A Chronology- History of Palestine
Paleolithic and Mesolithic period - 1949
600,000-10,000 B.C.
• Paleolithic and Mesolithic period. Earliest human remains in the area, found south of Lake Tiberias, dated to circa 600,000 B.C.
10,000-5,000 B.C.
• Neolithic period. Establishment of settled agricultural communities.
5,000-3,000 B.C.
• Chalcolithic period. Copper and stone tools and artifacts. Remains from this period found near Jericho, Beersheba, and the Dead Sea.
3,000-2,000 B.C.
• Early Bronze Age. Arrival and settlement of Canaanites (3,000-2,500 B.C.).
1,250 B.C.
• Israelite conquest of Canaan.
965-928 B.C.
• King Solomon. Construction of the temple in Jerusalem.
928 B.C.
• Division of Israelite state into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
721 B.C.
• Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel.
586 B.C.
• Judah defeated by Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. Deportation of its population to Babylon; destruction of the temple.
539 B.C.
• Persians conquer Babylonia. Some Jews allowed to return. Construction of a new temple.
333 B.C.
• Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great brings Palestine under Greek rule.
323 B.C.
• Death of Alexander leads to alternate rule by Ptolemies of Egypt and Seleucids of Syria.
165 B.C.
• Maccabees revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes and go on to establish independent Jewish state.
63 B.C.
• Incorporation of Palestine into the Roman Empire.
1 A.D.
• Christ Birth
70 A.D.
• Destruction of the Second Temple by Roman Emperor Titus.
132-135
• Bar Kokhba revolt suppressed. Jews barred from Jerusalem and Emperor Hadrian builds new pagan city of Aelia Capitolina on its ruins.
330-640
• Palestine under Byzantine rule: Jerusalem and Palestine increasingly Christianized.
638
• Arabs under the Caliph 'Umar capture Palestine from Byzantines.
661-750
• Umayyad caliphs rule Palestine from Damascus. Dynasty descended from Umayya of Meccan tribe of Quraysh. Construction of Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by Caliph 'Abd al-Malik (685-705). Construction of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by Caliph al-Walid I (705-715).
750-1258
• 'Abbasid caliphs rule Palestine from Iraq. Dynasty, founded by Abu al-' Abbas al-Saffah, who is descended from' Abbas, uncle of the Prophet.
969
• Fatimid dynasty, claiming descent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima and her cousin 'Ali, rule Palestine from Egypt. They proclaim themselves caliphs in rivalry to the' Abbasids.
1071
• Saljuqs, originally from Isfahan, capture Jerusalem and parts of Palestine, which remains officially within the 'Abbasid Empire.
1099-1187
• Crusaders establish the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1187
• Kurdish general Saladin (Salah al-Din who was born in Takrit northern Iraq, the birth place of Saddam Hussein too), son of Ayyub, the sultan of Mosul, defeats Crusaders at Hittin in northern Palestine and recaptures Jerusalem. The Ayyubid dynasty rules Palestine from Cairo.
1260
• Mamluks succeed Ayyubids, ruling Palestine from Cairo; defeat Mongols at Battle of 'Ayn Jalut near Nazareth.
1291
• Mamluks capture final Crusader strongholds of Acre and Caesarea.
1516-1917
• Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with its capital in Istanbul.
1832-1840
• Muhammad 'Ali Pasha of Egypt occupies Palestine. Ottomans subsequently reassert their rule.
1876-1877
• Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem attend the first Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul, elected under a new Ottoman Constitution.
1878
• The first modern Zionist agricultural settlement of Petach Tiqwa established
1882-1903
• First wave of 25,000 Zionist immigrants enters Palestine, coming mainly from eastern Europe.
1882
• Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris starts financial backing for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
1887-1888
• Palestine divided by Ottomans into the districts (sanjaks) of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. The first was attached directly to Istanbul, the others to the wilayet of Beirut.
1896
• Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and writer, publishes Der Judenstaat, advocating establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
1896
• Jewish Colonization Association, founded in 1891 in London by German Baron Maurice de Hirsch, starts aiding Zionist settlements in Palestine.
1897
• First Zionist Congress in Switzerland issues the Basle Program calling for the establishment of a "home for the Jewish people in Palestine." It also establishes the World Zionist Organization (WZO) to work to that end.
1901
• Jewish National Fund (JNF) set up by fifth Zionist Congress in Basle to acquire land for WZO; land acquired by JNF to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labor to be employed on it
1904-1914
• Second wave of about 40,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to about 6% of total. Since the inception of Zionism it has been claiming that Palestinian was an empty country,
1909
• Establishment of the first kibbutz, based exclusively on Jewish labor. Tel Aviv founded north of Jaffa.
1914
• World War I starts.
1916
• Husayn-McMahon correspondence between Sharif Husayn of Mecca (leader of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans) and Sir Henry McMahon (British High Commissioner of Egypt) ends in agreement for postwar independence and unity of Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire.
• Sykes-Picot Agreement secretly signed, dividing Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. Agreement revealed by Bolsheviks in December 1917.
• Sharif Husayn proclaims Arab independence from Ottomans. Arab Revolt against Istanbul begins.
1917
• Balfour Declaration. British Secretary of State Balfour pledges British support for "a Jewish national home in Palestine."
1918
• Palestine occupied by Allied forces under British General Allenby.
• World War I ends.
1919-1923
• Third wave of over 35,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to 12% of total. Registered Jewish landownership (1923) totals 3% of area of country.
1919
• First Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem sends memoranda to Paris Peace Conference rejecting Balfour Declaration and demanding independence.
• Paris Peace Conference sends Commission of Inquiry to Near East, led by U.S. commission members Henry C. King and Charles Crane. England and France decline to participate. Commission recommends "serious modification" of idea of "making Palestine distinctly a Jewish Commonwealth."
1920
• Disturbances in Palestine; 5 Jews killed, 200 wounded. British appoint Palin Commission of Inquiry .Commission report attributes troubles to none fulfillment of promises of Arab independence and fear of political and economic consequences of Zionism.
• Palestine Mandate assigned to Britain by Supreme Council of San Remo Peace Conference.
• British prevent Second Palestinian National Congress from convening.
• High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, an Anglo-Jewish politician, inaugurates British civilian administration.
• Third Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Haifa, elects Executive Committee, which remains in control of Palestinian political movement from 1920 to 1935.
1921
• Founding of the Haganah, the Zionists' illegal underground military organization.
• Disturbances in Jaffa protesting large-scale Zionist immigration; 46 Jews killed, 146 wounded. British Haycraft Commission of Inquiry (October) attributes disturbances to fears of Zionist mass immigration.
• Haj Amin al-Husayni appointed Multi of Jerusalem.
• Fourth Palestinian National Congress, convening in Jerusalem, decides to send a Palestinian delegation to London to explain the Palestinian case against the Balfour Declaration.
1922
• British colonial secretary Winston Churchill issues White Paper excluding Transjordan from scope of Balfour Declaration. Ignoring political criteria, White Paper authorizes Jewish immigration according to "economic absorptive capacity" of the country.
• League of Nations Council approves Mandate for Palestine.
• Fifth Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Nablus, agrees to economic boycott of Zionists (see 1901 entry on JNF).
• First British census of Palestine shows population of 757,182 -78% Muslim Arab, 11% Jewish, 9.6% Christian Arab. It is often claimed that Palestine was empty until Zionist Jews made the Palestinian desert bloom
1923
• British Mandate for Palestine comes officially into force.
1924-1928
• Fourth wave of 67,000 Zionist immigrants, over 50% from Poland, increases Jewish population of Palestine to 16% of total. Registered Jewish landownership (1928) totals 4.2% of area of country.
1925
• Revisionist Party, founded in Paris by Polish Zionist Vladimir Jabotinsky, demands establishment of Jewish state in Palestine and Transjordan and stresses military aspects of Zionism.
• Sixth Palestinian National Congress convenes in Jaffa.
1928
• Seventh Palestinian National Congress convenes in Jerusalem.
1929-1939
• Fifth wave of over 250,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to 30% of total. Registered Jewish landownership (1939) totals 5.7% of area of country.
1929
• Riots arise out of dispute between Jews and Palestinians over claims to Wailing (Western) Wall in Jerusalem, a site holy to Muslims and Jews. In resulting clashes 133 Jews killed and 339 wounded, 116 Palestinians killed and 232 wounded, the latter mainly by British military .
• General Palestinian conference meets in Jerusalem to formulate position on Wailing Wall controversy.
1930
• League of Nations appoints international commission to investigate legal status of Arabs and Jews at Wailing Wall.
• British Shaw Palestinian Commission of Inquiry attributes 1929 disturbances to Palestinian fears of Jewish immigration "not only as a menace to their livelihood but as a possible overlord of the future."
• British Hope-Simpson report on land settlement, immigration, and development in Palestine concludes that there is not sufficient agricultural land for substantially increased numbers of Jewish settlers.
• British Colonial Secretary , Lord Passfield, issues White Paper which takes note of views of Hope-Simpson and Shaw commissions of inquiry.
1931
• Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization), Irgun or IZL for short, founded by Revisionist groups and dissidents from Haganah, advocates a more militant policy against Palestinians. Valdimir Jabotinsky is commander-in-chief.
• British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald in a letter to Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann virtually retracts Passfield White Paper.
• Second British census of Palestine shows population of 1,035,154-73% Muslim Arab, 16.9% Jewish, 8.6% Christian Arab.
• Lewis French, British director of development for Palestine, publishes report on "landless Arabs," caused by Zionist colonization.
1933
• British Secretary of State issues statement on resettlement of Palestinian farmers displaced from land acquired by Zionists.
1935
• Revisionists quit World Zionist Organization (WZO) to form New Zionist Organization with aim of "liberating" Palestine and Transjordan.
• Shaykh 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Muslim cleric from Haifa, leader of first Palestinian guerrilla group fighting British policy in Palestine, killed in action against British security forces.
1936
• Leaders of Palestinian political parties form Higher Arab Committee under Chairman Haj Amin al-Husseini.
• Conference of Palestinian National Committees in Jerusalem calls for no taxation without representation. Great Rebellion begins.
• Lebanese guerrilla leader Fawzi al-Qawuqji enters Palestine leading 150 volunteers from Arab countries to help fight British.
• Royal Commission headed by Lord Peel arrives in Palestine.
1937
• Royal Commission leaves Palestine.
• IZL/Irgun, linked to Revisionist movement under Ze'ev Jabotinsky, reorganizes and advocates armed attacks on Palestinians.
• Royal (Peel) Commission report recommends partitioning Palestine into Jewish state comprising 33% of country including Haifa, Galilee, and coastal plain north of Isdud; Arab state in rest of country (to become part of Transjordan); and British mandatory enclaves including Jerusalem. Part of Palestinian population to be forcibly transferred, if necessary, from Jewish state
• Arab Higher Committee rejects Royal Commission proposal and demands independent unitary Palestine with protection of "legitimate Jewish and other minority rights" and the safeguarding of British interests. Rebellion intensifies.
• Arab National Congress at Bludan, Syria, attended by 450 delegates from Arab countries, rejects partition proposal, demands end to Mandate, a stop to Zionist immigration, and prohibition of transfer of Palestinian lands to Zionist ownership.
• British dissolve Arab Higher Committee and all Palestinian political organizations. Five Palestinian leaders deported. Haj Amin al-Husayni escapes to Lebanon.
• British establish military courts to counter Palestinian rebellion.
1938
• IZL/Irgun bombings kill 119 Palestinians. Palestinian bombs and mines kill 8 Jews.
• British officer Orde Wingate organizes Special Night Squads of British and Haganah personnel for operations against Palestinian villages.
• British military commanders take over administration from district commissioners to help suppress rebellion. Reinforcements brought from England.
• British recapture Old City of Jerusalem from Palestinian rebels.
• Report of British Woodhead technical commission of inquiry (January-April 1938) declares impracticability of Royal Commission's partition proposal. British call for general conference on Palestine in London attended by Arabs, Palestinians, and Zionists.
1939
• London Conference starts.
• London Conference ends without agreement.
• British House of Commons votes 268 to 179 in favor of White Paper issued by Colonial Secretary of State Malcolm MacDonald. White Paper calls for conditional independence for unitary Palestinian state after ten years; admission of 15,000 Jewish immigrants annually into Palestine for five years, with immigration after that subject to "Arab acquiescence" ; protection of Palestinian land rights against Zionist acquisition. British official estimates of Palestinians killed or executed by British military and police during Arab Rebellion is over 2,000 for 1936 and 1938 alone. Total for all years is estimated at 3,500-4,000. About 500 Jews killed in same period.
• World War 11 begins.
• Stern Gang or Lochemay Herut Yisra'el (LEHI; "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel") formed by dissident IZL members led by Avraham Stern.
