Zionist movement and Jewish migration reshape Palestine's history

Jerusalem, a city considered sacred by the three Abrahamic religions, has been a prominent city throughout history. It was under the protection and service of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. Jewish migration to the region began systematically in the late 19th century. In 1896, under the leadership of Theodor Herzl, these migrations took on a new dimension, and Palestine became the primary target of Zionism. The Palestinian lands surrounding Jerusalem, sacred to all three Abrahamic religions, came under Ottoman control in 1516. For 400 years under Ottoman administration, the region was divided into the districts of Jerusalem, Gaza, and Nablus. WHEN DID JEWS SETTLE IN JERUSALEM? The Jewish dream of Palestine never faded throughout history. The lands of Palestine, centered around Jerusalem, came under the rule of the Arabs around 2000 BC, the Hittites around 1800 BC, and Egypt in 1286 BC. The Israelites, led by Moses, settled here. Under the rule of King David and King Solomon, the region experienced years filled with exiles and occupations, with Roman rule beginning in 64 BC. During this time, Jesus Christ lived. Palestine came under Byzantine rule in 395, Islamic rule in 637, and Ottoman rule in 1516. After 1896, under the leadership of Theodor Herzl, a journalist by profession, efforts began for the Jews to gather again in Palestine and establish a state. To achieve Zionist goals, organizations were established in Europe, and funds were raised. With the collected money, large tracts of land were purchased from the Arabs living in Palestine, but these were not sufficient for the main goal. THE SECRET OFFER OF THEODOR HERZL TO ABDÜLHAMID In a 1901 meeting with Sultan Abdulhamid II, Theodor Herzl, secretly, proposed that 'if the Jews who control the European stock exchanges paid off the Ottoman Empire's entire debt, Palestine would be granted as a homeland.' This offer brought by Zionist forces was rejected, leading to great disappointment among the Jews. Abdulhamid responded: 'I cannot sell even an inch of land, for it does not belong to me, but to my people. They built this Empire with their blood, and we know how to cover it with our blood again before it is taken from us.' 'I CANNOT SIGN THE DEATH WARRANT OF MY CORELIGIONISTS' The Zionist leader Theodor Herzl wrote in his memoirs that Abdulhamid said, 'It is never possible for me to sign the death warrant of my coreligionists by opening the way for these migrations.' With the advent of the Constitution, the rights granted to minorities also benefited the Jews. Especially after 1914, they began purchasing large tracts of land from the Arabs in Palestine and settling there. The Arab Kingdom was promised to Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca. The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, signed between British representative Sir Mark Sykes and French representative M.F. George Picot, divided Ottoman lands among Britain, France, and Russia. For Palestine, an international status was envisaged. In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote a letter to Lord Walter Rothschild, one of the prominent figures in the Zionist campaign, stating that Britain supported the Jews in establishing a homeland in Palestine. 'RESIDING A HOMELESS PEOPLE IN A LAND WITHOUT A NATION' The Balfour Declaration became the most important milestone in the process leading to the establishment of Israel. The declaration, prepared after the correspondence between Rothschild and Balfour, aimed to influence the Jewish diaspora in the United States, which Britain believed to be powerful after the country joined World War I. Following the letter and under the campaign slogan of 'residing a homeless people in a land without a nation,' a significant Jewish migration to the historic land of Palestine was initiated. A week after the letter was written, the Balfour Declaration was shared with the press, and it was included in the Treaty of Sèvres, signed by the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The British mandate in Palestine, established in 1922 under the League of Nations, was based on this declaration. OTTOMAN WITHDRAWS FROM PALESTINE IN 1918 After the Balfour Declaration, Ottoman troops withdrew from Palestine in 1918. Between 1880 and 1918, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 24,000 to 65,000, making up 10% of the population. During the British mandate, Jewish migration to Palestine accelerated from 1920 to 1940. Most notably, due to the genocide of Jews by the Nazis during World War II in Europe, the rate of migration increased significantly. Jewish migration was legitimized as part of the process leading to the occupation of Palestine. In Safed, a fortress-city in northern Palestine, the number of Jewish-owned churches had dramatically increased. Ottoman officials investigated the reasons behind this increase and prepared a report. In Safed, there were 7 mosques owned by Muslims, and 3 old churches owned by Jews, but this number had increased to 35 churches. In addition, they continued to buy new lands and donate them to the churches. SAFEDE RECEIVED INTENSE JEWISH MIGRATION In the first half of the 16th century, Safed had 6 Muslim and 4 Jewish neighborhoods. According to a document from 1597, the number of Jewish neighborhoods increased to 12. The region began to receive intense Jewish migration from various parts of Europe and North Africa, and the proportion of the Jewish population increased by 4 times. Later, Jews began migrating to other places, especially Thessaloniki. In the late 1800s, Jewish migration to the region increased again, and Jews came to constitute the majority of the population. By the 1850s, the Ottoman Empire had learned that land was being purchased for Latin, Greek, and Armenian monasteries in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the sale of land by Muslims was prohibited. A document was prepared reporting the violations of this ban by the officials, and it was declared through an edict, signed by provincial council members, that any sales of property, including homes and plots of land, were prohibited. Due to the increased sale of land to foreigners, the Ottoman Empire had prohibited land sales. Despite this prohibition, foreigners continued to buy land in Palestine through various tricks. Measures were taken to prevent this, and Esad Effendi was assigned to investigate and record land transactions in Jerusalem. The Zionist movement, thinking they could acquire land from the Ottoman Empire, began to take steps to establish a Jewish colony in the Belka region with the help of British journalist and diplomat Mr. Oliphant. A Christian who supported the establishment of Jewish settlements in Palestine, Oliphant presented a proposal to the Ottoman Empire. Before the proposal, he identified suitable locations for the Zionist settlement and presented the idea of establishing a Jewish colony in the Belka region to Sultan Abdulhamid in 1880, arguing that the local population was upset with the Jews. The proposal suggested establishing a Jewish colony covering almost all of Northern Palestine. This proposal was rejected by the Ottoman Council of State (Meclis-i Hâss-ı Vükelâ). Another proposal was made by Polish diplomat and journalist Newlinsky. Newlinsky, in 1881, proposed that, in exchange for providing financial help to the financially struggling Ottoman Empire, they would help the empire in return for land in Palestine. He also promised that Jewish businessmen would provide support through European newspapers in favor of the Ottoman Empire. Newlinsky succeeded in meeting Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1896, but Abdulhamid, who opposed Jewish settlement in Palestine, rejected the idea of an autonomous Jewish state there 'in the most definite terms.' Realizing they could not acquire Ottoman lands through agreements, Zionists resorted to deception to obtain land. In areas like Syria, they began to mortgage the lands of the agricultural population and lend money at high interest rates to traders and bankers. In 1881, a bank in England notified that these lands would be taken from them, and an edict was issued stating that land mortgages would not be accepted without the approval of the Ottoman government. The Jewish expansionist activities were intensifying, and they were purchasing large tracts of land in Gaza and Jaffa. They began to establish modern villages in these areas, attempting to take control of the region. Administrative and military measures were taken against their covert activities. A document written in 1891 highlighted that if Jewish migration continued at this pace, they could take control of all of Palestine within 30 years. The migration of Jews from Russia and Greece continued to increase, and in 1892, it was decided not to grant residence permits to Jews coming to Jerusalem. Additionally, Jews visiting Jerusalem were not allowed to stay for more than a month. Another document reported that Jews from Iran, who had arrived in Jerusalem, were to be returned to their home countries due to the ban on foreign nationals residing in Jerusalem. Despite the prohibition on Jewish settlements in Palestine, some officials' negligence or tolerance, or high payments made to landowners, allowed them to acquire land. To prevent this, it was temporarily prohibited to issue title deeds for properties in the region. Furthermore, Jews deported from Russia and Romania illegally settled in areas around Jaffa and Haifa. In an investigation conducted in 1893, it was revealed who had assisted them in this. Jews deported from Russia and other European countries, with the support of Baron Rothschild, continued to settle in Palestine. In a document dated 1894, it was reported that the concentration of Jews in this region could later lead to a problem similar to the Armenian issue, and thus, efforts were made to prevent this systematic migration. The decisions taken at the Second Zionist Congress, held in Vienna in 1898, were published in the Correspondance newspaper. These decisions were translated into Turkish, and plans related to Zionism were announced. At the congress, it was expressed that Theodor Herzl was trying to bring Jews together to return to the land of Palestine with the motto, 'You give, I also give.' Furthermore, Herzl's financial proposals to the Ottoman Empire were also noted in another document. It was stated that the Ottoman Empire's financial problems would be resolved in exchange for giving land to Jews in Palestine. Herzl presented this proposal to Artin Pasha, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. Sultan Abdulhamid II, who had noticed the early stages of Jewish migration to Palestine, made efforts to take the necessary measures and never allowed any permission that would open the way for Zionist goals. During meetings with Zionist leaders, Abdulhamid always opposed the idea. Due to violations by Jews on the Sultan's lands in Jerusalem, he ordered the establishment of watch posts at some positions, an increase in the number of soldiers at the Jaffa regiment, and the reinforcement of these posts. Furthermore, fearing that some lands in Jerusalem would fall into the hands of Jews, Abdulhamid purchased these lands for their value and registered them in his private property.