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If Script of Hebrew Language is to Be Changed, Let It Be Arabic, Plea

April 8, 1929
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If the Assyrian (square) script employed in writing Hebrew is to be changed, as is now being advocated, let the Jews of Palestine adopt the Arabic alphabet, instead of imitating the westernization efforts of the Turks by adopting the Latin alphabet.

This argument is made in an editorial in the Arab weekly “Al Mustakim.” Commenting upon the propaganda of Ittamar Ben Avi, Palestine journalist and son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who instituted revival of Hebrew as a spoken language, the editorial, entitled “A Proposal to Our Israelite Brethren,” argues that the Arab characters are similar in origin to the Hebrew and, besides, the adoption by the Palestine Jews of the Arabic alphabet would tend to create a better understanding between the Jews and the Arab peoples.

Mr. Ben Avi recently started the publication here of a weekly, “Palestinai,” in which the Hebrew is written phonetically in Latin letters.

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