Al–Shams (The Sun), published in Cairo from 1934 to 1948, was the last Arabic-language Jewish newspaper in Egypt. It was owned, edited, and largely written by Sa‘d (Sa‘adiya) Ya‘qūb Malkī, who previously had edited the Arabic edition of Israël (Isrā’īl) and saw himself as continuing its mission with al–Shams.

Seeking to attract both Jewish and non-Jewish readers, al-Shams promoted a reformist program that encompassed Egyptian Jewry, the Egyptian nation as a whole, and a broadly defined “East.” The paper’s content consisted of news of Egypt’s Jewish co…