Rochester Journal and the Post Express · Rochester, New York · 31 October 1908

CP-1908-003

Palestine Fellaheen

Food and habits of the Holy Land peasantry

Consul Thomas R. Wallace, Jerusalem, in Consular Reports

Transcribed from the clipping

“The principal diet of the average natives who live upon the land—the fellaheen—is bread, made mostly of barley, often eaten without anything else, and often with olives or olive oil, cheese, coagulated milk (leben), or dried figs.” The chief fruits around Jerusalem are grapes and figs, watermelons are “grown largely on the plains,” and the vegetables are “tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and garlic.” Of the other vegetables: “They grow other vegetables, but ordinarily do not consume them but sell them.” The report distinguishes throughout between country people and townspeople, who eat three times a day.

Context added by this archive

This is an American government document. A United States consul in Jerusalem itemised what the Palestinian peasantry grew, ate and took to market, and the State Department published it. They sell what they do not eat, which means there is a market, which means there are towns to sell in.

Cite this item

"Palestine Fellaheen," Rochester Journal and the Post Express, 31 October 1908. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1908-003. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1908-003

Elsewhere in the archive

• Palestine Again a Jewish CountryThe New York Times · 12 July 1908 · the same year
• JEWISH COLONISTS ADVANCINGThe New York Times · 28 September 1908 · the same year