Reclaiming Jewish Honor in Late Ottoman Gaza

In a petition addressed to the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem in 1895, some Jews from Gaza request the expulsion of Nissim Cohen from their city. Evidently, the youth who migrated alone from Cyprus was a male whore, and that caused much ridicule against his co-religionists. The small community thus acted in a traditional manner while adopting a modern non-religious discourse, even though it is filled with biblical citations and phrases. It speaks of peaceful citizenship, honor, and shame. Written by non-elite people, it sheds new light on the relations between Jews and Arabs in a late Ottoman Palestine small city. Yet, it also leaves us wondering about the real source of the tension between the two groups. That tension lies hidden in the interesting gap between the description of the Jews’ supposedly ideal life before Nissim arrived, and the current situation and uncertain future.