Did you know that in the city of Caesarea, located between Tel Aviv and Haifa, there is a mosque that was built in the 19th century by Bosniaks, who moved there?
In the mentioned period, Bosniaks arrived in Palestine, who, due to fear after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), fled to other parts of the Ottoman Empire. They did not want to give up their tradition and continued to nurture it.
They built two mosques in Caesarea, which resemble the mosques in Herzegovina. Unfortunately, the mosques were destroyed in 1948 during the creation of Israel. Bosniaks were forced to find a new home. The conquerors left the minaret as a monument, and part of that one mosque is today a restaurant and shop.
Although not all of them are from the same tribe, most of the Bosniak settlers took the surname Bushnak, Bushnaq, or Bouchnak in the 19th century. The word “Bushnak” is used today in Palestine for someone who is beautiful or a person with fair skin.
Bosniaks then communicated in their native language. Many authors of that era added the designation Bosnavi or Bosnali to their name, which signals their attachment to their native Bosnia. However, their descendants do not communicate in our language and consider themselves Palestinians, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
