Yishaq Epstein

Yishaq Epstein (יצחק אפשטיין), also known as Ishac and Isaac Epstein (Lyuban, Belarus 7 December 1862 – Jerusalem 26 February 1943) was a linguist and educator known for his text “The Hidden Question” which focuses on relations between Zionists and Arab Palestinians. He was also a major proponent in the revival of the Hebrew language, teaching in and directing public schools in Palestine. He pioneered the “natural method” of teaching Hebrew, in which the teacher makes explanations only in Hebrew. He was brother of the writer Zalman Epstein.

Biography
Yishaq Epstein moved to Rosh Pina in Palestine in 1886. He participated in the acquisition of Palestinian land by an organization headed by the German Zionist Arthur Ruppin. He witnessed the expulsion of 600 Druze inhabitants from the Palestinian village of Metula in 1908.

The “Hidden Question”
Epstein presented this essay as a speech at the Seventh Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1905. He focused on “one trivial thing [that] we have overlooked so long in our lovely country: there exists an entire people who have held it for centuries, and to whom it would never occur to leave.”

“For a number of years,” Epstein continued, “we have been hearing that the population of [Palestine] exceeds 600,000. Assuming that this number is correct, even if we deduct from it 80,000 Jews, there are still over half a million Arabs,…80 percent of whom support themselves exclusively by farming, and own all the arable land. The time has come to dispel the misconceptions among the Zionists that land in Palestine lies uncultivated for lack of working hands, or laziness of the local residents. There are no deserted fields. Indeed, every Arab peasant tries to add to his plot from the adjoining land…

“Therefore,” Epstein concluded, “when we come to take over the land, the question immediately arises: what will the Arab peasant do when we buy their lands from them?” Epstein’s foreboding was ignored by most of his Zionist contemporaries.

Hebrew schools in Palestine
As principal of the Hebrew school in Rosh Pinna, Epstein encouraged Arab children from neighbouring Al-Jauna to enroll — although only four did so.