JUDAIZATION OF PALESTINE (1881-1918)
LAND PURCHASE OR EXTORTION?

*(1)Prof.Dr.Celil BOZKURT

Early Jewish Settlements in Palestine

Before the first Zionist immigration waves at the end of 19th century, there were Jewish settlements named “Yishuv” in Palestine. Old Yishuv residents were Sephardic Jews who fled from the Spanish inquisition in 16th century. These people took refuge in the Ottoman Empire and took their place in the millet system(2) In Palestine, there was a prolonged period of peace and harmony between Jews and Arab natives. However, Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe where anti-Semitism was at its peak started to threaten the peace in Palestine. After the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-1878, a major wave of Jewish immigration from the Balkans to the Ottoman Empire occurred. Around this time, the British Empire put on a certain agenda concerning the settlement of Jews in Palestine. A Conservative member of British Parliament Oliphant proposed a project which created after research on Palestine to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid. According to this project, “The Ottoman Company for Settlement of Migrants in Palestine” would be established in Istanbul with the purpose of settling Jews in Palestine. This company would also have branches in Europe. One million acres of land between the river Jordan and the Haj route to Mecca in Balka territory would be purchased by this company and a new separate administrative unit which is attached to the province of Syria would be formed. This administrative unit would be inhabited by Jewish as well as Muslim migrants. The Council of Ministers rejected this project by stating that it would “create a state within a state”.

(2) In the Ottoman Empire, a millet was a term for an autonomous self-governing religious community and the millet system referred to the personal law under which minorities were allowed to rule themselves (in cases involving non-Muslims) with little interference from the Ottoman government. (t.n.)

The assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 created a new anti-Semitic atmosphere in the Russian Empire. As Jews were considered greatly responsible for the assassination, an immense wave of oppression and intimidation against Jewish community started. From 1881, the year of assassination to 1917, the year Bolsheviks came to power, thousands of Jews were systematically killed. After these violent massacres which are named as “pogrom” in literature, a significant wave of Jewish emigration from Russia and Romania occurred. While several of these immigrants settled in Western Europe and USA, a 3000 of them immigrated to Palestine. The first settlers established the first colonies. These colonies had an administrative network that each had its own administration and collaboration with other colonies.

The person who accelerated the Jewish colonization in Palestine is famous Jewish banker Baron Edmond de Rothschild. He was a different type of Zionist who shared Zionism ideal and accomplished this ideal in his own way. Firstly, Rothschild bought a large tract of land in Palestine and opened it for Jewish settlements. Certain parts of this land belonged to Ottoman citizens under pseudonyms. Jews was working this land under lease. These colonies were financially inadequate and thus, they were financially supported by Jewish bankers such as Rothschild and Maurice Hirch. After the foundation of the World Zionist Organization, similar organizations started to be founded in the colonies. A number of colonies founded by the organization and named as “kibbutz” were governed in a communal way.

In the colonization of Palestine, organizations such as Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) founded by Jews of Russia, Jewish Colonization Association founded and supported by Rothschild, the Jewish National Fund founded in 1901 by Palestine headquarters of Zionist movement and Palestine Land Development Company played significant roles.

The oldest Jewish colony in Palestine is a Jewish agricultural school Mikveh Israel which was founded in 1870 in Jaffa. This school was opened by “Alliance Israélite Universelle” (Universal Israelite Alliance) founded by French Jews in 1860. The 750 acres land of the school was leased from the Ottoman Government for 7500 piastres(3). 
 

(3) Piastre or kuruş in Turkish was the principal unit of currency in the Ottoman Empire. (t.n.)

Furthermore, the agricultural machines and tools purchased by the school were exempt from customs duty. Jews immigrated to Palestine after 1881 established 4 colonies in the region. These colonies were Rishon LeZion (First to Zion), Petah Tikva (Opening of Hope), Zikhron Ya'akov (Jacob's Memorial) and Rosh Pinna (Cornerstone). Soon, these colonies were on the brink of bankruptcy because the residing Jewish settlers were poor. However, Rothschild brought these colonies to their feet with the help of 5-6 million sterling financial support. Rothschild improved these colonies with technical methods and provided their products to enter into world markets. For example, “The Carmel Wines” which is made of grapes produced in Rishon LeZion won a gold medal at the Paris World's Fair in 1900. The colonies were using highly modern techniques to improve agriculturism. The immigrants who were agricultural novices were educated in Mikveh Israel school.

Jews usually got help from Arab natives in for cultivating the colony soils. That’s because, there wasn’t enough Jewish immigrants. However, Jews were afraid of losing their hard-earned colony lands to Arabs. To that end, they decided to bring Jewish workers from Yemen and clear their lands from Arabs. Thus, the land’s real owners Arabs fell into the worker and servant status in the colonies founded by strangers in their own land. In time, tension built between Jews and Arabs who lost their jobs. Jews founded a number of organizations to protect their colonies after their problems with Arabs. The most known organizations are as follows; Bar Giora, Hashomer, Ligyon Ha’avoda, The Gideonim, Haroe and Haganah. These Zioist organizations started to take arms and invade and seize Arab lands over time. A couple of them focused on intelligence and started to spy on Arab settlements. The most famous organization in this field was NILI which provided intelligence about Ottoman Army to British in World War I. These Jewish paramilitary organizations are important in the sense that later they formed the core of Israel Army.

The Birth of Zionism and Palestine

Anti-Semitism became institutionalized at the last quarter of 19th century and declaimed in European political scene. As a consequence, certain organizations that battled against anti-Semitism were established in a number of countries. Particularly, in countries such as Germany, Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and France, there was a considerable rise in anti-Semitism. In these countries, there were systematic oppression and suppression policies against Jews. Zionism was born as a reaction to anti-Semitism in Europe and eventually became a significant factor in international politics. According to the founding father of Zionism Theodor Herzl, the Jewish problem in Europe needed to be handled and solved on an international level. In this respect, Herzl expected support from wealthy Jews; however, he did not get what he expected. Afterwards, Herzl aimed to endorse Zionism to Jewish community and managed to hold the First Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel. At the congress, the World Zionist Organization was founded as the highest representative of Jewish people. The Congress sought to expatriate Jews to Palestine and establish a “home” in there for the Jewish people. In order for that to happen, firstly the Ottoman Empire who held the land of Palestine was required to be convinced.

Herzl came to Istanbul five times between the years of 1896 and 1902, he sought an audience with both the government and Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Herzl offered a 20 million sterling payment for Palestine to Sultan via Polish aristocrat Count Philipp de Newlinsky. However, Sultan was not open for negotiation about Palestine in any way and thus, rejected this offer in no uncertain manner. Subsequently, Herzl met the Sultan face to face in Yıldız Palace with the help of Jewish Turkologist Arminius Vámbéry. Herzl thanked the Sultan for his good intentions and help for Jewish people who were oppressed in Europe. He offered financial support and investments that can save the Ottoman Empire from economic dependency to the West under the condition that Palestine would be opened for Jewish settlements. Sultan did not reject the Herzl’s offer fully and asked him to prepare a plan that can consolidate the Ottoman debt. In this plan presented to Sultan, Herzl promised that Jewish bankers could pay off all of Ottoman debt to Europe in a couple of years. Furthermore, he proposed an establishment of an Ottoman-Jewish company that would improve industrial and business life in Ottoman Empire. Herzl emphasized that all of this would only be possible with the condition that Jews could establish a home in Palestine. Sultan unequivocally turned down this plan that opened Palestine into negotiation.

When Sultan Abdul Hamid was dethroned by Young Turks(4) in 1909, the Union and Progress Party came to power; this offered another silver lining for Zionists. Young Turks was of the opinion that Anatolia could be restored with the financial help of Jews. On the other hand, Zionists were thinking that the immigration and settlement prohibition against Jews in Palestine implemented by Sultan Abdul Hamid could be lifted. These mutual expectations created a rapport between Young Turks and Zionists. At first, Young Turks progressively loosened the bans imposed by Sultan Abdul Hamid. Yet, the book named Ereẓ Israel (Land of Israel) written by one of the main leaders of Zionist movement Jacobus H. Kann in 1909 interrupted the relationship between two parties. In his book, Kann demanded a “Jewish autonomous rule” whose borders span from Lebanon in north to Hejaz railway in east and from Egypt in south to Mediterranean in west. Young Turks realized that Zionism would lead to divisive and separatist movement within the Ottoman State. Eventually, Young Turks implemented the prohibitions in Sultan Abdul Hamid era.

(4) Young Turks was an opposition movement against Sultan Abdul Hamid II's absolutist regime in the Ottoman Empire. The most powerful organization of the movement was the Committee of Union and Progress, also known as, Union and Progress Party. (t.n.)

Immigration and Settlement Prohibitions in Palestine

Ottoman Empire welcomed many communities that were dismissed from Europe because of ethnic or religious reasons into its land. Accordingly, the anti-Semitism ignited in Eastern Europe during the late 19th century lead thousands of Jews to gravitate towards Palestine. Ottoman government faced with a major immigration wave that put it in a financially and politically tight position. Sultan Abdul Hamid was of the opinion that Arab-Jewish balance in Palestine could be disrupted if Jewish immigrants from different countries were to cause a divisive nationalist atmosphere. Within this context, Sultan imposed a certain number of bans that prevent Jews to immigrate to or purchase land from Palestine. Ottoman Empire banned all entrance of Jewish strangers into Palestine except the pilgrims with a resolution in 1882. Nonetheless, Zionist Jews continued to settle in sacred places under the disguise of pilgrimage. Thereupon, Ministry of Interior made a number of legislation in 1884. According to this legislation, Jews who did not get their passports approved in foreign Ottoman embassies would not be granted entrance in Palestine. Despite of this legislation, Jews continued to enter in Palestine with fake passports. The Ministry prepared “urgent” preventions in 1887 and granted a one-month permission for Jewish pilgrims to stay in Palestine. Furthermore, it was decided that a high amount of deposit should be taken from these pilgrims in order to make them leave Palestine during their allocated time.

These preventions lead to a decrease in Jewish immigration to certain extent. Yet, a new anti-Semitist movement triggered by drought and famine caused thousands of Jews to leave their countries behind. Ottoman government did not turn a blind eye to these events and declared that Jews could settle in anywhere in the country but Palestine. In 21 November 1900, the government prepared a preventative law package under the title of “the restrictions for Jewish guests about the entrance into holy places” that had four articles. According to this package, every Jew that visited to Palestine was required to acquire a permit or passport that clearly showed that person’s occupation, nationality and purpose of visit. Known as “red passport” amongst the people, this administration had the purpose of preventing Jews from staying in Palestine. Be that as it may, despite the preventions taken by Ottoman government, Jews kept entering into Palestine through illegal ways. The bribes taken by local officials from Jews, forgery in documents and constant interference of foreign embassies were making it difficult for official authorities to investigate. Investigations of foreign national Jews would turn inconclusive due to the immunity provided to them by capitulations. Besides, there were legal problems regarding the detection and punishment of officials who aid and abet Jews.

Another prevention taken by Ottoman Empire was the prohibition of Jews from purchasing lands in Palestine. On this issue, The General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre were given authority. The Land Code of 1858 in the Ottoman Empire did not include provisions that prevent selling land to Jews. According to law, citizens of foreign countries could purchase land in anywhere in the country except Hejaz. This enabled Zionists to purchase as much land as the wanted in Palestine. Ottoman government passed a new law that allowed only Ottoman Jewish citizens to purchase land in 5 March 1883. Citizens of foreign countries and those who changed citizenship without the permission of the government could not buy property in Ottoman Empire. However, Zionists managed to break this ban by using Ottoman Jews. Ottoman Jews were purchasing the requested land and later, transferring them to Zionists. When Ottoman government could not prevent the Jewish land extortion, it introduced certain radical practices with a law implemented in 1892. This law decreed that no Jew regardless of nationality could purchase land in Palestine.

The prohibitions that were introduced during Sultan Abdul Hamid’s reign were enforced during the administration of the Union and Progress Party. Young Turks banned Zionist activities and monitored Zionist leaders closely. There was a division dedicated to follow Zionist activities in Special Organization which was the intelligence service of Young Turks. The anti-Ottoman espionage carried out by Jews during World War I intensified the fight against Zionism. Djemal Pasha(5)  deported approximately 10 thousand of Jews to the northern Palestine during the Battles of Gaza. In spite of all these prohibitions, Ottoman government could not prevent Zionists from purchasing land in Palestine. Jewish population in Palestine tripled into 80 thousand between the years of 1876 and 1908. During this period, Zionists managed to purchase 10 thousand acres land and establish 33 settlements. In 1914, the Jewish population was 85 thousand and 35 thousand of them were settled after 1881.
 

(5) Djemal Pasha was an Ottoman politician and a military leader. He was one of the three leaders of Union and Progress Party. (t.n.)

Land Extortion of Jews in Palestine

Zionists used every illegal way to break the immigration and settlement ban on Jews in Palestine imposed by Ottoman government. Ottoman archive documents have a rich content that displays the land extortion of Jews in Palestine. The letters of complaints sent from Palestine to the capital city clearly shows the extent of extortion in the lands that belonged to the state and Arabs in Palestine. A number of these documents emphasize the active role taken by foreign embassies in the land sale to the Jews. The grievants were not only Muslim community. There are petitions written by Christian community in Palestine about the prevention of trespassing and invasion on their lands. For instance, Muslim and Christian village headmen in the district of Nazareth applied the relevant authorities to prevent the trespassing that was done by Sursuk family who provided land to Jews in private registered lands of the villagers. Furthermore, the people of Safed district in Acre province complained about Jewish agent of Edmond Rothschild, Ossovetski who confiscated the people’s land. According to this document, on behalf of Rothschild, Ossovetski took possession of approximately 74 acres of Safed land under false pretenses. Afterwards, Ossovetski settled banished Jews in this land and built housing on Muslim cemeteries in the region by destroying them. Another document indicates that an open land on the historical ruins of Mount Carmel was purchased illegally by Jews in 1894. Arab community could not stand idle by this and asked the government to investigate the purchase of this land with a notice. Later, district governor of Safed Hamdi Efendi was dismissed from his duties and indicted by Beirut Administrative City Council due to procedures against the law and the firman(6) of Sultan.
 

(6) A firman was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. (t.n.)

Jews cooperated with certain state officials in the extortion of land in Palestine. In a letter of complaint written by Sheik Mustafa el-Abdullah in 1898, it was emphasized that the lands of villagers in Haifa were taken forcefully and sold to Jews by Sadık Pasha. Moreover, it was remarked that the governor of Acre disseized a public land in order to sell it to Jews. Another document shows that Jerusalem Treasury Accountant took the property of people illegally and under false pretenses for personal gain. Similarly, it was understood that Jericho Town Principal Ali Efendi disseized and confiscated the people’s land and then, sold this land to foreigners. Disseized lands were not limited to public and private property. There were complaints to the official authorities about the sale of the land of Sultan’s Farm in Beisan belonged to Civil List to Jews via Necip Asfar Company and the terrorization and oppression of local villagers within this context.

It is understood from Ottoman archive documents that there were intense land extortion in Gaza. A document of a complaint displays that the pledged land of Mahmoud bin Hassan Abdullah el-hac from Besor village in Gaza was sold to the Spanish Embassy despite of the fact that he paid his debt. These lands purchased by ambassadors were later transferred to Jews. Another document indicates that the lands of villagers were sold to Jews by falsifying the land registers. In a petition signed by Gaza and other village headmen, it is underlined that significant lands in Palestine were taken by Jews and Company Administration were helping the Zionists. In Jaffa, private lands and properties were transferred to Jews by denoting them as vacant with the help of Jaffa Land Registry Office. These lands which, in fact, were private proprieties were intended to be sold to Jews. Additionally, 31 people that included people and headmen of villages adjacent to Jewish colonies Rehovot (Daran) and Rishon le-Zion (Uyun el-Kara) complained that Jewish gangs attacked their villages, killed people and forced villagers to immigrate by extorting their lands. A similar incident occurred in Tiberias in Acre Province. Dalayka Klan governor Fadl Isa reported with a telegram to official authorities that said their lands were extoreted and given to Jews and the people were left with nothing to eat or wear along with their children.

Jews were in cahoots with local officials over the land extortion. For example, the people of Metula village in Beirut were forced to sell their lands to Monsieur Ossovetski, the agent of Baron Edmond Rothschild by local officials. The villagers who were treated illegally complained about this situation to the Ministry of Interior more than once. When they could not receive any response to their complaints, the Metula village was turned into a Jewish colony in 1896. 1.500 Durzes were evacuated from the village and were left homeless. In this type of incidents, the villagers who resisted the Jews were either oppressed or stayed imprisoned in Jewish colonies. For instance, the Zammarin colony was a state within a state Jewish settlement. This colony was serving as an arsenal where all types of weapons and ammunition were stored. Jews were imprisoning the resistant villagers and then, torturing them.

Conclusion

The Judaization of Palestine in a real sense happened after the Jewish immigration that started in Eastern Europe at the late 19th century. Jewish banker Baron Edmond de Rothschild bought thousands acres of land in Palestine and provided the Jewish immigrants to settle there. The first Jewish colonies in Palestine were insufficient as the Jewish immigrants kept coming. Therefore, Rothschild started buy new lands, especially arable lands in Palestine, through his agents. Ottoman Government saw that the change in the lands and population of Palestine became a disadvantage for the Arabs. Sultan Abdul Hamid realized that Jewish nationalism started to infiltrate in the region along with the immigrants from foreign countries. Sultan who governed the Ottoman Empire with Islamic unity perceived Jewish nationality as a threat to territorial integrity of the state. In order to limit Jewish population and propriety, he imposed a great number of prohibitions. However, Jews protected by Rothschild found illegal ways to break the prohibitions.

Zionism which entered to world politics with the idea of an independent Jewish state in the land of Palestine changed the fate of Palestine irreversibly. With Zionism who has divisive and racist ideals, the process of Judaization of Palestine started in every sense. Zionists supported by imperialist states were aware that they could not legally Judaize Palestine. The bribes to local officials, forgery in the documents and the interference of foreign embassies helped Jews to acquire certain lands. As a matter of fact, these practices that enhanced Jewish population and proprieties were actually policies of extortion and invasion. The sale of land to Jews in Palestine was pretty slow until World War I. The majority of sold land was purchased by Rothschild who was in close contact with Ottoman government. After the birth of Zionism, Jews started to disseize and plunder different regions. With the aim of protecting colonies, Jewish organizations started to oppress local natives through various armed and terrorist actions. The lands of locals were disseized and they were forced to immigrate. Ottoman government was not a deterrent force against Jews who were citizens of foreign countries and had immunity.

Local Arabs sale of land to Jews were quite limited. The Arabs who sold their lands were usually either Christian aristocrats or Muslim Arabs who were living outside of Palestine. The eighty percent of Palestinian land were demain and twenty percent was propriety. The government were prohibited the sale of demain to foreigners in no certain manner. The sales to the Jews were usually properties. Officials would revoke these types of land sales as soon as they figured it out. Consequently, the illegal land sale amounted the %1 of Palestinian land. The disturbance of Arab-Jewish population and land balance occurred with the British Mandate of Palestine after World War I. Britain promised to establish a “home” for Jews with the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and placed thousands of Jews from different foreign countries to Palestine. Jewish terror organizations founded around that time increased the extortion and plundering attacks against Arabs. When Britain passed on the Palestine mandate to the United Nations in 1948, the only thing that was left to do was the establishment of the State of Israel. Today, the reason of current Palestinian map is not the land sale of Arabs but the invasion and occupation policies of Israel.

WORKS CITED

Ottoman Archives of Directorate of State archives of the Republic of Turkey

Ömer Tellioğlu, Filistin’e Musevi Göçü ve Siyonizm (1880-1914), Publishing House, İstanbul 2018.

Celil Bozkurt, İmparatorluğu Yıkan Örgüt Nili, 2. Print, İstanbul 2023.

Mim Kemal Öke, Filistin Sorunu, Ufuk Books, 4. Print, İstanbul 2002.

Ilan Pappe, Modern Filistin Tarihi, Phonix Publishing, Ankara 2007.

Sezai Balcı-Mustafa Balcıoğlu, Rotschildler ve Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Erguvani Publishing, Ankara 2017.

Ziya Uygur, Osmanlı Arşiv Belgelerinde Filistin Sorunu ve Siyonizm, İstanbul 1998.

Ali Arslan, Avrupa’dan Türkiye’ye İkinci Yahudi Göçü, Truva Publishing, İstanbul 2006

*(1) Düzce University, Akçakoca Bey Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of International Relations