Judah and the Roaring 20's ( Alt His, RP, Open )

[Linkolas Finland]

" Therefore I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will rise again.

Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish for a State will have it.

We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes.

The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. "

- Theodor Herzl, Father of Zionism ( Der JudenStaat, 1896 )

-בהתחלה-
.........

The novel Altneuland ( literally: The Old New Land ), was a piece of utopian fiction penned at the turn of the 20th century by future leader of the World Jewish Congress, Theodor Herzl. In the novel, Jews had reclaimed for themselves their ancestral homeland of Israel by the year 1923, and within a single generation, had created an egalitarian and syncretic state that had evolved beyond the draconian straits of racism, nationalism, and sectarianism; transforming the derelict backwater of Palestine into a modern and industrial Palace of Peace. With the passing of Herzl in 1904, he would not see his predictions of a Jewish homeland come to pass - let alone, surpassed. In the spirit of the Balfour agreement, the Dominion of Israel-Palestine was declared in 1919. The stateless nation would finally have borders to call it's own. A history of turbulence, subjugation, and persistence being the legacy for the tribes of Israel, what shall the future hold now that the Chosen people lead themselves for the first time since the days of David?

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Shalom, and welcome to her majesty's most loyal Dominion of Israel-Palestine. We're a new nation on the world stage, and as for what promises we might hold for you, I could only surmise. Maybe you're one of the tens of thousands of Hebrews, fleeing from the antisemitism of the world to a land your ancestors were once promised? Perhaps you've been here for a while - a Turkmen or an Arab - calling this country your home since the days of Umar I or Tamerlane? By whatever circumstances you've found yourself here, if you intend to make this place your home, you'll no doubt be helping to make history. Ours is a very new nation, with the world not really sure what to make of us yet: Are we a Jewish state? A jewel colony within the former rubble of the Ottomans? The Utopia envisioned by Herzl? It's still pretty early, so I suppose that we'll just have to wait and see what will happen, let alone your part in it ( whatever that maybe ). You've your pick then of what you want to be: ancient farmer, plucky settler, aspiring artist, utopian thinker, old world activist, swarthy rogue, hawkish mercenary, humble Rabbi, pious Imam, union man, or business magnate!

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-Further Explanation-
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You shall be stepping into the shoes of a person currently residing within the newly founded Dominion of Israel-Palestine, a state created in the after of the Great War, in order reward the contribution of Jews to Entente victory. As was mentioned in the above greeting, you may elect to be any person, of any background you so chose ( barring that you keep in mind this timelines historical events and a sense of realism ). Our story centers round the creation of a Israeli-Palestinian state twenty eight years early, and without the backdrop of the second world war and impending cold war. Generally, this is expected to be a socio-political RP, were in characters are expected ( though not required ) to have some effect upon the developing character of this new nation state in some form, be it: political, social, religious, economic, philosophical, martial, or some other factor of measure.

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-Notes-
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-The historical record-

The Great war began and ended just as it had in our timeline. The point of divergence, however, lies in the execution of promises by the Entente to it's middle eastern allies of the time, Namely: various Arab kingdoms were legally established following in the wake of the Ottoman collapse, serving as protectorates of either the French or British Empire's respectively ( Transjordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, and Lebanon ). Our story centers around the British Dominion of Israel-Palestine, as enters into 1920 only months away from electing it's first democratic government and entering as an equal partner into the Commonwealth.

-Our Political Status-

As the name Dominion implies, we are not an independent nation - rather, a servant of the British Royal crown, his majesty King George V our head of State. Our nascent system of governance, until further revision by proceeding governments ( to be elected April 20th, 1920 ) is modeled off British parliamentarianism ( save for the exception that our Knesset is unicameral ). As it currently stands, the Dominion is run as a transitional government by the British military, until power is handed over to the Knesset following elections. It should be noted that no national political parties, as of yet, exist anywhere in the country. With the newly arrived Jewish Diaspora being so vastly multiethnic, and the newly independent arabs very new to a democratic system of government, nothing beyond very small and sectarian interest groups will exist at the start of the story. Any larger national organizations, will have to be formed ICly.

Are we a Jewish State? No - not technically. Though the mandate very explicitly does declare Israel-Palestine as a homeland for the Jews, it also makes the same gesture towards the native Arab inhabitants of the land - who are to be considered of equal political status with newly arrived Jews. In future governments, this stance may change, but as of the starting date January 1st 1920, that is our status: we are a political and social blank slate upon the world stage.

-Starting Small-

Palestine, at this point in history, for all intents and purposes, was a derelict backwater. Infrastructure was literally Medieval, modern amenities few and far between, wilderness unkempt, with many people living as they had since the time of the prophet and even further back. You are either a recently arrived settler, or a native of this impoverished land. What is being said is - you're not starting with a whole lot. Maybe you were some big business tycoon back in the USA, big whoop that will do you in a country where you have little to no local contacts and not nearly the infrastructure you need in order to support whatever industry it is you're apart of. Say you want be some revolutionary political activist, your first hurdle will be in the fact that, save for local Arab royalty, this country has practically no unified political history. The civilian government hasn't even been elected yet!

If you want to have something big you're not going to just drop into the story with whatever business empire or grand rabbinate you want, you're going to have to make it in the IC.

-Wrenches-

Wrenches are tools typically used to fix problems. Not in this story. Wrenches are things I, as the OP, throw at you in order to add conflict and interest to the story. Randomly, on scales both macro and micro, I will generate random, and occasionally, personalized events to occur.

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-Rules-
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1. General NS rules

2. As this is technically a British Dominion, official business will most often be discussed in English

3. There is no set rule on the progression of time, it is simply asked that you please keep in mind that, as the first Knesset election is only four months away ( an event which should take many pages to reach ) that you please not jump any more than a few weeks ( MAXIMUM ) between posts. The acceptable time length between posts after the election will likely change in the future.

4. You are free to RP the response of NPC's within a reasonable extent. A reasonable extent being: the NPC does not do something suddenly and jarringly out of character, nor are used simply as a means for players to quickly and easily achieve their desired end goals. It's fine to use NPC's to progress the story, but it's not fine to use them as a means towards a easily won end. Likewise, without explicit permission, do not RP the actions of an NPC who happens to belong to another player's Organization ( if they happen to posses one ).

5. There is no in place system for how elections are to be determined ( yet ). I, as OP, will do my best to decide the outcome of elections based upon the participation and quality of those persons campaigning in the IC ( a Knesset thread will be created later ).

6. You may not kill another player unless given express permission.

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-Citizen Documentation-
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[Linkolas Finland]

Citizens of Interest

[Linkolas Finland]

For those curious, the Dominion of Israel-Palestine constitutes the Palestinian half of the former British mandate - and the yet official capital is the city of Tel Aviv.

[Linkolas Finland]

i'm free to answer any questions.

[Danubian Peoples]

Well, sure, why not. Still unsure as if to if I should join this roleplay (non NS-side stuff and the like make this quite the endeavor for me), but I am happy to ask you questions, since the setting strikes me as interesting.

First of all, could you clairfy the political status of the Middle East? All the opening post says is that 1. Israel-Palestine exists, the country this roleplay is set in, and two, that, to quote the opening post: various Arab kingdoms were legally established following in the wake of the Ottoman collapse, serving as protectorates of either the French or British Empire's respectively ( Transjordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, and Lebanon ). From what I can tell, that doesn't sound too different from the state of the region as it was IRL. If you wanted to execute promises, then wouldn't that mean the creation of a unified Arab state? Perhaps I am getting off-topic and oddly specific, especially since this RP is said to take place in Israel-Palestine. Also, apologies incase I am misinterpreting your words.

Next, any resources one can use for character creation? I myself am not familiar with the Jewish diaspora, or with Levantine Arabs, or with any other characters that could hypothetically end up in this country. I don't want to take shots in the dark with this sort of thing, and would like to ground any characters I create in realism.

And lastly, do you plan to roll out a Discord or anything of the sort? Would like a heads up just in case.

Thanks in advance, and once again, nice RP.

[Linkolas Finland]

Well, sure, why not. Still unsure as if to if I should join this roleplay (non NS-side stuff and the like make this quite the endeavor for me), but I am happy to ask you questions, since the setting strikes me as interesting.

First of all, could you clairfy the political status of the Middle East? All the opening post says is that 1. Israel-Palestine exists, the country this roleplay is set in, and two, that, to quote the opening post: various Arab kingdoms were legally established following in the wake of the Ottoman collapse, serving as protectorates of either the French or British Empire's respectively ( Transjordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, and Lebanon ). From what I can tell, that doesn't sound too different from the state of the region as it was IRL. If you wanted to execute promises, then wouldn't that mean the creation of a unified Arab state? Perhaps I am getting off-topic and oddly specific, especially since this RP is said to take place in Israel-Palestine. Also, apologies incase I am misinterpreting your words.

Next, any resources one can use for character creation? I myself am not familiar with the Jewish diaspora, or with Levantine Arabs, or with any other characters that could hypothetically end up in this country. I don't want to take shots in the dark with this sort of thing, and would like to ground any characters I create in realism.

And lastly, do you plan to roll out a Discord or anything of the sort? Would like a heads up just in case.

Thanks in advance, and once again, nice RP.

The status of the Arab kingdoms is indeed similar to their IRL status of this time period - being, however, that Transjordan has been split between the Hashemite monarchy and the Israel-Palestine Dominion.

In regards to Jewish diaspora, you actually have a rather magnificent amount of creative leeway. At this point in history, Jews could be found in prominent positions across practically every country and continent that had been touched by European influence. Every single country involved in the Great War, save for Japan, employed some contingent of Jewish soldiers or had Jews within their officer class - the United Kingdom famously employed the so called, Jewish legion, to seize Palestine from the Ottoman Empire during the Great War.

Of course, what has prompted the very creation of the Dominion state was the rampant anti-Semitism endemic to the western world at this time ( particularly in Europe ). In 1894, the Dreyfus affair rocked the third republic in a wave of nationalistic anti-Semitism; Across Germany and The Austro-Hungarian Empires Jews were regularly kept out of elite society and fraternities for their seemingly inferior upbringing; Russia and the entire Romanov dynasty was infamously anti-Semitic at this time, with pogroms being a constant hovering fear over Jewish communities, and even the formation of terrorist groups such as the Black Hundreds. The Anti-Semitism found in Russia was actually so bad during this time that is caused a massive migration of Yiddish speaking Jews out of the country, into Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and Palestine. The stereotype of Jews being dirty, and their archetypal conservative black cloths actually come from these refugee's - who were usually poor as a result of their status. It was throughout the chaos of this time that the World Zionist Congress was founded, as a means to fight on behalf of Jewish rights, and which wound up actually found the Dominion.

In terms of Levantine Arab, your choices might be more narrow. At this time and place, Palestine ( or Falastin as some of the educated would call it ) was at a precipice of conflicted between the Ottoman Turks, Egyptians, and Bedouin rebels. Wars were relatively frequent, but not overly destructive. Local government is handled mostly be sheiks and other ancient gentry, only having until recently been answerable to Turks in Istanbul. The region is relatively poor and Agrarian, but recent influx of Jews from Europe ( mostly Russia ) prior to the war have introduced new cities along the coast. In regards to religion, sunni Islam is the most prominent faith among the Arab, but there too exists a significant number of Orthodox Catholics apart of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, as well as Eastern Catholics. Education is largely parochial ( if had at all), save for those who've managed a scholarship in either Istanbul or some other European city. Local participation during the war was not prominent among the Arab population

No I don't intend on opening up a discord. All chat will be over the OOC

[Linkolas Finland]

I am working on a Jewish character currently: an Italian veteran of the great war, whose come as a union representative for craftsmen. I should have it up by tomorrow.

[Linkolas Finland]

Dominion Citizen

( WIP )

Personal Profile

Photo ( if applicable ):

Name ( Last, first, middle ): Vespucci, Gabriel, Antony
Age: 36
Sex: male
Country of origin: Kingdom of Italy

Marital status: Widower
Children: n/a
Occupations, current and all former: Union Boss of the Guild for Italian Craftsmen of Israel-Palestine ( GICIP ), cobbler, para-legal, Arditi
Religious Denomination: Secular Jew

Resume

Applicable skills ( charisma and armchair knowledge of something are not skills ): Leatherwork, Advanced Infantry Training
Languages fluently spoken: Italian, French, German
Interests: Art, literature, cinema, hiking
Declaration of Organizational Membership/s: GICIP
Declared capital: n/a

Intentions while occupying within the Dominion: To represent the labor interests of his community, as well as to build a home for himself in the dominion free from the anti-Semitism of Europe.

Biography: Gabriel was born in the winter of 1884, to Marco, a Milanese cobbler of middle class origin, and Silvia, heir to a once illustrious family of merchants, now devoid of it's past riches and properties. The Vespucci's, a respectable middle class family, save for their Jewish ancestry, were largely secular and apart of a liberal stint among many contemporary Jews of the time, who sought to rid themselves of their ethnic identities in favor of assimilation with the Gentiles. Save for visits to his more conservative maternal grandparents in Turin round the time to celebrate Hanukkah, his upbringing was largely devoid of any religious influence - indeed, even being educated at a catholic primary school.

As was tradition within the Vespucci lineage, the cobblery was to be handed down from father to son, and so Gabriel was mentored by Marco to the task of leather working. In spite of this, however, Marco desired to be more than simply the craftsmen his fathered had envisioned for him; Silvia would often take Gabriel on tours through the inner city, to places such the Robertaebasta, and to see the original Last Supper, places that would convince Gabriel to become an artist.

His mother would die during child birth when he turned 11, leaving the Vespucci household a considerably more cold and distant home for both Gabriel and his father. Inbetween school, and his father's continued tutelage, he would start his first foray's into art with small paintings and portraits. His teenage years were regarded with feelings of melancholy, not only for the loss of his mother, but too with the distance he felt from his father; these feelings helped to move him and influence his work. When he'd turned 16, he'd managed to finally muster the courage and tell his father that he had no desire to inherit the cobblery, and instead wanted to go to Rome, and become a lawyer ( not wanting to inherit the paternal business was one matter, but becoming an artist he felt was perhaps too much for his father to bear ). Marco was resistant at first, but acquiesced to his son's demands, under the condition that should his career in law fail, that he return and take on the family business - Gabriel agreed.

Upon turning 18, Gabriel was accepted to Spaienza University, in Rome. Though lacking for lineage and wealth, his exceptional grades along with numerous recommendations had managed to secure him a spot in the prestigious university's legal and art courses. Though officially, he did intent to become a lawyer as a matter of fact, his true passions lied with becoming an artist.

Other pertinent information:

[Purusapura]

Dominion Citizen

Personal Profile

Photo ( if applicable ):

Name ( Last, first, middle ): Ahmad Husseini Beidas
Age: 32
Sex: male
Country of origin: Ottoman Palestine

Marital status: single
Children: none
Occupations, current and all former: formerly a member of the infamous desert mounted corps, now is a first lieutenant in the dominion's army
Religious Denomination: Sunni Islam (though he is not very religious)

Resume

Applicable skills ( charisma and armchair knowledge of something are not skills ): horse riding, marksmanship, hand to hand combat.
Languages fluently spoken: Arabic and English
Interests: travelling, peace, quietness
Declaration of Organizational Membership/s: the dominion's army
Declared capital: N/A

Intentions while occupying within the Dominion: to enforce the law and live peacefully in the dominion

Biography: Born in Nablus in the year 1888 or 1305 in the Arabic calendar, he was born to a relatively rich family, his father Ali owned at least 3 soap factories making the renowned Nabulsi soap, Nablus manufactured a large percentage of soap used in Palestine, it was important to the economy of the relatively autonomous city. His mother Fatimah wanted him to become a professor or take over his father's business, his father had a small fortune, enough to send him to Cairo and study so he arranged for him and his mother to be sent to Cairo in 1900 and during that time Ahmed was 12 years old, his mother and Ahmed, he also hired someone to go with them and make sure they stayed safe, Ali visited them 2 times a year and regularly sent money until he completed his education but he decided to stay and try to further his education which his father accepted, by 1911 his mother's health was failing and she soon died of Diptheria, his father grief stricken almost brought his business to bankruptcy through bad managing, Ali spent most of the money he earned on his wife but she died. By 1912, Ali soon after in December of 1914 died from the Flu which he had been suffering for months from, he had left his business to the manager of his first soap factory for mysterious reasons and then Ahmed was left without any family, he joined the Egyptian expeditionary force on impulse because by that time he had British citizenship and fought in several battles through the Sinai and into Palestine eventually freeing the nation and he was offered to be made into a first lieutenant in the dominion's army which he accepted.

Other pertinent information: