Research Fields

• World War I
• Palestine studies
• Israel Studies
• Israeli Palestinian conflict
• Urban history
• Mediterranean studies
• Late Ottoman history

About

Dr. Abigail Jacobson is a historian who focuses on the social and urban history of late Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean. Her main research interest is the history of ethnically and nationally mixed spaces and communities, especially during times of war and conflict. She is also researching the history of Oriental Jews in Palestine and Israel.

Selected Publications

From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule (Syracuse University Press, 2011).

Oriental Neighbors: Middle Eastern Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine, co-authored with Moshe Naor (Brandeis University Press, 2016).

Bney Haaretz: Yehudim Ve’Aravim Bitkufat Hamndat  co-authored with Mosge Naor (Jerusalem: Magness Press, 2021)

“The Orphan, the Donor and the Photograph: Humanitarianism and Photography in Post-First World War Jerusalem,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 57 No. 1 (2021): 37-56.

“Negotiating Ottomanism in Times of War: Jerusalem during World War I through the Eyes of a Local Muslim Resident,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 40 no. 1 (February 2008): 69-88.

Selected Awards

Polonsky Prize for Excellence in Research, Faculty of Humanities, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2018)

Yehonatan Shapiro Best Book Award for 2016 (AIS)

Teaching

• Bachelor's degree courses
  • Introduction to Ottoman History – Introductory survey
  • World War I in the Middle East: Social and Political History- Undergraduate elective
  • Cities in the Middle East: History, Politics, Society – Upper-level seminar and upper-level undergraduate elective
  • The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – Introductory survey
  • The Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Dilemmas of a National Minority – Upper-level seminar and upper-level undergraduate elective
  • Academic and Scientific Writing