Aaronsohn was born in a Jewish village in Palestine, but came in 1910 to America to enter the service of the United States Department of Agriculture. In June 1913, he returned to his native land to take some motion pictures as a basis for a lecture tour in America. He was there when the war broke out and he was impressed into service in the Turkish Army. From that time on until his escape on the cruiser the U.S.S. Des Moines, he was actively involved, both in the campaign of the Turks in Asia Minor and in certain popular movements among his own people which very nearly led to his execution.

The decisive consequences of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 had ramifications over the entire Ottoman Empire - and the Ottoman territory of Palestine was no exception. "Late Ottoman Palestine" examines the impact of Young Turk policies and reforms on local societies and administration, using Palestine as a prism through which to explore the impact of the Revolution in the provincial arena far from the administrative and political centre of the capital. It thus sheds light upon the last decade of Ottoman rule in Palestine, crucially dealing with the roots of Jewish-Arab conflict in the area and the early crystallization of Arab, Palestinian and Zionist identities, along with that of an Ottoman imperial identity. It will be a vital resource for students and researchers interested in the modern history of the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire and Palestine.

In "With the Turks in Palestine," Alexander Aaronsohn offers a firsthand account of his experiences during World War I in Palestine. Detailing the complexities of life under Ottoman rule and the challenges faced by the local population, Aaronsohn provides a unique perspective on a tumultuous period in Middle Eastern history. His personal narratives shed light on the cultural, political, and social dynamics of the time, offering readers a deeper understanding of the region's history.

Introduction : Rafiq Bey's public spectacles -- Arabs, Turks, and monkeys : the ethnography and cartography of Ottoman Syria -- The sweet smell of holy sewage : urban planning and the new public sphere in Palestine -- A scientific expedition to Gallipoli : the Syrian-Palestinian intelligentsia divided -- Two faces of Palestinian orthodoxy : Hellenism, Arabness, and the Osmenlilik -- The farcical moment : narratives of revolution and counter-revolution in Nablus -- Adele Azar's notebook : charity and feminism in WWI -- Ottoman modernity and the biblical gaze : the war photography of Khalil Raad

When did the Arab-Israeli conflict begin? Some discussions focus on the 1967 war, some go back to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and others look to the beginning of the British Mandate in 1922. Alan Dowty, however, traces the earliest roots of the conflict to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, arguing that this historical approach highlights constant clashes between religious and ethnic groups in Palestine. He demonstrates that existing Arab residents viewed new Jewish settlers as European and shares evidence of overwhelming hostility to foreigners from European lands. He shows that Jewish settlers had tremendous incentive to minimize all obstacles to settlement, including the inconvenient hostility of the existing population. Dowty's thorough research reveals how events that occurred over 125 years ago shaped the implacable conflict that dominates the Middle East today.

By the end of British rule in Palestine on 14 May 1948, Palestinian nationality had become well established in accordance with both domestic law and international law. Accordingly, the legal origin of Palestinian nationality lies in this nearly thirty-year period as the status of Palestinians has never been settled since. Hence, any legal consideration on the future status of individuals who once held Palestinian nationality should start from the point at which the British rule over Palestine was terminated. This work provides a legal basis for future settlement of the status of Palestinians of all categories that emerged in some sixty years following the end of the Palestine Mandate: Israeli citizens, inhabitants of the occupied territory, and Palestinian refugees. In conclusion, nationality as regulated by Britain in Palestine represents an international status that cannot be legally altered except in accordance with international law.

Uncovering a history buried by different nationalist narratives (Jewish, Israeli, Arab and Palestinian) this book looks at how the late Ottoman era set the stage for the on-going Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It presents an innovative analysis of the struggle in its first years, when Palestine was still an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. And it argues that in the late Ottoman era, Jews and Palestinians were already locked in conflict: the new freedoms introduced by the Young Turk Constitutional Revolution exacerbated divisions (rather than serving as a unifying factor). Offering an integrative approach, it considers both communities, together and separately, in order to provide a more sophisticated narrative of how the conflict unfolded in its first years.