1880 Job-Seeking Arabs Entering Palestine

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

In 1880, the land called Palestine by the Romans way back in 132-135  CE experienced a return of the Israelites, now called Jews, from Eastern European lands where anti-Semitism had become so intolerable that it reminded them of their ancient home called Judah as a refuge and sailed or walked there.  

The Ottoman Empire had taken over all of Palestine by 1516.  Turks were not considered Arabs.  Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s.  In fact, By 1880, the Ottoman Empire's territorial control was declining but still included parts of over 30 modern nations, encompassing the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East, though the extent of its actual governance varied, ranging from direct rule to nominal or vassal status. It ruled all or parts of countries like Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Syria, with its territories extending from southeastern Europe to the Arabian Peninsula.                           

Israel in purple with Judea-Samaria in Yellow, neighbors around the Mediterranean Sea such as Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt;  they came from far

 and near...   This period was written about by Joan Peters extensively.  From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine: Peters, Joan: 9780060152659: Amazon.com: Books.  She traced the countries from which they came;  it's in the book.  Joan Peters found that many Palestinian Arabs were recent, unrecorded migrants who were drawn to the land by the economic opportunities created by Jewish settlement, rather than being indigenous to the area "from time immemorial". She argued that significant numbers of Arabs, including Egyptians, Syrians, and others from neighboring countries and regions, moved to Palestine for work in agriculture and construction, making them comparative newcomers to the region. 

                              

      Ottoman Empire Extent :  By 1880, the Ottoman Empire's territorial control was declining but still included parts of over 30 modern nations, encompassing the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East, though the extent of its actual governance varied, ranging from direct rule to nominal or vassal status. It ruled all or parts of countries like Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Syria, with its territories extending from southeastern Europe to the Arabian Peninsula.  

European Territories:

• Balkans: Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Other: Hungary, Cyprus, and parts of modern-day Romania and Ukraine. Also the Caucasus and beyond: Parts of Armenia and Georgia .  
•  Middle Eastern Territories:
•  Levant: Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon. Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia and other parts.
• North African Territories: Eastern: Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea. Western: Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia.

No wonder jobs were hard to get with the Ottoman Empire  in charge of 

half the world.                          

Palestinian men's Y-chromosome DNA, or paternal haplogroups, are predominantly Haplogroup J1 and E1b1b, with some Haplogroup J2 and T also present. These haplogroups indicate deep roots in the ancient Canaanite and Israelite populations of the Levant. J1 is linked to both ancient presence and later Arabian influences, while E1b1b is connected to Neolithic Levantine farmers, and J2 is associated with ancient Phoenician and other Levantine populations. 

• Genetic studies show that Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian, retain a strong Canaanite and Israelite genetic core in their paternal lineages.
• Following the 7th-century Muslim conquests, Arabian ancestry, particularly in the paternal line, became an additional influence on the gene pool.

This is much like the Jewish men.  Jewish Israeli men, like other Jewish men globally, are not defined by a single Y-chromosome haplogroup but rather a diverse set of paternal lineages, with Haplogroup J (especially J1 and J2) and E1b1b being particularly common. Studies show significant genetic sharing among different Jewish communities, indicating a common paternal ancestry within the Middle Eastern region, though not a single ancestral founder for all Jewish men. Specific communities also show unique patterns, such as a high frequency of Haplogroup R in Ashkenazi Levites and some evidence of regional genetic contributions from places like Iran and North Africa.

Estimates vary, but by 1880, there were approximately 400,000 to 500,000 Arabs living in Palestine. These figures are based on the total population estimates of the region during the late 19th century under Ottoman rule, with Arabs making up the vast majority of the inhabitants. Peters tells us what countries they came from in the 1880s.  Many were from Syria, referred to as Syrian Arabs.   A few owned land and had to pay taxes to the Ottomans.  The region was still part of the Ottoman Empire, and the movement of people within the empire was common.

         About the Jews of Europe moving to Palestine, historic novel, excellent.  

The first Aliyah took place of the return of Jews from 1880 to 1903.  They bought land from the few Arab owners at high prices, happy to pay to be on their own land. The Arabs were happy as clams in finding buyers as now they could live unrestrained in larger and better cities such as Damascus.  The First Aliyah (first wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine) took place following pogroms and anti-Semitic violence in Russia that prompted Jews to seek a homeland in Palestine. Actually many Jews still were living in Palestine ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70.  Now the Euro-pean Jews joined them.  

Jews commenced to build, for the land under the Ottomans had become so neglected after almost 2,000 years that it had turned into nothing but swamps and mosquitoes, desert sands and wind.  

Tel Aviv was built in 1909s with the help of these Syrian Palestinian Arabs who had followed them, seeking work. It was meant to be  garden suburb of JAFFA named for Herzl's novel Altneuland. Arab riots had forced most Jews to abandon living in Jaffa.  Petah Tikva in 1883, and Rishon LeZion in 1882 were also created then.

Tel Aviv became a separate town by 1921.  Palestine was under the British Mandate by then since the Ottomans lost this country in World War I.  The Allies then had it in their hands with the Brits holding a 30 year mandate over it.  The Jewish National Home was to be born again.