DBWI: Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews settled in Salonica instead in Gaza?

(OOC: I already posted a thread of similar topic more than a month ago, but another user misinterpreted the meaning of double blind, and voila! the thread was busted. So I'll try to initiate an all-new thread once again, so let's start.)

Today, I was watching a travel documentary about the city of Gaza and the surrounding towns and cities making up the district of the same name. I loved learning new languages and I've been in love with the said city because of the Ladino language. This is what I've learned from in the history books:
"After their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula, the Sephardic Jews began to move into destinations like the city of Amsterdam, England, North Africa and in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in the city of Gaza. The Ottoman authorities allowed the refugees to live in the city, setting up a cornerstone for the establishment of a Ladino culture in Gaza. Over time, Ladino became the lingua franca of Gaza and the neighboring towns; Jews, Arabs and Christians speaking it, even some of the authorities...

We know that Ladino is the co-official language of Gaza District in the State of Israel (the other one obviously is Hebrew), but I'm thinking of other city that could be suitable for the Sephardic Jewish refugees. How about Salonica, in Greece?

Here's my question: What if these refugees chose Salonica over Gaza as their place of refuge? How it will impact the culture and history of the said city? Will the ever-popular Gazan drama serials (also shown in the rest of Israel through Hebrew subtitles, by the way) will be butterflied as the result?

Thanks!

(Another OOC: Somehow, this thread can also be related to my another double-blind thread, this time about the Ottomans.)
 
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Well, a Before 1900 POD is going to wipe out pretty much any drama, Gazan or not. :p

But that's very interesting. The Zionist movement is by no means guaranteed to succeed as IOTL, but if it does, it's possible that the Greeks end up becoming independent from the Ottomans alongside an Israel based in Salonica. Then again, Gaza was the basis of Zionism due to its proximity to Jerusalem, so Zionism probably won't happen at all. Hmm, an Ottoman Empire that retains a heavy Ladino area would probably have close relations to New Mexico, as Israel does IOTL.
 
I hate to rain on parades, but: Thessaloniki was, even before the Sephardim arrived, a large and important port city (i.e. capable of supporting a large urban population). The Ottomans encouraged Jewish immigration heavily in order to help dilute the Christian population.

Gaza, on the other hand, is...a sleepy little port town, with desert and unfertile lowlands as its hinterland instead of the relatively fertile mountain slopes of lower Macedeonia. Plus, the land is in Mamluk hands instead of Ottoman in 1492, and it's nearly all Muslim Arabs, so there's no reason to encourage Jews to come. Even if the Mamluks decided to settle Jews there, and the Jews to settle there instead of in the far more religiously tolerant Ottoman Empire for some reason, Gaza simply can't support the same population as Salonica in the 15th century.
 
I hate to rain on parades, but: Thessaloniki was, even before the Sephardim arrived, a large and important port city (i.e. capable of supporting a large urban population). The Ottomans encouraged Jewish immigration heavily in order to help dilute the Christian population.

Gaza, on the other hand, is...a sleepy little port town, with desert and unfertile lowlands as its hinterland instead of the relatively fertile mountain slopes of lower Macedeonia. Plus, the land is in Mamluk hands instead of Ottoman in 1492, and it's nearly all Muslim Arabs, so there's no reason to encourage Jews to come. Even if the Mamluks decided to settle Jews there, and the Jews to settle there instead of in the far more religiously tolerant Ottoman Empire for some reason, Gaza simply can't support the same population as Salonica in the 15th century.
OOC: I understand your point, but remember this is a "double blind" thread; I posted it as a personality from an alternate universe.
 
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