Summary
The Jerusalem-born teacher and author (1886–1969) who served as the Histadrut’s Arab Secretary, the one full-time staff member of its Arab affairs department, in 1930–32 (Comrades and Enemies: Arab and Jewish Workers in Palestine, 1906-1948, lines 2260-2262).
Details
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Burla was born in Jerusalem to a family that had moved from Izmir to Palestine in the seventeenth century, spent most of his life up to 1948 teaching in Hebrew-language schools in Damascus and Palestine, and was the first modern Hebrew writer whose stories and novels focused on Jews of Middle Eastern origin; after the Histadrut he returned to teaching, worked for the Keren Hayesod and, after Israel’s establishment, served as a middle-level government official (Comrades and Enemies: Arab and Jewish Workers in Palestine, 1906-1948, line 2262; Chapter 5 note 13).
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From Histadrut headquarters in Tel Aviv he planned and coordinated Arab work under Ben-Tzvi, Dov Hoz and Abba Hushi, constantly seeking funds from the Palestine Zionist Executive and the Jewish Agency; in January 1931 he warned, “If we do not see what is coming and take the initiative, others will appear and organize the [Arab] masses against us” (lines 2262-2266).
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In December 1931 Burla’s memorandum urged a vast expansion of Arab work — clubs in all major cities and towns, village organising, a loan fund subscribed by all Jewish-owned banks and an Arabic-language newspaper — but by the beginning of 1932 the sphere was at a virtual standstill and the Histadrut suspended the planned Jaffa, Jerusalem and Lydda clubs; by spring 1933 Burla had left his post as secretary of the Arab Department (lines 2301-2312, 2406-2412).
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Chapter 5 note 13 records two differing accounts of Burla’s post-1948 posts: Domb states he directed the cultural department of Israel’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, while Ramras-Rauch asserts he directed the Arab affairs department in the Ministry of Minorities, with Lockman’s suggestion that perhaps he held both posts at different times (lines 2594-2600).
Related pages
Comrades and Enemies: Arab and Jewish Workers in Palestine, 1906-1948, Histadrut, Abba Hushi, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Jewish Agency