karne ya 20. Mapinduzi haya yaliambatana na kuanzishwa kwa teknolojia za kisasa, kukua kwa elimu isiyo ya kidini na kuongezeka kwa ujuzi wa kusoma na kuandika, pamoja na ukuaji wa haraka wa miji. Ndani ya kipindi kifupi, kufikia mwaka 1948, zaidi ya theluthi moja ya jamii ya Waarabu wa Palestina iliishi mijini. Pamoja na kuongezeka kwa kasi kwa shule za kisasa zisizo za kidini nchini humo, kuongezeka kwa ujuzi wa kusoma na kuandika kulivunja utawala wa kundi dogo la wasomi wenye msimamo wa kidini katika miji juu ya elimu na maarifa, na kuimarisha tabaka changa la kati na la kitaaluma mijini. Kuongezeka kwa ufahamu wa kitamaduni miongoni mwa watu waliosoma kulisababisha kuibuka kwa uzalendo wa kidunia wa awali (proto-nationalism) mwishoni mwa kipindi cha Waothmani Palestina. Uzalendo wa kitamaduni wa Kipalestina na uzalendo wa kimaeneo vilivyokuwa bado vinachipuka vilitangulia uzalendo wa kisiasa wa Kipalestina, na hali hii ilikuzwa katika shule na vyuo vya ualimu mwishoni mwa kipindi cha Waothmani Palestina.

In Palestine the printing and publication revolution began in the late Ottoman period and developed on an industrial scale in the first half of the 20th century. This revolution was accompanied by the introduction of modern technologies, the growth in secular education and literacy and rapid urbanisation. Within a short period, and by 1948, more than one-third of Palestinian Arab society was urban-based. Together with the sharp rise in modern secular schools in the country, increased literacy broke the monopoly of the small, religiously minded, literate elites in the cities on education and learning and bolstered the emerging middle and professional classes in the cities. The increasing cultural self-awareness of educated people led to the rise of secular proto-nationalism in late Ottoman Palestine. Embryonic Palestinian cultural nationalism and territorial patriotism preceded Palestinian political nationalism and this was fostered in schools and teacher training seminaries in late Ottoman Palestine.

Katika nusu ya pili ya karne ya 19, shule za Kanisa la Othodoksi la Urusi zenye lugha mbili na vituo vya mafunzo ya walimu huko Palestina vilicheza jukumu muhimu katika kukuza mwamko wa kitamaduni nchini humo. Shule hizi baadaye zikawa miongoni mwa shule bora nchini, zikichangia katika mwamko huu wa kitamaduni wa kitaifa.

In the second half of the 19th century the bilingual Russian Orthodox schools and teacher training centres in Palestine played an important role in promoting cultural renaissance in the country. These schools subsequently came to be among the best in the country, contributing to this national cultural awakening.

Kazi za Khalil Ibrahim Beidas, Ruhi al-Khalidi na Khalil al-Sakakini zilikuwa kilele cha mapinduzi ya elimu, utamaduni na fasihi ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Dola ya Ottoman huko Palestina – mapinduzi ya kisasa ya kiraia yaliyojikita katika kujielimisha, kujiboresha, kuwawezesha watu kijamii na – kisiasa – kujiwakilisha, usawa wa raia, na kujitawala kikanda ndani ya Dola ya Ottoman. Mwanzilishi wa fikra na utamaduni, Beidas (1874–1949), alikuwa msomi Mkristo wa Kipalestina, mwalimu, mwandishi wa riwaya na mtafsiri mzalishaji wa kazi za fasihi za Kirusi. Alizaliwa Nazareth, katika Galilaya, mwaka 1874, Beidas alisoma katika shule za Kiorthodoksi za lugha mbili zilizofadhiliwa na Urusi huko Galilaya, kisha akasoma katika Chuo cha Mafunzo ya Ualimu cha Kirusi huko Nazareth, chenye sifa kubwa,11 ambacho kilianzishwa mwaka 1886 na Jumuiya ya Kiorthodoksi ya Kifalme ya Urusi kwa ajili ya Palestina, na baadaye kikahamia katika jengo ambalo lilijulikana sana kwa Wapalestina kote Galilaya kama al-Maskubiyyah (‘kiwanja cha Wamoscow’). Viwanja vingine vya Kirusi vilivyojengwa Palestina, ikiwa ni pamoja na huko Jerusalem na al-Khalil (Hebron), bado vinaitwa al‑Maskubiyyah na Wapalestina wa huko. Jengo maarufu zaidi lililojengwa na Jumuiya hiyo Palestina lilikuwa Kanisa la Maria Magdalena, juu ya Mlima wa Mizeituni huko Jerusalem, lililojengwa mwaka 1886. Awali likiwa makao yake makuu huko Nazareth (kati ya mwaka 1882 na 1884), Jumuiya hiyo ilifungua shule nne katika Galilaya na iliajiri walimu wa Kiorthodoksi wa Kiarabu na Kirusi pamoja na watafsiri wa Kiarabu kutafsiri nyenzo za masomo kutoka Kirusi kwenda Kiarabu.

The works of Khalil Ibrahim Beidas, Ruhi al-Khalidi and Khalil al-Sakakini were the high end of the educational, cultural and literary revolution of late Ottoman Palestine – a modernist civic revolution which was dedicated to self-enlightenment, self-improvement, social empowerment and – politically speaking – self-representation, equal citizenship and regional autonomy within the Ottoman state. An intellectual and cultural pioneer, Beidas (1874–1949), was a Palestinian Christian scholar, educator, novelist and prolific translator of Russian literary works. Born in Nazareth, in the Galilee, in 1874, Beidas was educated in Russian-funded bilingual Orthodox schools in the Galilee and studied at the highly regarded Russian Teacher Training Seminary in Nazareth,11 which was founded by the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society in 1886, and later housed in a building which became famously known to Palestinians throughout the Galilee as al-Maskubiyyah (‘the Moscovite’ compound). Other Russian compounds created in Palestine, including in Jerusalem and al-Khalil (Hebron), are still referred to by local Palestinians as al‑Maskubiyyah. The most famous building constructed by the Society in Palestine was the Church of Mary Magdalene, on Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, built in 1886. Initially headquartered in Nazareth (between 1882 and 1884), the Society opened four schools in the Galilee and employed Orthodox Arab and Russian teachers and Arabic translators to translate school material from Russian to Arabic.

Ifikapo 1899 Jumuiya ilikuwa na shule ishirini na tatu za kisasa za "Maskob" huko Palestina, na Vyuo viwili vya Mafunzo ya Ualimu, mmoja wao ukiwa kwa wanawake huko Beit Jala, uliofunguliwa mwaka 1890. Vijiji na miji viliombwa kutoa majengo, lakini vitabu vyote, madaftari, kalamu na penseli, vifaa, viwanja vya michezo, utawala na ufundishaji vilitolewa bure.12 Shule nyingi pia zilikuwa za wavulana na wasichana pamoja, jambo lililoongeza upeo mwingine kwenye mapinduzi ya elimu yaliyoletwa na Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Othodoksi ya Palestina.

By 1899 the Society had twenty-three modern ‘Maskob Schools’ in Palestine, and two Teacher Training Seminaries, including one for women in Beit Jala which opened in 1890; villages and towns were asked to provide the buildings, but all books, notebooks, pens and pencils, equipment, sport facilities, administration and teaching were free of charge.12 Most schools were also co-educational, which added another dimension to the educational revolution introduced by the Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society.

Muda mfupi baada ya kuwasili Palestina mapema miaka ya 1880, tafsiri ya Kiarabu ya jina la Kirusi (Jumuiya ya Othodoksi ya Kirusi ya Palestina) ingefundishwa katika shule zote za Othodoksi za Kirusi huko Palestina, kwa kuwa Kiarabu ndiyo lugha ya kufundishia, wakati Kirusi kilikuwa cha lazima; lugha nyingine kama Kifaransa, Kituruki na Kigiriki zilikuwa za hiari. Baada ya mwaka 1889, tafsiri ya Kiarabu ya jina la Kirusi ikawa Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Othodoksi ya Palestina. Jina hili la Kiarabu la Jumuiya lingetumiwa si tu na Beidas katika elimu yake ya msingi na sekondari huko Nazareti mapema miaka ya 1890, bali pia limeendelea kutumiwa katika machapisho ya Wakristo wa Othodoksi wa Palestina kwa zaidi ya miaka 135.13

Soon after its arrival in Palestine in the early 1880s the Arabic rendition of the Russian name (Russian Orthodox Palestine Society) would have been taught in all Russian Orthodox schools in Palestine as Arabic was the instruction language while Russian was compulsory; other languages such as French, Turkish and Greek were voluntary. After 1889 the Arabic rendition of the Russian name became the Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society . This Arabic version of the Society’s name would have been used not only by Beidas throughout his primary and secondary schooling in Nazareth in the early 1890s, but has also continued to be used in publications by Palestinian Orthodox Christians for more than 135 years.13

Sio hayo tu. Hatimaye tarehe 1 Aprili 1902, baada ya kipindi cha mazungumzo kati ya viongozi wa Kirusi wa Jumuiya ya Kiorthodoksi ya Kifalme ya Urusi kwa Palestina na mamlaka za Waottoman, walitambua shule na seminari zote thelathini na saba za Jumuiya hiyo (nyingi kati ya hizo zikiwa Palestina, na baadhi Syria na Lebanon), na tukio hilo liliadhimishwa kwa sherehe za hadharani huko Palestina, Syria na Urusi.14 Athari za utambuzi huu muhimu rasmi wa Waottoman kwa shughuli za Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Kiorthodoksi ya Palestina ilienea zaidi ya elimu, hadi kuhimiza hija kubwa ya Warusi kwenda Palestina, ambayo pia iliandaliwa na jumuiya hiyo hiyo. Mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, mahujaji Warusi walijumuisha karibu asilimia 80 ya mahujaji wote wa Kikristo wa kigeni kwenda Nchi Takatifu. Kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, hija hii kubwa ya Warusi iliilazimu mamlaka za Waottoman kufanya marekebisho zaidi ya kiutawala, na mwaka 1906 wilaya za Nazareti na Tiberia ziliongezwa kwenye Mutasarrifate ya Yerusalemu Tukufu, hasa ili kuwezesha hija mpya kubwa kutoka Urusi na Magharibi, pamoja na kurahisisha utoaji wa visa moja ya utalii kwa mahujaji na wasafiri Wakristo huko Palestina.

Not only that. Eventually on 1 April 1902, after a period of negotiations between the Russian leaders of the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society and the Ottoman authorities, they recognised all thirty-seven schools and seminaries of the Society (the majority of which were in Palestine, with some in Syria and Lebanon) and the occasion was marked by public celebrations in Palestine, Syria and Russia.14 The impact of this important official Ottoman recognition of the activities of the Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society extended beyond education into the encouragement of Russian mass pilgrimage to Palestine, which was also organised by the same society. In the early 20th century Russian pilgrims constituted nearly 80 per cent of all foreign Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. As we shall see below, this Russian mass pilgrimage forced the Ottoman authorities to make further administrative adjustments and in 1906 the districts of Nazareth and Tiberias were added to the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem, mainly to accommodate the new mass pilgrimage from Russia and the West in facilitating the issuance of a single tourist visa to Christian pilgrims and travellers in Palestine.

Beidas alikuwa zao la mwamko wa kielimu na kifikra wa Palestina ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Ottoman. Pia alitumia rasilimali za ndani na za kifalme, kama zile zilizotolewa na Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Kiorthodoksi ya Urusi huko Palestina, ili kueleza hisia mpya ya utambulisho wa kisasa wa Kipalestina. Kwa hakika, mawazo mengi ya Beidas pia yalikuwa ya kimsingi na hata ya kimapinduzi kulingana na viwango vya Palestina ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Ottoman. Baada ya kuhitimu katika Chuo cha Mafunzo ya Ualimu huko Nazareti, Beidas alihamia Yerusalemu, ambayo wakati huo ilikuwa kitovu cha kifikra na kitamaduni cha Palestina ya mwishoni mwa enzi ya Ottoman. Alifanya kazi kama mwalimu mkuu wa Kiarabu katika Shule ya Anglikana ya St George huko Yerusalemu, na kama mtafsiri kutoka Kirusi kwenda Kiarabu kwa Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Kiorthodoksi ya Urusi huko Palestina. Pia alisafiri hadi Urusi mwaka 1892.

Beidas was a product of the educational and intellectual awakening of late Ottoman Palestine. He was also utilising local and imperial resources such as those made available by the Russian Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society to articulate a new sense of modern Palestinian identity. Indeed, many of Beidas’ ideas were also radical and even revolutionary by the standards of late Ottoman Palestine. After graduating from the Teacher Training Seminary in Nazareth, Beidas moved to Jerusalem, then the Palestinian intellectual and cultural capital of late Ottoman Palestine. He worked as a senior Arabic teacher at the Anglican St George’s School in Jerusalem and as a translator from Russian to Arabic for the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society. He also travelled in Russia in 1892.

Beidas’ exceptional linguistic and kitamaduni talents na tafsiri zake kutoka Kirusi kwenda Kiarabu ziliathiriwa na kazi za waandishi wakuu wa riwaya na washairi wa Kirusi, wakiwemo Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leon Tolstoy na Maxim Gorky. Baadhi ya waandishi hawa walikuwa wameendeleza ukosoaji mkali wa utawala wa kiimla, mbinu za kiwanda za kuandika historia, kujitambulisha na maisha ya watu wa kawaida, na msisitizo juu ya uhuru na haki ya kijamii. Tolstoy alikuwa na mtazamo wa kiidealisti kuhusu mashambani ya Urusi na wakulima wa Urusi, na hili liliathiri mitazamo chanya ya Beidas kuhusu mashambani ya Palestina na wakulima wake. Beidas alikuwa tayari ametafsiri kwa Kiarabu na kuchapisha huko Beirut mwaka 1898 riwaya ya kihistoria ya Pushkin, The Captain’s Daughter. Jarida lake la kila wiki, al-Nafais al-ʿAsriyyah (Vito vya Kisasa), lilianzishwa miaka kumi baadaye, mwaka 1908, huko Haifa, na lilianza kwa kuchapisha kwa mfululizo riwaya za kawaida za Kirusi ambazo Beidas alikuwa akizitafsiri. Beidas anachukuliwa kuwa ‘mwanzilishi wa hadithi fupi ya Kipalestina’ (Raid al-Qissah al-Filastiniyyah) (Mazza 2015: 188).

Beidas’ exceptional linguistic and cultural talents and translations from Russian into Arabic were influenced by the works of leading Russian novelists and poets, including Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leon Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky. Some of these authors had developed radical critiques of autocracy, popular approaches to history, identification with the lives of ordinary people and emphasis on freedom and social justice. Tolstoy had an idealistic view of the Russian countryside and Russian peasantry and this had an impact on Beidas’ positive views of the Palestinian countryside and peasantry. Beidas had already translated into Arabic and published in Beirut in 1898 Pushkin’s historical novel The Captain’s Daughter. Beidas’ weekly periodical, al-Nafais al-ʿAsriyyah (Modern Gems) was founded ten years later in 1908 in Haifa and it began by serialising the Russian classic novels Beidas was translating. Beidas is considered to be the ‘pioneer of the Palestinian short story’ (Raid al-Qissah al-Filastiniyyah) (Mazza 2015: 188)

Na mwaka 1909 alichapisha *Hali za Udhalimu* (Ahwal al-Istibdad), mojawapo ya maelezo ya mwanzo kabisa ya kukosoa utawala wa kidhalimu kuonekana katika lugha ya Kiarabu. Edward Said, jamaa wa karibu wa Beidas, alitambua kwa busara kwamba insha za Beidas, hadithi fupi, riwaya za kihistoria na kazi za tafsiri katika vipindi vya kabla na baada ya vita zilichangia pakubwa katika kujenga utambulisho wa kitaifa wa Wapalestina wa mwanzo wa kipindi cha kisasa (Moore-Gilbert 2009: 182).

and in 1909 he published The Conditions of Tyranny (Ahwal al-Istibdad), one of the earliest critical accounts of tyrannical rule to appear in the Arabic language. Edward Said, a close relative of Beidas, astutely observed that Beidas’ essays, short stories, historical novels and works of translation in the pre- and post-war periods played an important role in the construction of early modern Palestinian national identity (Moore-Gilbert 2009: 182).

Kipindi cha mwisho cha utawala wa Waothmani kilishuhudia mafanikio makubwa ya fasihi na ushairi wa Kipalestina na Kiarabu, tafsiri mpya za riwaya, uandishi wa habari, majaribio ya elimu, pamoja na makusanyo ya maktaba binafsi. Mambo hayo yaliunda kumbukumbu hai ya kipindi hicho nchini Palestina, kumbukumbu ambayo ina nguvu zaidi katika utamaduni hai wa Kiarabu kuliko, kwa mfano, ile ya kipindi cha zama za kati cha al-Andalus.

The great flowering of Palestinian and Arab literature and poetry, of novel translations, journalism, educational experiments and private library collections during the late Ottoman period created a living memory of the period in Palestine, one much stronger in living Arab culture, than that of the mediaval al-Andalus period, for example.

Maktaba ya kibinafsi ya Beidas huko Yerusalemu, yenye zaidi ya vitabu 6000, ilipokonywa pamoja na maktaba nyingine za kibinafsi za Wapalestina zilizomilikiwa na Khalil Sakakini na wakazi wengine wa Yerusalemu wa Kipalestina, na Waisraeli walifanya hivyo wakati wa Nakba ya 1948. Tukio hili limeandikwa katika kitabu The Great Book Robbery.15 Mikusanyiko ya vitabu vya Beidas na ya maktaba nyingine za Wapalestina inaweza kutoa mwanga mkubwa juu ya mwamko wa kiakili wa Wapalestina na fahamu ya kitaifa katika kipindi cha marehemu cha Dola ya Ottoman. Mfano wa fahamu hii mpya unaonekana katika Dibaji ya kijiografia ya mwaka 1898 ya tafsiri ya Beidas ya kitabu cha Akim Aleksyeevich Olesnitsky, A Description of the Holy Land, Juzuu ya 1.

Beidas’ own personal Jerusalem library of more than 6000 books was plundered, together with other Palestinian private libraries owned by Khalil Sakakini and other Palestinian Jerusalemites, by the Israelis during the 1948 Nakba and the episode was documented in The Great Book Robbery.15 Beidas’ and other Palestinian library collections can shed a great deal of light on the Palestinian intellectual renaissance and national consciousness in the late Ottoman period. An illustration of this new consciousness is found in the 1898 geographic Preface to Beidas’ translation of Akim Aleksyeevich Olesnitsky’s A Description of the Holy Land, Vol. 1

(pia Foster 2016c) – toleo la asili lilichapishwa kwa Kirusi mwaka 1875¹⁶ – na Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Kiorthodoksi ya Urusi kwa Palestina. Beidas anaeleza hili kama chapisho la Jumuiya ya Kiorthodoksi ya Kifalme ya Palestina. Beidas pia anazungumzia kukosekana kwa kazi za kijiografia za kutosha kwa Kiarabu kuhusu nchi yake ‘Palestina’, na kuhusu ‘wana na binti wa Palestina’ wenyeji (Abnaa Filastin, أبناء فلسطين) pamoja na ‘haja yao ya kazi pana ya kijiografia kuhusu nchi yao’. Akiandika kwa hadhira za Kipalestina za huko, Beidas alijua kwamba Wapalestina wengi wangefahamu kwa karibu maana za kienyeji za neno أبناء فلسطين. Beidas anaelezea kazi ya Olesnitsky kama ifuatavyo: ‘kitabu kipana kinachoeleza nchi ya Palestina pamoja na maeneo yake, mito, maziwa, milima na mabonde’. Pia anazungumzia matumizi yake ya lugha ya Kiarabu yenye nahau na uchaguzi wake wa ‘usemi rahisi unaohusiana kwa karibu na [akili zetu]’.

(also Foster 2016c) – the original version appeared in Russian in 187516 – by the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society. Beidas describes this as a publication of the Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society. Bei Beidas also talks about the inadequate geographical works available in Arabic on his country ‘Palestine’ and about the indigenous ‘sons and daughters of Palestine’ (Abnaa Filastin, أبناء فلسطين ) and ‘their need for an extensive geographic work on their country’. Writing to local Palestinian audiences, Beidas knew that many Palestinians would be closely familiar with the indigenous connotations of the term أبناء فلسطين . Beidas describes Olesnitsky’s work as follows: ‘an extensive book which describes the country of Palestine with its places, rivers, lakes, mountains and valleys’. He also talks about his use of idiomatic Arabic and his choice of ‘the simple expression which is closely related to [our] minds’.

Kazi na shughuli za Beidas ni alama muhimu katika kuibuka kwa uzalendo wa kisasa wa Kipalestina kwa sababu mbalimbali. Mambo tisa yanatofautisha mchango wa Beidas wa kitaaluma, kiutamaduni na kijiografia katika dhana ya kisasa ya Palestina, na katika kuibuka kwa fahamu mpya ya kitaifa ya kieneo katika Palestina ya mwishoni mwa karne ya 19:

Beidas’ work and activities present a landmark in the emergence of modern Palestinian nationalism for a variety of reasons. Nine factors distinguish the scholarly, cultural and geographic contribution of Beidas to the modern notion of Palestine and the emergence of new a territorial national consciousness in late 19th century Palestine:

• Beidas, mzaliwa wa Galilaya, alikuwa akifanya kazi kwa kuzingatia dhana pana ya kisasa ya Palestina – na si tu kwa kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya Kiarabu na Kiislamu ya zama za kati inayohusishwa na mkoa wa kihistoria wa Jund Filastin.

• Beidas, a native of the Galilee, was working from a modern wider concept of Palestine – and not just from medieval Arab Islamic social memory associated with the historic province of Jund Filastin.

• Beidas hutumia maneno Palestinian na Palestine kwa wakati mmoja na kwa kubadilishana, jambo ambalo ni alama ya uandishi wa kisasa wa Kipalestina.

• Beidas uses the terms Palestinian and Palestine simultaneously and interchangeably, which is a hallmark of modern Palestinian writing.

• Dibaji hii ya kurasa mbili inaanza kwa usemi wa Kiarabu al-Hamdu Lillah (‘Sifa zote ni za Mwenyezi Mungu’, neno la Kiarabu kwa ‘Mungu’), usemi ambao Waislamu huutaja mara kwa mara kutokana na umuhimu wake katika sura ya kwanza ya Qur'ani, na katika jina na kauli za Mtume Muhammad ﷺ.

• The two-page Preface begins with the Arabic expression al-Hamdu Lillah (‘Praise be to Allah’, the Arabic word for ‘God’), an expression frequently invoked by Muslims due to its centrality to the first chapter of the Quran and the name and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

Usemi huu pia unatumiwa na Wakristo wanaozungumza Kiarabu. Lakini maana yake ni kwamba kazi hiyo inalenga Wapalestina wote wanaozungumza Kiarabu.

This expression is also used by Arabic-speaking Christians. But the implication is that work is aimed at all Arabic-speaking Palestinians.

• Kutokuwepo kabisa kwa marejeo yoyote kuhusu Uzayuni – tofauti na maandishi ya kitaifa ya Kipalestina miaka kumi baadaye, ambayo mifano yake maarufu zaidi ni gazeti la Falastin (1911) na maandishi ya Ruhi al-Khalidi (1913) (tazama hapa chini) – na hili linaashiria kuibuka kwa utambulisho wa Kiottoman wa Kipalestina wenye tabaka mbili na mwanzo wa mwamko wa kitamaduni wa Kipalestina katika Palestina ya marehemu ya Kiottoman – mwamko ulioitangulia mwelekeo wa baadaye wa kitaifa kwa Uzayuni.

• The complete absence of any reference to Zionism – in contrast with Palestinian national writings a decade later, the most famous examples of which are the newspaper Falastin (1911) and the writings of Ruhi al-Khalidi (1913) (see below) – and this points to the emergence of a two-tier Palestinian Ottoman identity and the beginnings of the Palestinian cultural renaissance in late Ottoman Palestine – a renaissance which preceded the subsequent national preoccupation with Zionism.

• Urahisi ambao Beisas anatumia maneno ‘Palestina’ na ‘nchi yetu’ na ‘Jumuiya ya Kifalme ya Kiorthodoksi ya Palestina’ bila kuhitaji kufafanua au kueleza maneno haya au kuitambulisha Jumuiya hii. Hili linaashiria mambo mawili: (1) Beisas alidhani kwamba wasomaji wake Waarabu wangekuwa wanafahamu maneno haya na wangekuwa na uelewa kamili wa alichomaanisha; (2)

• The ease with which Beisas uses the terms ‘Palestine’ and ‘our country’ and the ‘Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society’ without the need to define or explain these terms or introduce this Society. This suggests two things: (1) Beisas thought that his Arab readers would be familiar with these terms and have a full understanding of what he meant; (2)

Maneno haya na jina hili la Kiarabu la Jumuiya tayari yalikuwa yanatumika kwa kawaida na yalieleweka vizuri.

these terms and this Arabic name of the Society were already commonly used and understood.

• Jamii ya Kifalme ya Othodoksi ya Palestina iliendesha nyumba ya tafsiri na uchapishaji huko Yerusalemu, na baada ya mwaka 1889 ilifanya kazi Palestina katika miaka yote ya 1890 chini ya jina la Kiarabu: الجمعية الإمبراطورية الأرثوذكسية الفلسطينية , jina ambalo Beidas analitumia katika Utangulizi wake wa mwaka 1898.

• The Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society ran a translation and publishing house in Jerusalem and after 1889 it operated in Palestine throughout the 1890s under the Arabic name: الجمعية الإمبراطورية الأرثوذكسية الفلسطينية , the name Beidas uses in his 1898 Preface.

Dhana ya kijiografia ya kieneo ya kisasa ya Filastin, ambayo ilianzishwa mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 na mtu aliyesomea katika shule za kisasa za Galilaya, ilitofautiana na dhana ya jadi ya kieneo ya Kiislamu ya Palestina iliyoelezwa au kutajwa na wanazuoni wa Kiislamu al-Maqdisi, Mujir al-Din, Khair al-Din al-Ramli na Salih ibn Ahmad al-Tumurtashi katika karne ya 10, ya 15 na ya 17 mtawalia. Dhana ya Palestina iliyoeleweka na waandishi hao wanne wa Kiislamu na maqadhi ilitokana na mkoa wa Kiislamu wa zama za kati wa Jund Filastin, ambao mji wake mkuu ulikuwa al-Ramla, lakini eneo lake halikujumuisha Galilaya.

• This late 19th century modern geographic (territorial) concept of Filastin advanced by someone educated in the modern schools of Galilee departed from the traditional regional Islamic concept of Palestine described or referred to by the Muslim scholars al-Maqdisi, Mujir al-Din, Khair al-Din al-Ramli and Salih ibn Ahmad al-Tumurtashiin in the 10th, 15th and 17th centuries respectively. The conception of Palestine understood by these four Muslim writers and qadis was derived from the medieval Muslim province of Jund Filastin, whose capital was al-Ramla, but whose territory did not include the Galilee.

• Kihistoria, majina ya watu mashuhuri kabla ya Uislamu na wakati wa Uislamu huko Palestina yalikuzwa kwa kuongeza majina ya miji kwa majina ya watu binafsi: mifano ya Wapalestina mashuhuri au waliojulikana sana waliojadiliwa hapo juu ilijumuisha:

• Historically, names of distinguished individuals before and under Islam in Palestine were augmented by adding town names to individual names: examples of prominent or distinguished Palestinians discussed above included:

• Antiochus wa Ascalon, katika Filistia ya karne ya 2 KK.

• Antiochus of Ascalon, in 2nd century BC Philistia.

• Yesu wa Nazareti, katika karne ya 1 BK.

• Jesus of Nazareth, in the 1st century AD.

• Eusebius wa Kaisaria Maritima, katika karne ya 4 huko Palaestina Prima.

• Eusebius of Caesarea Maritima, in 4th century Palaestina Prima.

• Prokopios wa Kaisaria Maritima, katika karne ya 6 Palaestina Prima.

• Prokopios of Caesarea Maritima, in 6th century Palaestina Prima.

• Al-Maqdisi (wa Al-Quds, Mjerusalemu) katika mkoa wa Filastin katika karne ya 10.

• Al-Maqdisi (of ‘al-Quds’, the ‘Jerusalemite’) in the 10th century province of Filastin.

• Muhammad al-Yazuri: Muhammad Hassan ibn Ali al-Yazuri, kutoka Yazur, mji ulio mashariki ya Yafa katika mkoa wa Jund Filastin wa dola ya Fatimid, pia alikuwa waziri wa dola ya Fatimid kuanzia mwaka 1050 hadi 1058.

• Muhammad al-Yazuri: Muhammad Hassan ibn Ali al-Yazuri, from Yazur, a town east of Jaffa in the Fatimid province of Jund Filastin, also vizier of the Fatimid state from 1050 to 1058.

• Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani (1372–1449), msomi mashuhuri wa Kisunni wa madhehebu ya Shafi‘i wa zama za kati, ambaye familia yake ilitokea ‘Asqalan, Palestina chini ya utawala wa Mamluk.

• Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani (1372–1449), a leading medieval Shafi’i Sunni scholar whose family originated in ‘Asqalan, Mamluk Palestine.

• Khayr al-Din al-Ramli, "wa Ramla", katika karne ya 17 huko Palestina chini ya Dola ya Ottoman.

• Kkair al-Din al-Ramli, ‘of al-Ramla’, in 17th century Ottoman Palestine.

• Katika ngazi ya kawaida ya Kipalestina, majina ya watu binafsi pia yaliunganishwa na miji yao ya asili, kama vile ‘ibn Akka’, ‘mwana wa Akka’, au kwa jina la ukoo wao:

• On a popular Palestinian level, individual names were also linked to their home towns, such as ‘ibn Akka’, ‘son of Acre’, or after their clan:

Mfano, Dhaher al-ʿUmar al-Zaydani ‘wa ukoo wa Zaydani’. Njia za jadi za kutambulisha watu (iwe ‘Yesu wa Nazareti’ au ‘Julian wa Norwich’, takriban 1342–takriban 1416) zilikuwa za kawaida kote duniani. Katika Utangulizi wake wa 1898, Beidas aliyezaliwa Galilaya anazungumzia ‘wana wa Palestina’, neno la jumla lenye maana ya ‘watu wa Palestina’. Njia hii tofauti ya kutambulisha watu kwa eneo lao katika mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 ni mabadiliko makubwa kutoka njia nyingine zote za jadi za utambulisho. Katika karne ya 20 njia za jadi za utambulisho hazikutoweka kabisa, lakini ziliongezewa na aina hii mpya ya utambulisho wa kieneo na fahamu ya kizalendo (‘wana wa Palestina’). Katika miongo ya mwanzo ya karne ya 20, ‘wana wa Palestina’ ( أبناء فلسطين ) kwa pamoja pia walijulikana kama Sha’b Filastin ( شعب فلسطين , ‘watu wa Palestina’) na ‘watu wa Kipalestina’ ( الشعب الفلسطيني ). Lakini mizizi ya fahamu hii mpya ya kitaifa ya kieneo inapatikana katika mwishoni mwa karne ya 19.

for example, Dhaher al-ʿUmar al-Zaydani ‘of the Zaydani clan’. The traditional forms of identification (whether ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ or ‘Julian of Norwich’, c. 1342–c. 1416) were common throughout the world. In his 1898 Preface, the Galilee-born Beidas talks about the ‘sons of Palestine’, a generic term for the ‘people of Palestine’. This distinct territorial form of identification in the late 19th century is a radical departure from all other traditional forms of identification. In the 20th century the traditional forms of identification did not disappear completely, but they were augmented by this new form of territorial identification and patriotic consciousness (the ‘sons of Palestine’). In the early decades of the 20th century the collective ‘sons of Palestine’ ( أبناء فلسطين ) also became known as Sha’b Filastin ( شعب فلسطين , ‘people of Palestine’) and the ‘Palestinian people’ ( الشعب الفلسطيني ). But the roots of this new territorial national consciousness are found in the late 19th century.

Leo Jumuiya hufanya kazi hadharani na inaendesha miradi mbalimbali ya kijamii na kielimu huko Palestina na Mashariki ya Karibu chini ya tafsiri ya Kiarabu ya jina lililotajwa na Bedas katika Dibaji yake ya mwaka 1898: الجمعية الإمبراطورية الأرثوذكسية الفلسطينية. Mnamo Juni na Julai 2012, kuadhimisha miaka 130 tangu kuanzishwa kwa Jumuiya na kuanza kwa shughuli zake mwaka 1882 huko Palestina, Jumuiya ilifungua Kituo cha Urusi cha Sayansi na Utamaduni huko Bethlehemu na kuandaa sherehe mbalimbali mjini Moscow zilizofadhiliwa na serikali ya Urusi. Miaka miwili baadaye, tarehe 3 Septemba 2014, tawi la Galilaya la Jumuiya ya Kiimperiali ya Othodoksi ya Palestina lilizinduliwa rasmi katika Kituo cha Waorthodoksi wa Kiarabu huko Nazareti ambacho, licha ya mabadiliko ya hali ya Nazareti, kiliendelea kubakiza jina la 'Kipalestina' la miaka 132 bila kubadilika. Miongoni mwa wazungumzaji katika sherehe hiyo rasmi ya Nazareti walikuwepo wawakilishi rasmi wa Urusi na Hanna Abu Hanna, wa Haifa, mwandishi wa kazi ya hivi karibuni kwa Kiarabu kuhusu Mwanzo wa Mwamko wa Kipalestina, ambaye alitoa hotuba kuhusu shughuli muhimu za kitamaduni za Jumuiya katika Palestina ya mwishoni mwa utawala wa Waottoman. Pia inafaa kutajwa kwamba Wapalestina wengi waliosoma katika 'shule za al-Maskob' katika Palestina ya mwishoni mwa utawala wa Waottoman baadaye walijiunga na vyama vya kitaifa vya Kipalestina wakati wa utawala wa Mamlaka ya Uingereza; baadhi pia walijiunga na Chama cha Kikomunisti cha Palestina (PCP) katika kipindi hicho hicho.

• Today the Society operates publicly and runs various social and educational projects in Palestine and the Near East under the Arabic rendition of the name cited by Bedas in his 1898 Preface: الجمعية الإمبراطورية الأرثوذكسية الفلسطينية . In June and July 2012, to mark the 130th anniversary of the Society’s foundation and start of its operation in 1882 in Palestine, the Society opened the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Bethlehem and staged various celebrations in Moscow sponsored by the Russian government. Two years later, on 3 September 2014, a Galilee branch of the Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestinian Society was officially launched at the Arab Orthodox Centre in Nazareth which, despite the change in the circumstances of Nazareth, kept the 132-year-old ‘Palestinian’ name intact. Speakers at this official Nazareth ceremony included Russian official representatives and Hanna Abu Hanna, of Haifa – author of a recent work in Arabic on The Beginnings of the Palestinian Renaissance – who lectured on the seminal cultural activities of the Society in late Ottoman Palestine. It is also worth noting that a significant number of Palestinians educated in ‘al-Maskob schools’ in late Ottoman Palestine later joined Palestinian national parties during the British Mandatory period; some also joined the Palestine Communist Party (PCP) during the same period.