Year of the Locust: A Soldier's Diary and the Erasure of Palestine's Ottoman Past“This remarkable book provides us with unfiltered access to a long-gone world in the form of the World War I diary of a young Palestinian soldier from Jerusalem. Salim Tamari's introduction masterfully examines the revelations provided by this and other wartime diaries. This rich portrait of the massive changes that transformed Palestine during the war, the first of many during the 20th century, will be a revelation to most readers.” —Rashid Khalidi, author of Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East “Both a gripping personal account of three little known years in Palestinian history and a rich reconstruction of the enormous social changes taking place in Jerusalem during World War I.” —Roger Owen, author of State and Power and Politics in the Middle East “Nothing underscores the Ottoman Empire’s bifurcated and contradictory position as both empire and target of European colonialism as eloquently as the Arab soldiers’ diaries ably discussed by Salim Tamari, who presents one such diary in detail. Spanning a broad spectrum of issues, from war horrors to national awakening, from regional politics to gender relations, this first-hand account of World War I by a young enlisted Palestinian is an important contribution to the ongoing Arab reassessment of the Ottoman past.” —Irvin Cemil Schick, Istanbul Sehir University “Tamari’s remarkable sleuthing makes available, for the first time, the private writings of Ihsan Hasan Turjman, a common soldier in the Ottoman army and an astute observer of the multifaceted changes triggered by the war. Lucid, rich, and deeply insightful, Year of the Locust not only illuminates the fluid nature of personal and collective identity in this critical period of Palestine’s history, but also resonates widely with people’s experiences in other regions within the Ottoman Empire.” —Sibel Zandi-Sayek, author of Ottoman Izmir: The Rise of a Cosmopolitan Port, 1840-1880 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul Adel Jaber Ahmad Cemal Pasha al-Muntada al-Salahiyya College Albanian allies Anatolia Arab nation Arab nationalist Aref Aref Shehadeh Aref’s arrived attack Awdat Barghouti became Beersheba Beirut British brother camp campaign Cemal Pasha Christian commander Commissariat conscripted cousin Damascus Damascus Gate disease Egypt Egyptian English entry Enver Pasha Fasih father fighting Filasțin Fourth Army franji French Friday front Gallipoli German Haram Hasan Khalidi Haydar Hijaz Hijazi Husari Husseini Ibid Ihsan Ihsan Turjman intellectual Islamic Istanbul Jaffa Gate Jaffa Road Jerusalem Khalil Sakakini labor battalions large number later locust memoirs Muhammad Muslim Nablus Nashashibi old city Omar Salih Otto Ottoman army Ottoman Decentralization Ottoman Empire Ottoman military Ottoman officer Ottoman pounds Ottoman Prisoners Palestine Palestinian period piasters political prostitutes Rıfkı Ruşen Bey Russian Rustum Effendi sent Sheikh Siberia soldiers Suez Sultan Syrian Thurayya tion told Turjman Turjman diary Turkish Turks women World Yanikdag