Most Palestinians Penetrated into the Land of Israel Between 1870s'- 1948 / DR.Rivka Shpak Lissak

The Arabs conquered the Land of Israel between 632 - 640 A.D from the Byzantine Empire. They occupied the country from 640 until 1099, when the Crusaders coquered the country.During those years the country became a battle field between Arab families, and suffered from invasions of Bedouin tribes who robbed and murdered the population, and the Byzantines and others who wished to occupy the country. The wars destroyed the economy and the country was deserted by some of its old population: Christians, Jews and Samaritans. But, although Arabs immigrated to the country, they did not become a majority as was proved by the Archeological Survey made by M.Aviam.The economical and security situation did not encourage immigration.

The Arabs immigrared into the land of Israel in 4 waves.

The first wave was after the occupation of the country by the Arabs in the 7th century. Most scholars agree that the composition of the population did not change from the days of the Byzantine occupation, and the majority of the population was composed of Greek Orthodox Chrisians and 2 minorities:Jews and Samatitans. Some Bedouin nomad tribes lived in the south.Arabs settled in cities along the coast and in some other cities such as Jerusalem, Tiberias and more. The soldiers who conquered the country belonged to Bedouin tribes who settled on the borders.

The second wave came between the middle of the 9th century and 1099. During those years Bedouin tribes from the desrerts of Arabia, Trans Jordan, Syrian desret, Sinai and Egypt invaded the country and robbed its people. Some of them settled in north Samaria, and some other places after they have driven out the local peasants.Lack of records makes it difficult to evaluate the number of Arabs who settled during this period. Still, according to Latin and archeologial data , brought in Prop.Roni Allenblum's study on the Kingdom of the Crusaders, we know that the country was settled along religious- ethnic lines with small enclaves: The north of Samaria became Arabic, the south and the Jerusalem area was mostly Christian, and so was the western Galilee. The eastern Galilee was Jewish with some enclaves of Christians and Arabs, and the cities along the coast were of mixed population.

During the conquest,in 1099, the Crusaders massacred many Arabs and many others ran away.

The 3rd wave began after the occupation of the country by the Turks(1516)during the 16th and 17th centuries. Arabs and Muslims from many countries came to settle in the country. According to the Turkish census of the 16th century, there were about 300,000 people
in the country, mostly Muslims.But, the economic situation and the lack of personal safety, caused people to leave, Muslims included. During the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, the population became smaller and smaller. Tourists from Europe and the United States described the country as deserted by its population and the land uncultivated.

The last and largest wave came between the middle of the 10th century and 1948, when Israel was established. Arabs andMuslims from the Islamic countries entered the country illegally during the Turkish and latter the British rule. They entered through the northern, eastern and southern borders, looking for jobs created by the Zionist Movement, Jewish investors and by the British Mandate(1918 - 1948).

The Arab and Muslim population grew espacially in those areas were Jews settled because these were the places were jobs were available. Thus, tha Arab population between Tel Aviv and Haifa grew between 1922-1944 from about 10,000 to more than 30,000, and the Arab and Muslim population along the sea coast from Jaffa to the Egyptian border grew between 1922- 1944 by more than 200%.

From 1870s' to 1948, the Arab and Muslim population grew by 270%.Even in Egypt, the Arab country with the highest birth rate, the population grew by inly 105%. The 1931 British census in Palestine(the name the British Mandate gave the country)showed that more than 50 languages were spoken by the Arab and Muslim population. The rate of childrens' deaths, the low life expectanfy, and the lack of health services in the country, made it impossible to reach 270% of birth rate.
In short, from about 250,000 around the 1880s' the Arabic and Muslim population grew to almost 1,200,000 in 1948. A large percent of these people were immigrant workers. Since, the Palestinian refugees(the Arabs defined themself as Palestinians since the 1960s' only)came from the area of the Jewish state, its reasonable to say that many of the so called Palestinians are Arabs and Muslems from the Arab and Muslim countries.

The Palestinian claim that they are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel has no ground.


These needs to be extended to the micro level

The research is really lacking and should be extended to the micro level. For example, it is not enough to state 50 languages were cited (for Moslems alone by the way and many different places of birth) for the British 1931 censuses. One really needs to go through the early Turkish Censuses (at least from the 1893 which is considered the most complete) and compare them family by family with the 1922, 1931 and 1947 British censuses to show what percentage were actually immigrants. One can then state exactly what the percentage is of those that immigrated between the late 19th century and 20th century. Of cause what percentage of the 500K Arabs that were in the land in the 1893 census immigrated to the land would still be questionable, one could reduce the numbers from the 8 Million + people who claim to come from the land as a start.I don't see anyone doing the "genealogy research" at the micro level and this is realyy what is needed.

The last turkish census was in the end of 1500

The last Turkish census was in he end of 1500.
No further censuses were done.

So, my research is based on the available data.

And one point more:this is an article based on research.Thias is not the full research.

what about the census of 1882??

according to 1882 census there was 141000 settled muslims which 25% are new residents.
according to cont vital in 1895 there were 252,000 muslims
when i read ernst frankstein he complimented cont's work BUT many otherhistorians belive that his work is NOT so good because of the lack of foundings in the demography of the greek population in palestine. what do you think about cont vital??? do you think we can rely on his research?

by the way, can you please tell me where can i get a good info about the visit of reladi in 1695-1696???
i found his book BUT it not mention any of palestine in the late 17th century, only the bible perioud.

I have some comments on your comment (census of 1882 )

First,Renaldi never visited here in 1695.Most of his information is from earlier periods.
Second,please, send me where are the 1882, 1895 censuses.As far as I know the last Ottoman census was in the end os the 16th century.
Third,Iam going to look up for the 2 you have mentioned.

Thanks for sharing with me your knowledge.

That is just happening or has

That is just happening or has happened in your dreams !! Keep dreaming, you know NOTHING about the very old history !!

You have to prove your view by facts- you broght no facts

Your comment means nothing if you do not bring historical facts to prove your views.

I am an historian and I learned the facts.

Excellent summary!

The conclusion should be starkly obvious: most of the Arabs, leaving the war scene in 1947-1948, just returned to the regions they or their parents had (often quite recently) migrated from.

It's just a pity you left so many typos in your article!