Israël [French]
Place of Publication: Cairo (Egypt)
Years of Publication: 1920-1939
Frequency: Weekly
Editors (varied throughout the years): Albert Mosseri (1920-1933);
Mathilda Mosseri (1933-1939)
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The newspaper Israël was established in 1920 by Dr. Albert Mosseri, a member of the
venerable Jewish elite of Egypt, and one of the foremost leaders of the Zionist movement
in his country. The French edition of the newspaper was published as part of a multi-lingual
journalistic project, alongside Arabic and Hebrew editions of the same paper (with various
editing differences). The decision to publish a Jewish newspaper in three languages sprang
from the world-view of its founders, and particularly from the reality of Jewish life in
Egypt, which developed as the confluence of three different cultures. The Hebrew edition
represented the revitalized Jewish culture, the French—the dominant Western culture, and
the Arabic—the ruling culture of the Middle East.
Mosseri supported both Zionism and Egyptian Nationalism, and his paper represented a stage
in which many believed that Jewish nationalism could exist alongside other nationalistic
movements in the region in peace and harmony. Mosseri's Zionism did not lead to an
aspiration for mass Jewish emigration from Egypt, but rather gave voice to a special
religious, cultural, and communal identity which drew inspiration from the national Jewish
enterprise in Eretz Israel. Dr. Hagar Hillel, who has extensively researched Mosseri's
newspaper, has designated this type of nationalism "Jewish National Reformism".
After Mosseri's death in 1933, his widow Mathilda—born in Hebron to the prominent Mani
family of Baghdadi origin—continued his projects; she was the only woman in Egypt who
headed a newspaper intended for a primarily male readership. While the Hebrew edition of
the newspaper was published for only four years, and the Arabic edition for fourteen
years, the French edition of Israël was the most stable of all the Jewish newspapers
in Egypt during the period between the two world wars. At its peak, the newspaper's
circulation reached 2,000 copies, and it was managed according to the models of Western
and modern Arabic journalism that were most common in Egypt at the time. Editorials,
articles, and a variety of sections appeared in Israël, which was the first modern
Jewish community newspaper in Egypt and served as an example to other publications that
were established after it. Moreover, it trained a succession of young journalists who
later gained great prominence in the journalistic arena and other fields of public
affairs.
The newspaper ceased operations in 1939, when Mathilda Mosseri decided to return to,
and settle in, Eretz Israel. Before leaving, Mosseri sought to unite the paper with
La Tribune Juive, a fledgling Jewish-Zionist newspaper that many saw as the natural
successor to Israël.
Enter Newspaper
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Quality Status
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Copy from microfilm in fair condition. Varied problems of tearing, illegibility, and staining
are present. Some of these problems originate from the processes of printing and preserving the
copies, and some are probably connected to the process of copying from microfilm.
Missing years: 1920-1921; 1933-1934.
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