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The First Aliyah was a wave of Jewish immigration to Israel which was at the time a part of the Ottoman Empire. This wave was the first specifically Zionist rooted immigration and paved the way for many more “Aliyot” to follow. The purpose was to buy and settle the land to eventually create a homeland for Jews to live in. Some of the important settlements founded during the first Aliyah were Rechovot, Rishon LeZion, Neve Tzedek, and Neve Shalom, the latter two of which were the first neighborhoods of what would eventually become Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, the Zionists ran out of funds and many were suffering from hunger and disease which led many of the settlers to flee the country. The Jews who remained were bailed out by the Rothschild Organization which funded their settlements and even purchased new ones. Although it was considered a failure by some, the First Aliyah created the foundations of a Jewish state by establishing settlements and cultivating land, which allowed for greater growth and success in years to come.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aliyah

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The First Aliyah ( Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, HaAliyah HaRishona), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration () to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen. An estimated 25,000-35,000 Jews immigrated. Many of the European Jewish immigrants during the late 19th-early 20th century period gave up after a few months and went back to their country of origin, often suffering from hunger and disease. Because there had been immigration to Palestine in earlier years as well, use of the term "First Aliyah" is controversial.

Nearly all of the Jews from Eastern Europe before that time came from traditional Jewish families. The immigrants that were part of the First Aliyah came more out of a connection to the land of their ancestors. Most of these immigrants worked as artisans or in small trade, but many also worked in agriculture. Only some of them came in an organized fashion, with the help of Hovevei Zion, but most of them were unorganized, in their 30s, and had families.[citation needed ] Most settlements met with financial difficulties and most of the settlers were not proficient in farming.

The First Aliyah was considered a success through the eyes of some historians since Jews were able to migrate and thrive economically in Palestine.[citation needed ] Others may say the First Aliyah was not a success because many of these immigrants did not stay and there was a shortage of funds necessary to sustain the movement.[citation needed ]

Only a small minority of the 6,000 who emigrated, about 2%, remained in Ottoman Palestine.[citation needed ] The Jewish Virtual Library says of the First Aliyah that nearly half the settlers did not stay in the country.

Jewish immigration to Ottoman Palestine from Eastern Europe occurred as part of the mass emigrations of approximately 2.5 million people that took place towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. A rapid increase in population had created economic problems that affected Jewish societies in the Pale of Settlement in Russia, Galicia, and Romania.

Persecution of Jews in Russia was also a factor. In 1881, Tsar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated, and the authorities blamed the Jews for the assassination. Consequently, in addition to the May Laws, major anti-Jewish pogroms swept the Pale of Settlement. A movement called Hibbat Zion (love of Zion) spread across the Pale (helped by Leon Pinsker's pamphlet Auto-Emancipation), as did the similar Bilu movement. Both movements encouraged Jews to emigrate to Ottoman Palestine.

The first group of immigrants from Yemen came approximately seven months before most of the Eastern European Jews arrived in Palestine.

Due to the changes in the Ottoman Empire, citizens could move more freely, and in 1869, travel was improved with the opening of the Suez Canal, which reduced the travel time from Yemen to Ottoman Syria. Certain Yemenite Jews interpreted these changes and the new developments in the "Holy Land" as heavenly signs that the time of redemption was near. By settling in Ottoman Syria, they would play a part in what they believed could precipitate the anticipated messianic era. Emigration from Yemen to the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem ( Ottoman Syria) began in early 1881 and continued almost without interruption until 1914. It was during this time that about 10% of the Yemenite Jews left. From 1881 to 1882, a few hundred Jews left Sanaa and several nearby settlements. This wave was followed by other Jews from central Yemen who continued to move into Ottoman Syrian provinces until 1914. The majority of these groups moved into Jerusalem and Jaffa. In 1884, some families settled into a new-built neighborhood called Yemenite Village Kfar Hashiloach ( Hebrew: כפר השילוח) in the Jerusalem district of Silwan, and built the Old Yemenite Synagogue.

Before World War I, there was another wave that began in 1906 and continued until 1914. Hundreds of Yemenite Jews made their way to Ottoman Syria and chose to settle in the agricultural settlements. It was after these movements that the World Zionist Organization sent Shmuel Yavne'eli to Yemen to encourage Jews to emigrate to the Land of Israel. Yavne'eli reached Yemen at the beginning of 1911 and returned to Ottoman Syria in April 1912. Due to Yavne'eli's efforts, about 1,000 Jews left central and southern Yemen, with several hundred more arriving before 1914.

The First Aliyah occurred from 1881 to 1903 and did not go as planned as Zionists ran out of funds. The Rothschild organization rescued the Zionist movement by funding Zionists and by purchasing large settlements and by creating new settlements. By the end of the First Aliyah, the Jews had purchased 350,000 dunams of land.

The first central committee for the settlement was established by a convention of "Unions for the Agricultural Settlement of Israel" ( Focșani Congress) held on January 11, 1882, in Romania. The committee was the first organization to organize group aliyahs, such as the Jewish passenger ships that set sail from Galați.[citation needed ]

After the first wave in the early 1880s, there was another spike in 1890. The Russian Empire officially approved the activity of Hovevei Zion in 1890. The same year, the " Odessa Committee" began its operation in Jaffa. The purpose of this organization was to absorb immigrants to Ottoman Syria who came as a result of the activities of Hovevei Zion in Russia. Also Russian Jewry's situation deteriorated as the authorities continued to push Jews out of business and trade and Moscow was almost entirely cleansed of Jews. Finally, the financial situation of the settlements from the previous decade improved due to Baron Edmond James de Rothschild's assistance.

The relationship of the members of the First Aliyah with the Old Yishuv was strained. There were disagreements about economic and ideological issues. Only a few groups from the Old Yishuv sought to take part in the First Aliyah's settlement effort, one such group being the Peace of Jerusalem ( Shlom Yerushalayim).

Israeli historian Benny Morris wrote:

But the major cause of tension and violence throughout the period 1882-1914 was not accidents, misunderstandings or the attitudes and behaviors of either side, but objective historical conditions and the conflicting interests and goals of the two populations. The Arabs sought instinctively to retain the Arab and Muslim character of the region and to maintain their position as its rightful inhabitants; the Zionists sought radically to change the status quo, buy as much land as possible, settle on it, and eventually turn an Arab-populated country into a Jewish homeland.
For decades the Zionists tried to camouflage their real aspirations, for fear of angering the authorities and the Arabs. They were, however, certain of their aims and of the means needed to achieve them. Internal correspondence amongst the olim from the very beginning of the Zionist enterprise leaves little room for doubt.

The First Aliyah laid the cornerstone for Jewish settlement in Israel and created several settlements - Rishon LeZion, Rosh Pinna, Zikhron Ya'akov, Gedera, among others. Immigrants of the First Aliyah also contributed to existing Jewish towns and settlements, notably Petah Tikva. The first neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv ( Neve Tzedek, 1887; and Neve Shalom, 1890) were also built by members of the aliyah, although it was not until the Second Aliyah that Tel Aviv was officially founded.

The settlements established by the First Aliyah, known in Hebrew as moshavot are:

The five ephemeral settlements of the First Aliyah in the Hauran are not included.

Ben-Gurion, David (1976), From Class to Nation: Reflections on the Vocation and Mission of the Labor Movement, Am Oved (in Hebrew)

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The First Aliyah ( Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, HaAliyah HaRishona), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration () to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen. An estimated 25,000-35,000 Jews immigrated.

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The Second Aliyah was, as apparent in the name, the second wave of Jewish emigration to Palestine at this time. The main cause of this Aliyah was the increasingly worsening persecution of Jews in Russia. This wave brought many immigrants who had been inspired by the Socialist ideas spreading across Russia. Many of those immigrants would come together and found the first kibbutz, Deganya, in 1909. Unfortunately, like the First Aliyah, most immigrants lived in poverty, and around half of all immigrants who came during the Second Aliyah ended up leaving the country. Even though the Second Aliyah had serious financial problems similar to its predecessor, it again brought many people who helped settle the land for it to one day become the thriving society it is today.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Aliyah
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-second-aliyah-1904-1914

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The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent from the foreign minister of the United Kingdom, Arthur Balfour, to Lord Walter Rothschild to be declared to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The letter was written to show support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” and that the British government would help facilitate the creation of such a place. This letter made the dream of a Jewish state more tangible than ever before because it was one of the first examples of international support for a state in Palestine.

Sources:
Balfour, Arthur James. 1917. "The Balfour Declaration". Letter to Lord Rothschild. Official Papers. WWI D.A.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration

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After the Arab riots in 1920, the need for a nationwide force became apparent and the Haganah was formed to fill that role. When it was formed the Haganah was mainly composed of Jewish farmers guarding their farms and kibbutzim, but as time went on, especially after the Arab riots in 1929, it transformed into a much more organized and capable force. In 1931 many soldiers in the Haganah who were upset by its passiveness broke off and formed the Irgun, a force more willing to counter-attack in a conflict and not just defend. In 1940, another organization, Lehi, broke off from Irgun to continue fighting the British during World War II while the other two forces refrained from doing so. All three of these forces would combine in 1948 to form what would be known as the Israeli Defense Force, and it is only because of its efforts to fight for and protect the Jewish state that it can exist, let alone thrive today.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haganah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_(militant_group)

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The White Paper was a document signed by the British in 1939 that severely limited Jewish immigration and the ability to buy land. This paper was implemented across British Mandatory Palestine despite pushback from the Jews and some of the Arabs. This paper proved to be especially difficult for the Jews when after World War II many from Europe had nowhere to go and resorted to entering Palestine illegally due to the lack of better options. Those who were caught were detained by the British and sent away to camps in Cyprus. This was a time when many Jews needed a homeland just to be turned away. It shows the necessity of a Jewish-controlled state where all Jews would be allowed entry regardless of the amount.

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In November of 1947, a resolution passed in the United Nations that would split British Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state respectively. Although the Jews were ready to accept the proposal, the Palestinian Arabs were against it and would only be satisfied with control over the entire country. When the resolution passed, fighting broke out in Palestine between the two groups over control of the land.  This fighting would escalate into a full-scale war in 1948 when the British Mandate officially ended and the Jews to declared their independence. The fight between the Jews and Arabs continued over the next eight months until a peace treaty was accepted by both sides which ended the war on the 7th of January, 1949. With relative peace established in the region, the dream that so many Jews had shared for so long became a reality, a Jewish homeland.

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The Law of Return was a piece of legislation passed in 1950 which allowed all Jews to become Israeli citizens and immigrate to Israel. This law was the culmination of all the effort spent on creating a Jewish State. The Jews finally had a land that they could call home and were able to move there almost unconditionally. This would prove very important for the future when many Jews who were persecuted in their own countries were able to escape to Israel because of this law.

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The Bene Israel were a tribe in India that was discovered in the late eighteenth century to follow a few Jewish laws such as reciting Shema and observing the Shabbat rest. After Israel’s Independence in 1948, many of the Bene Israel immigrated to the country. For the next several years the Bene Israel were not treated as full-fledged Jews. For example, if they wanted to get married to someone, not from Bene Israel, they would have to go through the whole conversion process. After protests in the early 1960s, in 1964, the rabbinate ruled that the Bene Israel were “full Jews in every respect”. This controversy was a definite misstep in Israel’s short existence because the purpose of the state was to be a land for Jews to live in without discrimination but in this case, there clearly was. Although overall negative, the situation with Bene Israel taught a valuable lesson about accepting all Jews not only into the country but into mainstream society as a whole.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Jews_in_Israel

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On June 27th, 1976, an Air France aircraft that departed from Tel-Aviv to was hijacked en route to France and landed at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. While the non-Jews on the flight were eventually sent to France, the Israelis and those who were obviously Jewish were kept in Uganda. The hijackers demanded the release of fifty-three Palestinian militants, most detained in Israel, in exchange for the Jewish hostages. If Israel didn’t fulfill the hijackers’ request by July 1st, they would start to kill off the passengers. Israel tried diplomacy to try to free the hostages but it was to no avail. The only solutions left were to either release the Palestinian prisoners or attempt a raid on Entebbe to free the hostages. After an extension was agreed upon until July 4th, Israel, confident in its military, commenced a rescue mission to save the hostages. The operation was very successful for Israel as they managed to rescue all but four hostages, and only one soldier was killed. This operation highlights the success of the Jewish state. Israel was able to save the hostages and had there not been a Jewish state and military for a situation like this, the consequences could have been far worse.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe

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After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Jews in Iran started being heavily persecuted. Many Jewish leaders were killed for supporting zionists and the Iranian Jews were desperate to flee the country out of fear for their own lives. However, the Iranian government wouldn’t issue passports to any Jews and barred them from leaving the country. To escape, many had to leave behind their possessions and sneak out without getting caught by the authorities patrolling the road. It is estimated that around twenty thousand Jews ended up in Israel after escaping. This shows the importance of Israel and the Law of Return. Without Israel, there would be no guarantee that a country would take that many Jews, as was the case during the Holocaust. We can be thankful that there is a Jewish state and homeland where every Jew can migrate to it.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Iran%27s_Jews#Main_exodus_late_1970s_to_1990s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_the_Muslim_world#Iran

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In 1989, the Soviet Union lifted its restrictions on emigration, and as a result, over the next several years, hundreds of thousands of Jews migrated to Israel. Once again, had it not been for Israel allowing all Jews into the country, the immigrants might not have had a place to go. With so many people trying to get out at once, there was no way a different country would have been able to take them all. On top of Israel just allowing immigration, they sent planes on direct flights to and from all the major Jewish populated cities in the Soviet Union. In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and war broke out in the region, Israel helped the Jewish refugees evacuate and make it to Israel safely. Israel’s aid to the Soviet Jews really highlights how Israel progressed. It evolved from a few poor settlements to a Jewish homeland that would take in any Jew who would want to immigrate. Not only that, they actively went to save Jews in need of a better place to live and brought them back to Israel.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_post-Soviet_aliyah