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Israel
EVENTS IN PALESTINE, 1908-48
Arab Nationalism
Before the Second Aliyah, the indigenous Arab population of Palestine
had worked for and generally cooperated with the small number
of Jewish settlements. The increased Jewish presence and the different
policies of the new settlers of the Second Aliyah aroused Arab
hostility. The increasing tension between Jewish settler and Arab
peasant did not, however, lead to the establishment of Arab nationalist
organizations. In the Ottoman-controlled Arab lands the Arab masses
were bound by family, tribal, and Islamic ties; the concepts of
nationalism and nation-state were viewed as alien Western categories.
Thus, an imbalance evolved between the highly organized and nationalistic
settlers of the Second Aliyah and the indigenous Arab population,
who lacked the organizational sophistication of the Zionists.
There were, however, small groups of Western-educated Arab intellectuals
and military officers who formed nationalist organizations demanding
greater local autonomy. The primary moving force behind this nascent
Arab nationalist movement was the Committee of Union and Progress,
a loose umbrella organization of officers and officials within
the Ottoman Empire in opposition to the policies of Sultan Abdul
Hamid. The removal of Sultan Abdul Hamid by the Committee of Union
and Progress in 1908 was widely supported by both Arab nationalists
and Zionists. The committee's program of constitutional reform
and promised autonomy aroused hope of independence on the part
of various nationalities throughout the Ottoman Empire.
After 1908, however, it quickly became clear to Zionists and
Arabs alike that the nationalism of Abdul Hamid's successors was
Turkish nationalism, bent on Turkification of the Ottoman domain
rather than granting local autonomy. In response, Arab intellectuals
in Beirut and Damascus formed clandestine political societies,
such as the Ottoman Decentralization Party, based in Cairo; Al
Ahd (The Covenant Society), formed primarily by army officers
in 1914; and Al Fatat (The Young Arabs), formed by students in
1911. The Arab nationalism espoused by these groups lacked support,
however, among the Arab masses.
Data as of December 1988
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