Avshalom Gissin ( he, אבשלום גיסין; 1896 – 5 May 1921) 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 ...

officer in the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

and a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

pioneer, who was killed during the 1921 Palestine riots while defending

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...

Biography

Gissin was born in

in 1896, one of five children born to Moshe Gissin, one of the early settlers in Petah Tikva. As a student in the local school, Gissin was active in movement which aimed to substitute the teaching language from

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 ...

. After graduating from the local school, Gissin studied in the

Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium ( he, הַגִּימְנַסְיָה הָעִבְרִית הֶרְצְלִיָּה, ''HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya'', Also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High Scho ...

, and at the age of 16 moved to

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, ...

, where he studied in a

Military High School Military high schools are a type of high school that include military cadet education and so are a form of military academy. They are found in several countries and offer a regular high school education but with an extra military training curriculu ...

, later transferring to a military high school in

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 = , ...

, to be closer to his family. Gissin joined the Ottoman Army upon graduation, and as an officer was stationed in a military school in Istanbul as a sports instructor. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Gissin returned to Petah Tikva, where helped organize a local defense force and helped to re-establish the local Maccabi club. He also conducted

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

in southern Palestine. At the start of the 1921 Palestine riots, Gissin returned to Petah Tikva, where he set up a line of defense against the local Arabs. On 5 May 1921 armed gunmen from the Abu Kishak tribe attacked Petah Tikva. During the attack Gissin was shot in his chest and head and died of his injuries. He was buried the following day, along three other fallen defenders in the local cemetery.

Memorialization

In October 1922, after a period of inactivity,

Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, מכבי פתח תקווה) (Full name: "Maccabi Avshalom Ironi Petah Tikva F.C., ) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi World Union for international Jewish spo ...

was re-established and was named after Gissin.Petah Tikva
Doar HaYom, 17 October 1922, Historical Jewish Press Avshalom Gissin, Willy Berger and Gaul Machlis Set a Tradition for the Luzons
Asher Goldberg, 27 April 2003, HaAretz A main street in Petah Tikva was named after Gissin.

External links

*
Avhsalom Gissin
Izkor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gissin, Avshalom 1896 births 1921 deaths Jews from Ottoman Palestine People of Belarusian-Jewish descent People from Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. Deaths by firearm in Mandatory Palestine Ottoman military personnel of World War I