An Outline of the History of the Holy Land under Gentile Domination
1. Beginings:
2. Muslim Arab Dynasties.
3. The Crusades.
4. After the Crusades.
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1. Beginings:
The Hebrews conquered the Land of Canaan and divided it among their 12 Tribes. The 12 Tribes divided into 2 sections. The northern section consisting of 10 Tribes was conquered by the Assyrians and taken away. The southern section gave rise to the Jewish people. They were exiled by Babylonia but a portion of them returned and rebuilt the area of Judah. Under the Hasmonean (Maccabee) monarchs their domain encompassed a good portion of the Promised Land and much of the Near East. Eventually Judah was conquered by the Romans. The Temple was destoryed and the Jews expelled. The Jews were mostly to be been driven out of the Holy Land. In the course of time Jewish settlers made repeated attempts to return to the Land but were driven away by Gentile squatters in the area.
In the 300s CE enough Jews had returned to comprise a near-majority in the area. in 312 the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Constantine divided the Roman Empire into an eastern and a western section, The area of Palestine was ruled over by the Romans who in the East became known as Byzantines, Byzantiium was the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire that continued to function after Rome in the West was overrun. The language of Byzantium was Greek instead of Latin. A wave of persecutions and attempts at forced conversion to Christianity in the late 300s casued most of the Jews to emgirate.
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2. Muslim Arab Dynasties.
Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 636-641, several Muslim ruling dynasties succeeded each other as they wrestled control of Palestine:
The Rashiduns; first 4 caliphs successors of Mohammed. Umar ibn Al-Khatab became the second caliph of the Rashid caliphate. Umar conquered the Holy Land from the Byzantine Empire in 637 and overturned the ban on Jews worshipping in Jerusalem. The caliph also had the Temple Mount cleansed of filth and invited seventy Jewish families to settle on its southern end.
The Umayyads, who built the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem; These were Arab clans from Arabia, They founded Sunni Islam and were opposed to Ali the son- in-law of Mohammed who gave rise to Shia Islam.
The Abbasids were a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566-653 CE), They ruled from Iraq with the aid of bureaucrats from Persia.
The semi-independent Tulunids (868-) were a Mamluk (slave) dynasty of Turkic origin. They ruled Egypt, as well as much of Syria,
The Ikhshidids; (935- ) were Turkish Mamluks from Central Asia.
The Fatimids (902) practised the Ismaili Shia religion. They originally came from North Africa and ruled from Egypt. They claimed descent from Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad who married Ali the foiunder of Shiite Islam.
The Seljuks. (1037 - ) were Oghuz (Western ) Tiurks from Central Asia, 1099-
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3. The Crusades.
In 1095, Pope Urban-2 proclaimed the First Crusade, He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios-I Komnenos. Jerusalem was conquered in 1099. Initial successes established four Crusader states: the County of Edessa; the Principality of Antioch; the Kingdom of Jerusalem; and the County of Tripoli.
Godfrey of Bouillon (Northern France - Flanders) became the first king of Jerusalem.
The First Crusade was comprised mainly of various German and French groups. They attacked Jews on their way to the Holy land. Many Jews were killed or forced to become Christians. The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and massacred everyone inside it including Jews.
The Norwegian Crusade (1107 to 1110). was a sea-force led by the King of Norway. In coordination with the other Crusaders on land they conquered Sidon in Lebanon and the port of Acre.
The Second Crusade
Edessa was lost in 1144. The Second Crusade was intended to strengthen the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its forces were French and German. On its way eastward they carried out numerous massacres of Jews in the Rhineland in Germany. They conquered Ashkelon and much of the land.
Despite massacres of Jews in Europe and in the initial conquest of Jerusalem on the whole the Crusaders left Jews in the Holy Land undisturbed.
Numerous Jewish communities existed throughout the Land. It has been affirmed (according to the historian, Saul Baron) that despite the massacres etc, in general the Jews benefited from the Crusades at that time. Many Jews from Europe moved tot he Land.
Jerusalem fell to Saladin the Kurdish ruler of Egypt in 1187.
The Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189-1192) was an attempt led by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip-2 of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187.
After some initial successes the Crusaders were defeated at the Battle of Hattin.
In 1211 300 Rabbis from England and France moved to the Holy Land, about half settled in jerusalem and the rest in Acre on the coast near the present-day site of Haifa. Acre became an important Jewish center. in 1267 Nachmanides (RAMBAN) arrived in the Land, Among other important acheivements he was the authoer the Book Of redemption. This states that the Lost Ten Trbies have not yet retunred but are destined to defeat Edom and do so. He said they were located in "Tserefar,' at the extremities of the far north." "Terefat" is take to mean France and England (Abarbanel)..
A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291.
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4. After the Crusades.
Mongols raided the area 1260 - 1300.
The Mamluk Sultanate from Egypt (1250 -1570) varying groups of slaves of Turkish, Circassian, and Hungarian (sic.) origin. Under the Mamluks the Jewish community grew especially in Safed (Upper Galilee) and Jerusalem.
Ottoman Turks (1570-1918) ruled Palestine as part of Syria.
Napoleon attempted to conquer the Holy Land in 1799.
During the siege of Acre, Napoleon issued a proclamation to the Jews of Asia and Africa to help him conquer Jerusalem. The siege was lost to the British, however, and the plan was never carried out.
Muhamad Ali ( 1769 - 1849) was the Ottoman Albanian governor and de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, Najd, the Levant, Crete and parts of Greece.
He attempted to modernize portions of his Empire including Syria and Palestine.
Under Muhamed Ali and the other Ottoman rulers settlers from all over the Muslim World were encouraged to move to Palestine.
This process continued during the following era of the British Mandate. Improved conditions under the British and the relative prosperity occasioned by Jewish Investment led may Muslims from outside the Land to enter into it.
In 1840 the Damascus Affair featured a blood libel against the Jews. This aroused international interest and this led to geater British concern in Jewish matters.
Under the Ottoman Empire in the 1550s there were no more than 10,000 Jews in Palestine, making up around 5% of the population. By the mid-1800s Turkish sources recorded that 80% of the population of 600,000 was identified as Muslim, 10% as Christian Arab and 5-7% as Jewish.
Most Jews however were technically foreign citizens especially from Russia and Eastern Europe. These may not all have been included in the Census figures.
By 1880, Jerusalem had an overall Jewish majority. In 1891, the leading Muslims in Jerusalem asked the Ottoman authorities in Constantinople to prohibit the entry of Jews arriving from Russia.
Technically speaking the Ottoman Turks had been repalced by the Young Turks from 1909.
Before increased immigration of "Zionists" in the 1800s from Europe Jews and Arabs more or less got along but the Jews were often discriminated agaisnt and intermittently persecuted. Major incidents include:
In 1517, Arabs murdered Jews in Safed and Hebron.
In 1660 the Arabs murdered Jews and burned Safed down in the Safed Massacre of 1660.
In 1834, Arabs murdered Jews in Safed and Hebron.
In 1837, Arabs again murdered Jews in Safed and Hebron?
In World War-1 many Jews were expelled and moved to Egypt or to Europe.
After WW1 Palestine was ruled by the British.
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Jewish Immigrants
Extracts and Adaptations from:
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/guides/the-aliya-story?chapterIndex=2
The First Aliyah (1882-1903)
The influx of immigrants into the Land of Israel during the years 1882-1903 is known as "The First Aliyah." This was the first large wave of immigrants that were motivated by nationalism. During these years some 25,000 Jews emigrated from Russia and Rumania, and 2,500 arrived from Yemen.
Immigrants of the First Aliyah arrived in two waves, stimulated by pogroms and violence against the Jews. The first influx followed pogroms in Russia in 1881-1882, and the second mass influx from Russia took place during 1890-1891 as a result of anti-Jewish legislation and the expulsion of Jews from Moscow. Immigration from Yemen was primarily motivated by messianic expectations.
Only one quarter chose agricultural settlements.
Communities established during the First Aliyah included Rishon LeTzion, Zichron Yaakov, and Yesod HaMa'ale alongside the development of older communities such as Petach Tikva and Rosh Pinna. The french Jewish Baron Edmond DeRothschild, aided the settlements financially, helping them to survive until the 1900s.
Eliezer Ben Yehuda helped adapt the Hebrew Language to modern needs.
The Second Aliyah (1904-1914)
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/guides/the-aliya-story?chapterIndex=3
ca. 35 thousand Jews arrived, mainly from Russia and Poland. The majority of immigrants during the Second Aliyah were single young people, many with a socialist ideology coupled with a belief in the national redemption of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel. More immigrants also arrived from Yemen. The immigrants of the Second Aliyah founded many of the institutions and social and political organizations of the Jewish Yishuv (Settlement). They established several kibbutzim, the city of Tel Aviv, and HaShomer, the first organization to undertake the defense of the Jews in the Land of Israel. They also established the Histadrut (Labor Organization of workers, as well as the first health and welfare organizations.
The Third Aliyah (1919-1923)
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/guides/the-aliya-story?chapterIndex=4
Some 35,000 Jews arrived, the majority from Russia and Poland, with a smaller number from Lithuania and Rumania.
Immigrants of the Third Aliyah continued the efforts of the Second Aliyah, establishing new institutions and organizations, as well as new forms of settlement. Among others, they established the General Federation of Workers and contributed to the founding of the Hagana. The ideal of "Hebrew Labor" was expressed by the construction of buildings and roads. Immigrants from the Third Aliyah continued to strengthen the existing agricultural infrastructure and even developed new forms of settlement which became kibbutzim and the moshavim ovdim (co-operative agricultural communities).
The Fourth Aliyah (1924-1928)
More than 67,000 immigrants arrived, mainly from Poland, Russia, Romania, and Lithuania. Other groups arrived from Yemen and Iraq.
Many Jews from Poland, who made up a large proportion of the Fourth Aliyah, wanted to leave Poland because of an economic crisis in that country, coupled with heavy taxation imposed upon the Jews. Also during these years, anti-semitism increased throughout Europe, motivating Jews from European countries to immigrate. Many chose to come to the Land of Israel because of the United States restrictive immigration laws and quotas from 1924.... largely middle-class individuals who had engaged in business, industry, and trade in their native countries. ... the cities, especially Tel Aviv, experience rapid development during this period... new agricultural undertakings, such as citrus cultivation. .. Financial crisis of 1926 led many to leave the country.
The Fifth Aliyah (1929-1939)
https://www.gov.il/en/departments/guides/the-aliya-story?chapterIndex=6
ca 250, 000 Jews arrived.
Between 1933 and 1936 more than 160,000 immigrants arrived legally. Thousands more, unable to immigrate legally due to British restrictions, arrived clandestinely. The majority ...settled in the cities, mainly in Tel Aviv.
After 1948 many more Jews arrived from Yemen, and from other Muslim countries. A good portion of presentday israelis are their descendants.
5. British Administration.
With the British conquest in 1917, many Jews who had been expelled by the Ottomans were able to return, and Jewish immigration picked up again. The 1921 Jaffa riots and 1929 Palestine riots saw Arab mobs violently attack Jewish population centers, and the tensions culminated in the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, which saw the Arabs launch widespread attacks against both Jews and the British.The Third Aliyah saw about 40,000 Jewish immigrants arrive in Palestine from 1919 to the start of an economic crisis in Palestine in 1923, and between 1924 and 1928, the Fourth Aliyah saw about 80,000 more Jewish immigrants arrive in Palestine and the Fifth Aliyah, which took place between 1929 and 1939, saw the arrival of an estimated 225,000 to 300,000 Jewish immigrants. During this time, land continued to be purchased by Jews, many new Jewish settlements were established and existing Jewish communities in urban areas continued to grow. Tel Aviv in particular saw large-scale development and became a major city. It was home to over a third of the Jewish population by 1939. During this time, tensions with the Arabs increased over Jewish immigration.