My Grandmother and Other Stories: Histories of the Palestinians as ...
My Grandmother and Other Stories: Histories of the Palestinians as ...
My Grandmother and Other Stories: Histories of the Palestinians as ...
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The Great War brought about a<br />
radical break with <strong>the</strong> Ottoman p<strong>as</strong>t<br />
in <strong>the</strong> whole Arab E<strong>as</strong>t, not only<br />
in <strong>the</strong> established constitutional<br />
regime, but also in <strong>the</strong> system <strong>of</strong><br />
governance, local administration,<br />
<strong>and</strong> identity politics. 1915 w<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Year <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Locust (‘am al-Jarad)<br />
in <strong>the</strong> popular memory <strong>of</strong> pe<strong>as</strong>ants<br />
<strong>and</strong> city folk alike. The locust<br />
inv<strong>as</strong>ion continues to evoke, four<br />
generations later, <strong>the</strong> combined<br />
memory <strong>of</strong> natural dis<strong>as</strong>ters <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> man-made dev<strong>as</strong>tation <strong>of</strong> war.<br />
The consequence w<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> er<strong>as</strong>ure<br />
<strong>of</strong> four centuries <strong>of</strong> a rich <strong>and</strong><br />
complex Ottoman patrimony in<br />
which popular narratives <strong>of</strong> war<br />
<strong>and</strong> nationalist ideology colluded.<br />
Dead Ottoman soldier, Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, This anti-Ottoman re-writing <strong>of</strong><br />
December, 1917. Source: The Jawhariyyeh Collection, history took place simultaneously,<br />
IPS Beirut.<br />
<strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> same abrupt manner,<br />
on <strong>the</strong> Turkish side (in <strong>the</strong> guise<br />
<strong>of</strong> modernizing <strong>the</strong> state, <strong>and</strong><br />
making it geographically manageable), <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> Arab side (in <strong>the</strong> sustained annals<br />
<strong>of</strong> nationalist historiography). The er<strong>as</strong>ure achieved, in <strong>the</strong> Arabic discourse <strong>of</strong> what<br />
became known <strong>as</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> days <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Turks’, a retrospective replacement <strong>of</strong> four centuries<br />
<strong>of</strong> a relatively peaceful <strong>and</strong> dynamic era, <strong>the</strong> Ottoman era, into four miserable years<br />
<strong>of</strong> tyranny symbolized by <strong>the</strong> iconic features <strong>of</strong> that war: <strong>the</strong> military dictatorship<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ahmad Jamal P<strong>as</strong>ha in Syria, seferberlik (forced conscription <strong>and</strong> exile), <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
collective hanging <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arab patriots in Beirut’s Burj Square on 15 August, 1916.<br />
This essay deals with <strong>the</strong> totalizing <strong>and</strong> transformative nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Great War. By<br />
totalizing, I refer not only to <strong>the</strong> manner in which it moulded <strong>the</strong> soldiers’ work <strong>and</strong><br />
living habits, but also its impact on <strong>the</strong> daily life <strong>of</strong> civilians, creating an atmosphere<br />
<strong>of</strong> continued panic, uncertainty, <strong>and</strong> disruption <strong>of</strong> daily patterns <strong>of</strong> behaviour. This<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten took <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> persistent concern about food, clothing, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> availability <strong>of</strong><br />
essential commodities such <strong>as</strong> kerosene <strong>and</strong> tobacco, <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong> safety from arbitrary<br />
army actions (arrest, transfer <strong>of</strong> population, <strong>and</strong> conscription <strong>of</strong> older people <strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
war progressed). This period also saw <strong>the</strong> first systematic forms <strong>of</strong> censorship <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
press <strong>and</strong> private mail.<br />
Jerusalem Quarterly 30 [ 27 ]