In April 1917, Cemal Pasha Governor of Syria and commander of the 4th Ottoman army, following rumours of an impending invasion of Jaffa by Entente forces, ordered the evacuation of city. In the morning of 6 April 1917 the Jewish population of Jaffa abandoned the city and moved either to Jerusalem or north towards the Jewish colonies in Galilee. Traditional historiography has used this example in order to show the anti-Zionist position of Cemal Pasha and of the Ottoman government at large. The evacuation of city was then recounted as a forced expulsion which ended with the massacre of hundreds of Jews. This historiography often relied on sources that in time proved to be biased or in fact exaggerated if not completely fabricated. The famous agronomist and leader of the Nili spy-ring Aaron Aaronsohn spread, largely fabricated, news about this event which were then reported worldwide by newspapers and magazines. Despite some sources point out the different nature of the events and exposed fabrication and exaggeration, it seems that some scholars purposely or accidentally neglected this material: the Spanish consul in Jerusalem conducted an investigation which for the most part disproved the allegation of a massacre, similarly the American consul in Jerusalem reported to the press that the Jews of Jaffa safely reached Jerusalem and other Jewish colonies. Through the discussion of this case study, this paper will present the complex nature of the relationship between Cemal Pasha, Zionism and Zionists. Cemal Pasha feared Zionism not a as a movement of mass migration towards Palestine, but like the emerging Arab nationalism as a threat to Ottomanism and the Empire. Relying on a variety of sources, including archival materials, letters, diaries, memoirs of local residents this paper will challenge traditional literature on Cemal Pasha and Zionism, highlighting the multifaceted and at times contradictory nature of Cemal’s perception and understanding of Zionism, showing that his decisions were mainly driven by war-time necessity rather than a plain dislike of the Jews and of Zionism.