The Jewish Community of Damascus under the Emir Faisal: between Arab Nationalism and Zionism Between 1908 and 1920, the Jewish community of Damascus, encountered three nationalist movements, each of which demanded total solidarity from its members. Several times throughout this short period, the Jews had to choose one of three circles of identity: national Ottoman-Jewish identity, national Arab-Jewish identity, and national Hebrew-Zionist identity, which was a new kind of Jewish identity. This presents an unprecedented need for thinking in terms of national definition. In addition, in the background there was always the option of adopting the French cultural identity, because of the education activities of the French-Jewish society Alliance Isra?lite Universelle. Since October 5 1918, an Arab government appointed by the Emir Faisal dominated in Damascus. It was a period that stirred intense political activity. There were many parties, organizations, and various important and marginal ideologies groups. Faisal's people, who formed the new political establishment, had a clear Arab-Syrian national orientation that sought to define the frames of Arab Syria. In order to bridge the gaps and differences between the various populations resulting from religious, ethnic, urban or tribe identities, emphasis was placed on fostering a secular Arab national identity. This is of importance since all residents were promised emancipation and equal rights. A specific slogan expressed more than anything Faisal's activity towards real integration of the non-Muslim minorities in the new Arab state: "Religion is for God, nation is for all (al deen le allah wa al watan le al jamee')". Within this framework, the Jews were recognized as a natural part of the National Arab society, who practiced the law of Moses (Musawi). The equal rights offered under the new regime, made it clear to them that the Arab-Syrian society expects them to show national solidarity with its goals. On the other hand, the Zionist movement expected the Jews who lived close to the border of the Holy Land, to be faithful to the goal of creating a national homeland for the Jews in the same region that was defined by the Arabs as the south part of Great Syria. Based upon thus far un-discovered archival documents, I would like to deal with the difficult situation of the Jews of Damascus between Arab nationalism and Zionism.