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Alliance Israélite Universelle

Paris-based international Jewish organization

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The motto of the organization is the Jewish rabbinic injunction kol yisrael arevim ze laze (כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה), translated into French as tous les israélites sont solidaires les uns des autres (transl. "all Jews are responsible for one another").

History

Background

In the mid-19th century, the status of Moroccan Jews, as well as Jews of "the Orient" more broadly, became a cause for European Jewish philanthropists, such as Moses Montefiore.

Following the sacking of Tetuan's Mellah (Jewish quarter) during the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–1860), hundreds of Tetuani Jews fled to Cádiz and Gibraltar for refuge, and their plight received wide coverage in the European Jewish press. The Alliance Israélite Universelle established its first school in Tetuan in 1862, followed by more in other cities in Morocco.

Foundation

In 1860, the Alliance Israélite Universelle embarked on a "mission civilisatrice" to advance the Jews of the Middle East through French education and culture. It was founded by a group of French Jews including Jules Carvallo, Isidore Cahen, Narcisse Leven (secretary of Adolphe Crémieux), Élie-Aristide Astruc, and Eugène Manuel May 1860 in Paris, and opened its first school in Tétouan, Morocco in 1862. The original members of the society were Jews, and by far the largest number of its members belong to that faith, but the association has enjoyed the sympathy and cooperation of many prominent Christians. As outlined in its prospectus, the program of the society included the emancipation of the Jews from oppressive and discriminatory laws, political disabilities, and defense of them in those countries where they were subjected to persecution.

For the attainment of its objectives, the society proposed to carry on a campaign of education through the press and by the publication of works on the history and life of the Jews. In the beginning, however, the course of action adopted by the society for bringing relief to their oppressed brethren in other countries was to secure the intercession of friendly governments on their behalf. Thus, as early as 1867 the governments of France, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands made the renewal of existing treaties with Switzerland conditional upon that country's granting full civil and political rights to the Jews. In 1878, representatives of the Alliance laid the condition of the Jews in the Balkan Peninsula before the Congress of Berlin, as a result of which the Treaty of Berlin stipulated that in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria no discrimination should be made against any religion in the distribution of civil rights.

Schools

Over time, the activity of the Alliance became more focused on education and especially on improving the welfare of Jews. Two years after the first school was opened in Tétuan, an Alliance school opened in Baghdad in 1864. In 1870, Charles Netter, a founding member of Alliance israélite universelle, received a tract of land from the Ottoman Empire as a gift and opened the Mikveh Israel agricultural school, the first of a network of Jewish schools in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel. Over 60 Alliance schools operated in the Ottoman Middle East, Iran, and North Africa, providing Jewish children from poor families with formal elementary school and vocational training. Many of the teachers were educated at Alliance teacher training schools in Turkey and France.

The Alliance founded a free school in Jerusalem in 1868. This was followed by Mikveh Israel near Jaffa in 1870. In 1882 a secondary school for boys was established in Jerusalem. Amin al-Husseini was one of their pupils. The original building on Jaffa Road was demolished after 1967.

In 1903, the Zionist group Bnei Moshe was to be given a grant to open a school but the funding was withdrawn due to Beni Moshe's insistence that lessons should be in the Hebrew language. The following year the Alliance donated the property which later became Neve Tzedek (girls) and Gymnasia Hezliya (boys) schools. In 1906 the Alliance opened a secondary school for girls in Jerusalem.

By 1900, Alliance Israélite Universelle was operating 100 schools with a combined student population of 26,000. Its greatest efforts were concentrated in Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. After decades of teaching in French exclusively, the schools began teaching Hebrew to their students after the eleventh Zionist Congress insisted, amidst the modern revival of the Hebrew language, that it be included in the curriculum.

In 1912 the Alliance had 71 schools for boys and 44 for girls, with schools in Baghdad, Jerusalem, Tangier, Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus and Salonica. For Jews, it was the chief provider of modern education.

A 1930 report found that there were 10 Jewish schools in Baghdad educating 7,182 children. Two of them were run by the Alliance israélite universelle. The boys' school had originally been the David Sassoon school founded in 1865. Albert Sassoon had given it to the Alliance in 1874. It contained 475 boys. Four languages were taught: Hebrew, Arabic, French and English. There were classes in the Sciences, Geography, and History. All were taught in French except for moral and religious studies which were in Hebrew. The Alliance School for Girls was established by Elly Kadoorie with 1177 pupils and with a similar syllabus.

As a result of the influence of the French-language schools, Judaeo-Spanish acquired many neologisms from French.

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