Ottoman Rule

Israel Under Ottoman Rule Pre-1918
Since the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth(1) by the Romans, the land referred to as "Palestine"(2) had been ruled by a series of foreign occupiers. Each successive ruler subdivided his conquest as he saw fit, though none, since the Romans, considered "Palestine" as having a separate administrative or geographic entity.

The Ottoman Turks, who ruled this area from the year 1516 to 1917, regarded it as part of Southern Syria. The land later referred to as "Palestine" was divided into three separate districts.

The area was under populated and remained economically stagnant until the arrival of the first Zionist pioneers in the 1880's,(3) who came to rebuild the Jewish land. The country had remained "The Holy Land" in the religious and historic consciousness of mankind, which associated it with the Bible and the history of the Jewish people. Jewish development of the country also attracted large numbers of other immigrants - both Jewish and Arab. As you can clearly see, the land belonged to the Ottoman Empire, not the Palestinians.*

Terror Victim Biography

March 31, 2002 - Mar 31, 2002 - Anat Ron, 21, of Haifa was one of 14 people killed in a suicide bombing in Haifa, in the Matza restaurant of the gas station near the Grand Canyon shopping mall.

Just after 2:30 PM on Sunday afternoon, during the Passover holiday, the terrorist entered the popular Matza restaurant in the Neve Sha'anan district near the Grand Canyon mall. The explosion tore the roof off the one-story building, and blew out the windows, instantly killing 14 people, and leaving horrific scenes of people on fire, and people with lost limbs. Over 40 people were injured. After going shopping for clothes with her father, Anat Ron was eating lunch with her parents and her brother Ofer at the Matza restaurant. Only her mother Carmit survived the blast, lightly wounded in the leg. Anat Ron completed her army service last year. She spent last summer working with handicapped children in a Jewish Agency camp in America and planned to return this summer. She hoped to study occupational therapy. Anat Ron was buried in Haifa alongside her father Aviel and her brother Ofer. She is survived by her mother Carmit, and her grandmother Yael. (walk4israel.com)

1 Way For YOU To Help!: Go to www.walk4israel.com. Send a letter to Anat’s or any other terror victim’s family.

Quote of the Week: "The Palestinians were as prodigious at selling away their land as they are at whining and wailing."- King Abdullah I, Jordan