Overall Chronology

For four centuries, the Levant is part of the Ottoman Empire and Palestine is occasionally the site of regional and international conflicts. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Arab and Palestinian nationalist sentiments begin to emerge. In Europe, Zionism starts to take shape and sets its sights on Palestine through immigration and colonization. This is met by growing opposition in Palestine. The outbreak of World War I opens the way for the carving of the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire into British and French spheres of influence and the fall of Palestine under the control of Great Britain and the endorsement of Zionist goals.