Albert-Abraham Antébi ( he, אלברט אברהם ענתבי; 1873 – 1919) was a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
public activist and community leader born in
Ottoman Syria
Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
, who worked for the defense of the interests of the Jewish old and new settlement in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
during the
Ottoman rule, especially in the realm of
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
and
estate, as representative of the
Alliance israélite universelle and of the
Jewish Colonization Association founded by Baron
Hirsch
Hirsch may refer to:
Places
* Hirsch, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Hirsch Observatory, in Troy, New York, U.S.
People
* Afua Hirsch (born 1981), Norwegian-born British writer, broadcaster, and former barrister
* Alex Hirsch (born 1985), American anima ...
. He was
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and teacher as professional formation.
Originating from the
Sephardic Jewish
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
community of
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, he was the scion of an old Jewish family. His grandfather, rabbi Jacob Antébi, had been one of the victims of a
blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
associated with the
Damascus affair. After learning the craft of blacksmith at an Alliance professional school in Rue de Rosiers in the
Marais
Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to:
People
* Marais (given name)
* Marais (surname)
Other uses
* Le Marais, historic district of Paris
* Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France
* Marais (com ...
– Paris' historic Jewish quarter, he studied engineering at the in province – at
Châlons-en-Champagne, and
Angers. In 1896 came in Palestine where he received an appointment as director of the
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
professional school of the , a position he held until 1913.
French diplomats thereafter referred to him as "the consul of the Jews". He was throughout his life a passionate
Francophile, and subscribed to the ideal of the Jewish emancipation under the Turkish rule and French cultural and political influence. He records experiencing difficulties in his dealings with both American and Ashkenazi Jews, denouncing the "arrogance" he thought characteristic of the former, and episodes of violence, such as a physical assault and death threat from a German representative of the latter when he refused to comply with a demand that he expel Muslim students from a school he ran. Antébi found that the Jewish communities in Jerusalem were riven by factional dissensions, and analysed in particular the antipathy he encountered among Jewish immigrants for Arabs and Jews, like himself who came from an Arab cultural background.
His fluency in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and English, combined with his mastery of three or four different systems of law –
Beth Din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
,
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
, French Law,
Ottoman Law, proved invaluable in assisting the early Jewish settlement in Palestine. In this regard, he was a key intermediary between
Lord Rothschild
Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. He was the first Jewish mem ...
and Arab notables in brokering the purchase of land for Jewish immigrants to the Rothschild settlements in
Ottoman Palestine
Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
. He was held in high regard by several families of Arab notables, such as the
Husayni
Husayni ( ar, الحسيني also spelled Husseini) is the name of a prominent Palestinian Arab clan formerly based in Jerusalem, which claims descent from Husayn ibn Ali (the son of Ali).
The Husaynis follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Isla ...
, the
Khalidi and the
Nashashibi
Nashashibi ( ar, النشاشيبي; transliteration, Al-Nashāshībī) is the name of a prominent Palestinian family based in Jerusalem.
After the First World War, during the British period, Raghib al-Nashashibi was Mayor of Jerusalem (1920–19 ...
, with whom he negotiated land purchases. He cooperated closely with the
Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. ''hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian ...
movement.
Antébi however was opposed to the political Zionist project as developed by
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
and his movement, regarding it as a threat to the slow incremental development of a Jewish homeland. As early as December 1901 he warned:
For the last few months Jerusalem has become the center of nationality struggles. Until then we were living peacefully. The Orientals were grateful to their European coreligionists for the help they brought to their moral and material misery. Zionism was created supposedly to bring about closer relations within Judaism; all it has succeeded in doing is to cause fighting between nationalities."
He disliked the idleness of many European immigrants, and thought their growing, subsidized presence in Palestine risked provoking an
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
reaction throughout the Ottoman world. Indeed he regarded the publicity surrounding Zionism as responsible for the rise of antisemitism in the Holy Land, and advised a strategy of silence if emigration were to continue without arousing local resistance. As early as 1901 he wrote: "Zionism has been created, its leaders say, in order to tighten the bonds of Judaism: the only result has been to stimulate the birth of struggles between (different) nationalities". He described his own labours in building up a renewed Jewish presence in the Holy Land in the following terms:
"I desire to achieve the conquest of Zion by economic means, not politically; the Jerusalem I would cherish is the Jerusalem of history and the spirit, not the modern temporal Jerusalem. I want to be a Jewish deputy in an Ottoman parliament, and not in the Jewish temple of Mount Moriah. Ottoman Jews should have the same rights, responsibilities and hopes as the Jews of England, Germany and France. I wish to create powerful Jewish economic centres embedded in universal democracies. I do not wish to be a subject of a Judean autocracy."
In the First World War he served on the front line in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
in 1917, where he became acquainted with General
Mustafa Kemal. On the eve of that war he wrote that Palestine would be the last province to be taken from Turkey. Political and commercial considerations suggested that control over the area would accrue to France and England. He feared that the high numbers of German and Russian immigrants would secure for those nations a powerful influence that would deal a mortal blow to the eventual securing of a Jewish majority.
[Elizabeth Antébi, , Letter of April 1913] He died, aged 45, of
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
, in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, while engaged in directing a large rescue and repatriation operation. In his testament, he expressed the hope that Palestine would develop along the lines of the Swiss
cantonal
The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confe ...
system, under an interallied protectorate or French-English condominium, which would allocate lands without proprietors to immigrants, while keeping the country free of German and Russian communists.
Notes
Citations
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Antebi, Albert
1873 births
1919 deaths
19th-century Sephardi Jews
20th-century Sephardi Jews
Deaths from typhus
Infectious disease deaths in Turkey
Jewish activists
Jewish educators
Jewish engineers
Sephardi Jews in Ottoman Syria
Politicians from Damascus
Sephardi Jews in Ottoman Palestine
Syrian Jews
Turkish activists
Turkish educators
20th-century Turkish engineers
Turkish Sephardi Jews