Who are they?

1. Who are they? Palestiniansand Zionists

2. 1800s Palestinian Society • Palestinians in the 1800s were found primarily in the Ottoman empire • They were Arab speaking and Arab by culture • The majority of Palestinians were Sunni Muslim, though there was a substantial Christian minority • Palestinians lived in villages rather than cities • Their society was agriculturally based • Crops grown included citrus fruits, wheat, olives, apples, and figs • Politics were generally local • The top families of the village were the most respected • There was no sense of Palestinian or Ottoman citizenship • Individuals almost worked through their families • There was no nationhood at work yet (no call for a Palestinian state)

3. 1800s Palestinian Land Ownership • Land codes were passed in 1858 and 1867 • The goals were to make land ownership easier and land registration an official deed of land • This means that there’s a record of who owns it • It’s recorded by the government and a deed is released • This is a western world idea • The problem is that many that lived in the rural populations did not formally register their land • For years, peasants held land according to a traditional landowning rights system where it was understood who lived where

4. 1800s Palestinian Land Ownership • The new registration process caused problems • Some were unable to register their land because of their debt (it cost $$ to register) • Some were unwilling to register (if we do, we’ll have to take a mandatory military term…if the men die, who will work the land?) • This leads to a market for land that is available to buy, leading to peasants being displaced from their homes

5. 1800s Zionism • As we already mentioned, Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement • Nationalism is tying together a group of people through a common language, a common culture, and common experiences • Much of the Zionist movement stemmed from anti-Semitism • Anti-Semitism is prejudice against Jews • Most anti-Semitism came from Europe though, and NOT North Africa • Arab anti-Semitism did not begin until the 20th century • Much of the Jewish migration to Palestine stemmed from the anti-Semitism in Europe • Unlike the Palestinian movement of the time, Zionism IS tied to nationalism, and a call for a Jewish homeland in Palestine • This movement was as much about the culture as it was Judaism

6. Zionist Land Purchases (1880s) • Beginning in the 1880s families in urban areas of the Ottoman Empire and Western Europeans begin to buy land in Palestine • Once these families get the land deeds, they turn around and sell them to Zionists for a large profit • Much of this land is the same land the rural Palestinians are living on, but don’t have a deed for • As mentioned earlier, the Palestinians don’t have a deed either because they couldn’t purchase it (debt) or wouldn’t purchase it (military) • The Zionists have created a market for land purchases • THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION: WHICH IS MORE BINDING—A DEED TO THE LAND PROVING OWNERSHIP OR A FAMILY THAT HAS FARMED AND LIVED ON THE LAND FOR GENERATIONS (AS MANY AS 14)? • At the same time, Zionism continues to spread in Western Europe, and the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine continues to grow

7. The Destruction of the Ottoman Empire • The Ottoman Empire was on the losing side of WWI • The Ottomans had been slowly crumbling for decades, and WWI toppled the empire for good • What would happen in the former Ottoman region? • Several states emerged, including Turkey, and Egypt took a leadership role in the Middle East • With competing opinions over what should happen in the Middle East, especially as it related to the Zionist question, Jews settling in Palestine had a lot of success building their communities • Tension existed since the Zionist land grabs of the late 19th century, but the Holocaust was the tipping point in the Palestinian-Jewish debate • We’ll talk about the question of Israel, through a game, tomorrow