Ottoman Rule (1517-1917)

Following the Ottoman conquest over the Romans in 1517, the Land was divided into four districts and attached administratively to the province of Damascus and ruled from Istanbul. At the outset of the Ottoman era approximately 1,000 Jewish families living in the country, mainly in Jerusalem, Nablus (Shechem), Hebron, Gaza, Safad (Tzfat) and in the villages of Galilee. The community was comprised of descendants of Jews who had never left the land as well as immigrants from North Africa and Europe. After the death of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566 many improvements were brought in and Jewish immigration was stimulated. While some newcomers settled in Jerusalem, the majority went to Safad where, by the mid-16th century, the Jewish population had risen to about 10,000, and the town had become a thriving textile center as well as the focus of intense intellectual activity. During this period, the study of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) flourished, and the contemporary clarifications of Jewish law.

The Ottoman Turks controlled the region during which there were no independent countries, just tribal areas. When looking at a map the nations of Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel are not there. Only proveniences and of all the cities chosen to be a provenience Jerusalem was not one, as it was never considered important to the Muslims. Damascus in Syria became the head quarters. By end of WW1 in 1917 and the Ottoman Turk Empire ended with the war. During the war the Ottoman Turks were allied with Germany

The world was not to see Jewish armies anymore until 1915, when the British recruited a unit with the remarkable name of ‘Assyrian Jewish Refugee Mule Corps’, which was to play a role during the Dardanelles campaign.

The Zion Muleteers of Gallipoli (March 1915 – May 1916)

“In March 1915 the Zion Mule Corps became the first regular Jewish fighting force with a distinctively Jewish emblem and flag to take active part in a war since the defeat of the Ben Kochba Revolt 2000 years ago. Some of its men later formed the core of what was to become the modern Israeli army. General, Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force in the Dardanelles, later wrote in his diary,[1]‘I have here, fighting under my orders, a purely Jewish unit the Zion Mule Corps. As far as know, this is the first time in the Christian era such a thing has happened. They have shown great courage taking supplies up to the line under heavy fire’ and proved ‘invaluable to us’”

Diary entry of 27 August 1915, published in the American Yiddish newspaper “Der Tag” The Day 7/8/1917 and quoted in Gilner p. 68

The Dardanelles campaign of the First World War, that took place between April 1915 and January 1916 and included the battles of Gallipoli, and was designed to spearhead an Allied invasion through southern Turkey to Istanbul, to defeat Turkey and in this way release Allied men and resources from the Middle East to fight in Europe, thereby shortening the War.

Major-General Alexander Godley declared that ‘Today the English People have entered into a covenant with the Jewish People’ Gilner p 40

[1]This introduction is Copyright 2001-2003 by MidEastWeb http://www.mideastweb.org and the author the source material below is placed in the public domain and is free of copy restrictions.

1917 The Balfour Declaration

Official statement, in the form of a letter, from Lord Arthur Balfour, British Foreign Secretary to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, dated 2nd November 1917, expressing support "for the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine." The British government pledged to "use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object."

Most historians concur that the British declaration was aimed at furthering British military and strategic interests in the area and, in particular, at extrapolating herself from the Sykes-Picot agreement.

The major Zionist figure involved in negotiation with the British was Dr. Chaim Weizmann. The Mandate document as ratified by the League of Nations in 1922 included the text of the Balfour Declaration word for word.

 The letter:

Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you. On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:

His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours,
Arthur James Balfour

From BBC News Key documents.

The Council of the League of Nations

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connexion of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country;

San Remo Convention

"The San Remo Conference decided on April 24, 1920 to assign the Mandate [for Palestine] under the League of Nations to Britain. The terms of the Mandate were also discussed with the United States which was not a member of the League. An agreed text was confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on July 24, 1922, and it came into operation in September 1923." and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine; and

Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval; and

Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect of Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of Nations in conformity with the following provisions; and

Whereas by the aforementioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is provided that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League of Nations;

Confirming the said Mandate, defines its terms as follows:

Article 1.

The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and of administration, save as they may be limited by the terms of this mandate.

Article 2.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

The Palestine Mandate The Council of the League of Nations

July 24, 1922

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and Where as recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country; and where as the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine.

When the Allied powers came together they divided the regions into countries we know today Iran, Iraq Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and were established after WW1 by the Europeans and the Americans at the san Ramos conference and it was mandated that there will be a homeland for the Jews and confirmed by the League of Nations in 1922.

The Jews are the only people who have had a non stop presence in the area called Palestine even after the Romans dispersed them. For 3700 years the Jews maintained a presence in what today is called Israel what the Arabs want to call Palestine. In fact when the first modern census was taken in 1815 the majority living in Jerusalem were not Arabs but were Jews.