Did you know the majority of the land purchased for Jewish settlement in pre-state Israel was bought from absentee landowners who didn’t even live in Palestine?
Many of these sellers resided in Beirut, Damascus, Cairo, Istanbul & even Europe, for whom land was a financial asset.
These individuals owned large estates & sold parcels to Jewish buyers, usually without the regard for tenant farmers, driven by a combination of economic, political & social factors.
Here’s why:
*Financial Incentives: High profits from land sales
as Jewish buyers usually paid above-market prices for Land, making sales highly attractive.
*Tax Burdens: Under Ottoman & later British rule, large landowners faced heavy taxes. Selling land- especially less profitable or remote plots was a way to avoid financial strain.
*Cash Over Agriculture: Many absentee landlords preferred immediate cash over long-term agricultural income from tenant farmers.
*Under Ottoman law tenant farmers (fellahin) had no formal ownership rights, even if they'd worked the land for generations. The power lay with the deed-holders.
While the British tried to regulate land sales (e.g. the 1920 Land Transfer Ordinance) enforcement was weak, & loopholes allowed sales to proceed without tenant consent.
Many large landowners were wealthy or foreign investors with no personal ties to the tenant farmers.
There were protests (e.g. 1921 Jaffa riots, partly over land disputes), but tenant farmers had little power against either the landlords or colonial authorities.
As the economy modernized, land became a speculative asset rather than a means of subsistence. This fueled resentment among peasant farmers contributing to the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt where land sales were a major grievance.
The British Mandate authorities facilitated these sales by upholding property laws favouring landowners over tenants, despite occasional restrictions.
The Palestine Land Development Company (PLDC) established in 1908, facilitated Jewish land purchases & agricultural settlement in Ottoman - & later British Mandate - Palestine, playing a crucial role in acquiring land that would become part of Israel.
It was involved in transactions in Haifa, Jerusalem, the Galilee, plus Lands in the Hula & Jezreel Valleys. Other notable land purchases included the land on which Tel Aviv was built in the 1900s.
The land sales led to tenant evictions & modern day claims that the Land of Israel was built upon "occupied" or "stolen" Land.
It wasn't.
The PLDC acquisitions helped establish the shape of modern-day Israel, based upon existing areas of population long before Israel's declaration of statehood in 1948.
52.8% of the land bought by Jews was from non-Palestinian landowners
24.6% from landowners living in Palestine
13.4% from government, churches & foreign companies
9.4% from local farmers
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