{{short description|Zionist Hebrew-language weekly newspaper}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Hamevasser | logo = | image = | caption = | type = Weekly | format = | owners = | publisher = | editor = S. Hochberg | chief_editor = | associate_editor = | managing_editor = | news_editor = | campus_editor = | campus_chief = | opinion_editor = | photo_editor = | staff_writers = | founded = 1910 | political_position = Zionist | language = Hebrew | ceased_publication = 1911 | headquarters = Constantinople | circulation = | sister_newspapers = ''Courier d'Orient''/''Jeune Turc'', ''l'Aurore'', ''El Judeo'' | ISSN = | oclc = | website = }} '''''Hamevasser''''' ('The Herald') was a Zionist Hebrew-language weekly newspaper published from Constantinople 1909-1911.<ref name="intro"/> As the number of Hebrew literates was limited at the time, the circle of readership of the newspaper was rather limited. However, the publication of the newspaper contributed to enhancing the status of Hebrew in the Jewish community.<ref name="vla">Schechtman, Joseph B. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ox8KULil0qkC The Life and Times of Vladimar Jabotinsky]''. Silver Spring, MD: Eshel Books, 1986. pp. 155-157</ref> ''Hamevasser'' was distributed in various parts of the Ottoman Empire and beyond, reaching Greece, Bulgaria, Tunisia and Morocco. ''Hamevasser'' was produced by a small circle of Zionist journalists, and was edited by S. Hochberg.<ref name="intro">Parfitt, Tudor, and Yulia Egorova. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wJVAOrtxtzoC Jews, Muslims, and Mass Media: Mediating the Other]''. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. p. 28</ref>
''Hamevasser'' had three sister newspapers, the French weekly ''L'Aurore'', the Judeo-Spanish weekly ''El Judeo'' and the French daily ''Courier d'Orient''/''Le Jeune Turc'' (which was not an explicitly Jewish publication, but directed to a broader readership). Vladimir Jabotinsky functioned as the key organizer of this Zionist media network. A press committee for the four newspapers consisted of Jabotinsky, Hochberg and Jacobson. Jabotinsky contributed with several articles to ''Hamevasser''.<ref name="vla"/>
Generally, the news-coverage in ''Hamevasser'' were concentrated around Jewish and Turkish affairs, the affairs of the Ottoman empire and Jewish-Turkish-Ottoman relations.<ref>Landau, Jacob M. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3KqO5DTKl7UC Exploring Ottoman and Turkish History]''. London: Hurst, 2004. p. 367</ref>
Politically, ''Hamevasser'' was generally supportive of the constitutionalist rule established after the Young Turks revolution of 1908 and its liberal-oriented reforms. ''Hamevasser'' welcomed the introduction of conscription of non-Muslims into the Ottoman army, and argued that Jewish youth should enroll as a means to improve Jewish-Turkish relations.<ref name="hk"/> Regarding Palestine, it argued that Zionist settlement to Palestine was economically favourable for the development of the Ottoman empire.<ref name="hk">Parfitt, Tudor, and Yulia Egorova. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wJVAOrtxtzoC Jews, Muslims, and Mass Media: Mediating the Other]''. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. pp. 29-30</ref> ''Hamevasser'' rebutted claims circulated by other contemporary press outlets (such as ''Alemdar''), which stated that Zionism was anti-Turkish.<ref name="p371"/>
Regarding the language question ''Hamevasser'' argued in favour of having Hebrew as the first language in Jewish schools, stating that Hebrew was the Jewish national language.<ref name="lan"/> It consciously favoured Hebrew over Judeo-Spanish.<ref name="p371">Landau, Jacob M. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3KqO5DTKl7UC Exploring Ottoman and Turkish History]''. London: Hurst, 2004. p. 371</ref> Turkish or Arabic (depending on which part in the empire the school would be located) were proposed as secondary languages. French was proposed as a third language, being a language of importance for international communication.<ref name="lan">Parfitt, Tudor, and Yulia Egorova. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wJVAOrtxtzoC Jews, Muslims, and Mass Media: Mediating the Other]''. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. p. 31</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:1909 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Category:1911 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Category:Defunct newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire Category:Defunct weekly newspapers Category:Hebrew-language newspapers Category:Newspapers published in Istanbul Category:Newspapers established in 1910 Category:Publications disestablished in 1911 Category:Zionism in the Ottoman Empire Category:Weekly newspapers published in Turkey Category:Jews and Judaism in Istanbul