1913: Seeds of Conflict

Man: I GOT THE TELEPHONE CALL THAT IN FRANCE, THEY HAVE FOUND 3 OR 4 BOXES, WITH ABOUT 170 SMALL ROLLS, 20 METER EACH, OF FILMS FROM PALESTINE.

IMMEDIATELY, I KNEW THAT THIS IS THE FILM THAT I'M LOOKING FOR SINCE 1975.

I KNEW THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS VERY SPECIAL.

[FILM REEL CLICKING] Narrator: "THE LIFE OF THE JEWS IN PALESTINE," A DOCUMENTARY SHOT IN 1913, CONSISTS OF SOME OF THE EARLIEST MOVING IMAGES EVER RECORDED IN THE HOLY LAND.

BUT JUST AFTER THE ONSET OF WORLD WAR I, THE FILM VANISHED, THOUGHT TO BE LOST FOREVER.

Gross: AND HERE WE SEE PILGRIMS WHO ARE COMING TO PALESTINE.

Narrator: THE FILM PORTRAYS THE DREAM OF A JEWISH HOMELAND-- A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY.

IT'S A SHARP CONTRAST TO THE PERSECUTION FACING JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE.

Woman: YOU SEE REALLY A KIND OF INNOCENCE, A LOST WORLD.

THIS WAS A MOMENT IN TIME WHEN PEOPLE HAD ENTHUSIASM FOR WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

THEY BELIEVED IN WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

Narrator: THE FILMMAKER, NOAH SOKOLOVSKY, IS INTENT ON CAPTURING THE ZIONIST DREAM.

BUT THERE'S A DIFFERENT NARRATIVE, LESS WELL-KNOWN HOVERING JUST AT THE EDGE OF THINGS.

Gross: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE?

YEAH.

I DON'T KNOW.

HA.

Narrator: IN 1913 OTTOMAN PALESTINE, ARABS AND JEWS LIVED TOGETHER IN RELATIVE HARMONY.

[FILM REEL CLICKING] HOW DID THIS PLACE, SO DIVERSE AND RICH IN CULTURE, BECOME THE SITE OF TODAY'S BITTER, AND SEEMINGLY INTRACTABLE STRUGGLE?

Marcus: WHEN YOU SEE THE FILM, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SHOT IN 1913, IT'S VERY HARD NOT TO LOOK AT IT THROUGH A MODERN LENS.

YOU CAN'T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE FILMMAKER STOPPED ROLLING.

[SHOUTING] [GUNFIRE] I THINK IT'S WORTH GOING BACK.

[GUNFIRE] WAS THERE A TURNING POINT, A MOMENT IN TIME WHEN CHOICES WERE MADE, THE POINTS WERE ARGUED, AND THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT?

Narrator: BY THE MID-1800s, HALF A MILLION OTTOMAN SUBJECTS--OVER 400,000 MUSLIMS, 60,000 CHRISTIANS, AND 20,000 JEWS-- CALL THIS PLACE HOME.

Gross: WHAT WE CALL PALESTINE TODAY, OR WHAT BECAME PALESTINE IN THE BRITISH MANDATE, WAS MADE UP OF SEVERAL OTTOMAN PROVINCES OR ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS.

AND THE BOUNDARIES WERE AS FAR NORTH AS THE PROVINCE OF BEIRUT, AND SOUTH AS THE SINAI PENINSULA.

AT THE CORE OF WHICH WAS THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, WHICH WAS GOVERNED DIRECTLY FROM ISTANBUL.

Man: THE PEOPLE WHO LATER WOULD CALL THEMSELVES PALESTINIAN WERE ALWAYS AWARE OF THAT AREA AS A HOLY LAND FOR MUSLIMS, JEWS, AND CHRISTIANS.

BUT THE LAND WAS ALMOST LIKE A LIVING ENTITY, AND ITS TOPOGRAPHY WAS PART OF THE FABRIC OF LOCAL MEMORY, LOCAL HISTORY.

AND ACCESS TO LAND THAT YOU CAN PASS ON TO YOUR CHILDREN, THAT'S WHAT MEASURED SELF-WORTH.

Narrator: UNTIL THE 1880s, HALF THE JEWS IN PALESTINE ARE SEPHARDIC, OF MEDITERRANEAN ORIGIN.

IN AN EMPIRE DOMINATED BY ISLAMIC CULTURE, THEY IDENTIFY AS OTTOMAN, SPEAK ARABIC, AND, LIKE CHRISTIANS, ACCEPT THEIR SECONDARY STATUS.

Man: PALESTINE WAS UNDER OTTOMAN CONTROL AT THAT TIME.

THE PLACE WAS, ABOVE ALL, AN OTTOMAN REGION, AND WE TEND TO FORGET THAT.

MOST OF THE POPULATION LIVED IN THE MOUNTAINS, WHEREAS THE PLAINS AND THE LOWER AREAS WERE LESS POPULATED.

THEIR LAND WAS LESS SUITABLE FOR TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE.

AND THESE ARE THE REGIONS WHERE MOST OF THE JEWISH COLONIZATION ACTIVITY TOOK PLACE SINCE THE EIGHTIES.

Narrator: IN 1881, CZAR ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA IS ASSASSINATED.

BLAMED FOR THE ECONOMIC TURMOIL THAT ENSUES, A WAVE OF ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE, POGROMS, IS UNLEASHED ON THE ASHKENAZI-- JEWS OF EASTERN EUROPE.

Man: THE RESULT OF THAT IS MASSIVE JEWISH EMIGRATION FROM EASTERN EUROPE.

ABOUT 2 MILLION JEWS PACK UP, GO TO THE SHORE, GET ON BOATS, AND LEAVE BETWEEN 1882 AND 1903.

AND OF THOSE, ONLY 2% TO 3%, END UP GOING TO PALESTINE.

THIS WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS IS CALLED THE FIRST ALIYAH.

THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO WERE LEAVING RUSSIA AT THAT TIME WERE GOING TO AMERICA IN SEARCH OF GREATER ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, BUT A VERY SMALL PORTION DID END UP IN PALESTINE.

Man: MOST OF THOSE WHO ARE COMING TO PALESTINE ARE STILL COMING FOR THE SAME REASONS JEWS HAD BEEN IMMIGRATING TO PALESTINE PREVIOUSLY.

THEY COME TO THE HOLY LAND TO STUDY SCRIPTURE, OFTEN TO BE BURIED THERE.

MANY OF THEM HAVE LITTLE TO NO AGRICULTURAL BACKGROUND AT ALL AND CERTAINLY NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO BE A FARMER IN PALESTINE, WHICH OF COURSE, IS RATHER DIFFERENT FROM THE RUSSIAN PALE OF SETTLEMENT.

Marcus: THE IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE ARRIVING CALLED THEIR SETTLEMENTS RISHON LEZION, FIRST IN ZION, OR PETAH TIKVAH, RAY OF HOPE.

THEY GAVE THE NAMES TO REFLECT THEIR SENSE OF HOPE OF GOING TO THE HOLY LAND.

Narrator: DURING THE 19th CENTURY, THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE DOMINANT POLITICAL FORCE SWEEPING EUROPE--THE RISE OF NATIONALISM.

THE SPRAWLING EMPIRE STARTS TO CRUMBLE AS ONE ETHNIC GROUP AFTER ANOTHER CLAIMS ITS INDEPENDENCE.

MEANWHILE, OUTDATED IMMIGRATION LAWS KEEP THE EMPIRE FROM CONTROLLING AN INFLUX OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS.

Shafir: THE OTTOMANS DID WHAT THEY COULD TO PREVENT THE IMMIGRATION OF JEWS TO PALESTINE.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS BESIEGED BY MANY MINORITIES IN THE BALKANS AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THE LAST THING THEY WANTED WAS YET ANOTHER GROUP THAT HAD NATIONAL ASPIRATIONS IN PALESTINE.

Saposnik: MANY JEWS WHO IMMIGRATE TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE REMAIN SUBJECTS OR IN SOME CASES CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRIES FROM WHICH THEY HAD COME, AND THIS ALLOWS THEM CERTAIN BENEFITS BASED ON THE FACT THAT THEY ARE THEN SUBJECT TO THE CONSULATES OF THOSE COUNTRIES RATHER THAN IN MOST CASES TO OTTOMAN LAW.

Marcus: MANY OF THE JEWS WHO CAME WANTED TO STAY, AND THEN THEY WOULD SORT OF DISAPPEAR INTO PALESTINE, AND IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACK THEM OR TO GET THEM TO LEAVE ONCE THEY HAD ARRIVED.

Narrator: THE FIRST ALIYAH NEARLY TRIPLES THE NUMBER OF JEWS IN PALESTINE.

AND FROM AN EARLY SETTLEMENT CALLED REHOVOT COMES FRESH EVIDENCE OF THE FIRST DISPUTE OVER LAND BETWEEN THE NEW ARRIVALS AND THEIR ARAB NEIGHBORS.

Ben-Bassat: REHOVOT WAS ESTABLISHED BY A GROUP OF COLONISTS IN 1890, SOME 25 KILOMETERS SOUTHEAST OF JAFFA... AND THERE WAS A GROUP OF BEDOUINS LIVING THERE.

THEY CULTIVATED THE LAND, BUT THEY WERE NOT THE OWNERS.

AND WHEN REHOVOT WAS ESTABLISHED, THE COLONISTS ASKED THE BEDOUINS TO LEAVE, AND THE BEDOUINS REJECTED IT.

THEY THOUGHT THAT THEY HAVE RIGHTS ON THE LAND.

THEY LIVED THERE, THEY CULTIVATED IT.

EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE NOT ITS OWNERS, THEY STILL BELIEVED THAT THEY DESERVED SOME COMPENSATION.

Narrator: IN TURKEY, A PETITION HAS JUST BEEN DISCOVERED.

IN IT, THE BEDOUINS PLEAD THEIR CASE TO THE SULTAN, AFTER A TENSE EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE ARAB ABU-HATABA AND THE RUSSIAN SETTLER LEVIN EPSTEIN.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] [SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: IN ISTANBUL, INCIDENTS LIKE REHOVOT ARE DISMISSED AS INSIGNIFICANT, MERELY LOCAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS.

BUT IN EUROPE, A NEW BRAND OF JEWISH IDENTITY CALLED ZIONISM IS GAINING MOMENTUM.

IN 1896, THEODOR HERZL WRITES "DER JUDENSTAADT"-- THE JEWISH STATE-- WHICH BECOMES THE MANIFESTO FOR THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT.

Saposnik: HERZL IS A VIENNESE JEW.

FOR HIM, THE EXPERIENCE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IS THE CRITICAL DEFINITIVE MOMENT WHEN HE SORT OF CONVERTED TO ZIONISM.

BUT HERZL'S DIAGNOSIS IS THAT THE PROBLEM IS THE JEWS ARE GUESTS EVERYWHERE IN A WORLD OF NATION STATES THAT ARE COMING INTO BEING.

THE REASON FOR ANTI-SEMITISM IS THAT JEWS ARE THIS STRANGE HOMELESS NATION AND THEY NEED TO HAVE A HOME OF THEIR OWN.

Narrator: THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HERZL CONVENES THE FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND.

THE BIG QUESTION FOR DELEGATES IS WHERE THE NEW JEWISH HOMELAND SHOULD BE.

Marcus: THE DELEGATES REALIZE THAT TO SET UP A JEWISH STATE IS GOING TO REQUIRE A LOT OF SUPPORT.

THEY BELIEVE THERE'S ONLY ONE PLACE THAT YOU CAN GET THE MAJORITY OF JEWS TO RALLY AROUND, AND THAT'S PALESTINE.

THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A JEWISH KINGDOM, IT WAS THERE.

Narrator: FROM A NOTABLE PALESTINIAN FAMILY, YUSEF KHALIDI IS NOW MAYOR OF JERUSALEM.

ALARMED BY ZIONIST ACTIVITY IN EUROPE, IN 1899, HE REACHES OUT TO HERZL IN A SERIES OF LETTERS.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] [SPEAKING GERMAN] Narrator: DESPITE KHALIDI'S WARNING, THE ZIONISTS FORGE AHEAD.

A DECADE LATER, THEIR ASTOUNDING PROGRESS WOULD BECOME THE FOCUS OF SOKOLOVSKY'S 1913 FILM.

Marcus: THIS WAS A FILM THAT WAS SUPPORTED BY THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT.

IT WAS TRYING TO SHOW ALL THAT HAD BEEN ACHIEVED AND ALL THAT WAS POSSIBLE.

HE WAS TRYING TO CAPTURE A REALITY, BUT IT WAS A SELECTIVE REALITY.

Narrator: THE FILM PROVIDES ALL THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE NEEDED TO JUSTIFY AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR ZIONIST SLOGAN-- "A LAND WITHOUT A PEOPLE FOR A PEOPLE WITHOUT A LAND."

THE SLOGAN WOULD HAVE LASTING IMPLICATIONS.

[SHUTTER CLICKS] Woman: WELL, IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHERE THE PHOTOGRAPHER AIMS THE CAMERA, RIGHT?

I MEAN, YOU HAVE THE FAMOUS IMAGE OF SHAREHOLDERS FOR AHUZAT BAYIT, WHICH BECOMES TEL AVIV, IN 1905, STANDING ON THE SAND DUNES.

WHILE THE PHOTOGRAPHER WAS POSITIONED TO THEIR SOUTH PHOTOGRAPHING THEM TO THE NORTH IN WHICH THERE WERE, IN FACT, SAND DUNES, HAD HE TURNED 180 DEGREES TO PHOTOGRAPH HIMSELF BEHIND THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN THE VAST ORCHARD GROVES OF CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM LANDOWNERS.

THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN JAFFA, AN IMPORTANT BUSTLING PORT CITY WITH A VERY VIBRANT LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY.

Man: WHAT IS MEANT BY THE SLOGAN "A LAND WITHOUT A PEOPLE" IS THAT THE ARABS OF PALESTINE DO NOT CONSTITUTE A NATIONAL ENTITY.

THESE PEOPLE SOMEHOW ARE GENETIC ARABS.

THEY BELONG TO THE DESERT, THEY'RE ROOTLESS.

Doumani: IN THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE SLOGAN, ARABS ARE PART OF NATURE.

THERE'S A TREE, A ROCK, A SHEEP, AND A PERSON, BUT THEY'RE INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM EACH OTHER.

Saposnik: AHAD HA'AM, ANOTHER IMPORTANT LEADER OF SPIRITUAL ZIONISM, SAYS THAT SOMETIMES THE ATTITUDE TAKEN BY THE IMMIGRANT SETTLERS IS WHAT'S CALLED IN HEBREW EVED K'IMLOCH, A SLAVE WHO HAS BECOME KING, RIGHT?

ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU'RE STRUTTING AROUND, YOU THINK YOU'RE MASTER OF THE LAND, AND YOU TREAT THESE PEOPLE POORLY.

[SHEEP BLEATING] AND HE SAID, "WATCH OUT.

"THE ARAB IS NOT A DONKEY.

"THE ARABS HAVE PRIDE.

THIS COULD COME BACK TO HAUNT US."

Narrator: TODAY, THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM FEELS TIMELESS, DIVIDED INTO ITS 4 DISTINCT QUARTERS.

BUT IN 1913, IT FELT VERY DIFFERENT.

Man: JERUSALEM WAS NOT AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, FIRST PARTITIONED INTO PALESTINIAN EAST AND ISRAELI WEST, AND THEN MUSLIM QUARTER, CHRISTIAN QUARTER.

THESE NAMES CAME LATER ON.

THE PHYSICAL PLACE WAS VERY MIXED.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS INTERMINGLED, LIVED TOGETHER IN THE VARIOUS NEIGHBORHOODS AND QUARTERS OF THE OLD CITY.

Saposnik: IT'S NOT A GARDEN OF EDEN.

IT'S A...

I WOULD SAY MORE THAN WORKABLE SOLUTION.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE DOES A REASONABLE JOB THROUGH MOST OF ITS HISTORY OF BEING THIS MULTI-ETHNIC, MULTI-LINGUISTIC, MULTI-RELIGIOUS SOCIETY.

THAT'S NOT TO SAY THERE AREN'T FRICTIONS.

BUT BY AND LARGE, ESPECIALLY IN A PRE-NATIONALIST AGE, THIS WORKS.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Nassar: AN IMPORTANT PART OF MIDDLE EASTERN HERITAGE IS THE COFFEE HOUSE.

THOSE WERE LIKE THE COMMUNAL PLACES OF MEETING.

IT WAS A PLACE TO GO SPEND THE ENTIRE EVENING INTO THE LATE HOURS OF THE NIGHT.

Narrator: FROM THE COFFEE HOUSE COMES A UNIQUE RECORD OF DAILY URBAN LIFE IN THE DIARIES OF THE ARAB CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN, WASIF JAWHARIYYEH.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: WASIF'S MUSIC GROUP INCLUDES A MUSLIM, A CHRISTIAN, AND A JEW.

HIS COFFEE HOUSE AUDIENCE IS JUST AS MIXED.

THERE'S A CULTURAL FLUIDITY ENJOYED BY ALL.

Woman: THE JEWS WHO HELD OTTOMAN CITIZENSHIP WERE ABLE TO BE INTEGRATED NOT ONLY WITH THE ARABS LIVING IN PALESTINE BUT ALSO TO BE INTEGRATED IN THE OTTOMAN POLITICAL FRAMEWORK.

SO THEY WERE ABLE TO HOLD OFFICE, TO BE MAYORS, TO BE ELECTED TO THE OTTOMAN PARLIAMENT, ET CETERA, TO BECOME MUCH MORE INVOLVED IN THE OTTOMAN POLITICAL LIFE AT THE TIME.

Narrator: BUT THE INFLUX OF FOREIGN JEWS IS UNDERMINING THE DELICATE CULTURAL BALANCE SO CAREFULLY NURTURED BY PROMINENT OTTOMAN JEWS, LIKE ALBERT ANTEBI.

Marcus: ALBERT ANTEBI WAS BORN IN DAMASCUS.

HE WAS A SEPHARDIC JEW.

HE CAME FROM A LONG LINE OF RABBIS.

HE SPOKE ARABIC AND A NUMBER OF OTHER LANGUAGES.

HE KNEW THE TURKISH LEGAL SYSTEM.

HE KNEW THE ISLAMIC LEGAL SYSTEM.

HE FELT COMFORTABLE IN THE OTTOMAN CULTURE, AND IF YOU ASKED HIM WHAT HE WAS, HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU, "I'M AN OTTOMAN."

Tamari: ANTEBI ACTUALLY WAS CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT HE CONSIDERED THE MALICIOUS CULTURAL IMPACT OF EUROPEAN JEWS, WHO HAPPENED TO BE ZIONISTS ALSO, IN CREATING A WEDGE BETWEEN THE NATIVE JEWISH COMMUNITY AND THE OTTOMAN STATE.

[SPEAKING FRENCH] Narrator: IN 1903, A NEW ROUND OF POGROMS IN EASTERN EUROPE TRIGGERS A SECOND ALIYAH.

THIS WAVE OF ASHKENAZI IMMIGRANTS IS TWICE AS LARGE AS THE FIRST AND IS DOMINATED BY YOUNG RUSSIAN ACTIVISTS WITH A DETERMINED SOCIALIST AGENDA.

Jacobson: THE PEOPLE OF THE SECOND ALIYAH WERE MUCH MORE ENGAGED WITH POLITICAL WORK AND MUCH MORE AWARE OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY.

Man: THE SECOND ALIYAH CAME TO PALESTINE BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BUILD THE COMMUNAL SETTLEMENTS.

THEY WERE MARXISTS.

THEY BELIEVE IN SOCIALISM.

THEY TAKE PART IN THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1905.

THEY WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE FIRST ALIYAH COLONISTS.

Narrator: THE NEW IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT USED TO THE LAND, THE CLIMATE, OR THE WORK CONDITIONS.

THEY CONFRONT THEIR INDIVIDUAL SHORTCOMINGS BY FORMING COLLECTIVE FARMS.

Marcus: THEY WOULD DIVIDE UP THE CHORES.

THEY WOULD SHARE IN THE RAISING OF CHILDREN.

THEY POOLED THEIR TALENTS, THEIR MONEY, THEIR TIME, AND THEIR LABOR, AND TOGETHER THEY WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE MORE THAN THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO AS INDIVIDUAL FARMERS.

Narrator: THE COLLECTIVE, WHICH WOULD LATER BECOME THE KIBBUTZ, IS A KEY BUILDING BLOCK OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, CHAMPIONED BY LEADERS LIKE MANYA SHOCHAT.

Shafir: MANYA SHOCHAT IS NOT A ZIONIST, BUT BECAUSE OF CERTAIN UNEXPECTED TURNS IN HER LIFE, SHE ENDS UP IN PALESTINE.

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN RUSSIA ITSELF, SHE'S ARRESTED FOR HER REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES AND THROWN IN JAIL.

WHEN SHE'S RELEASED, ONE OF HER BROTHERS IN PALESTINE INVITES HER FOR A VISIT TO GET HER OUT OF THERE.

AND ONCE SHE'S IN PALESTINE, SHE UNDERGOES A RADICAL TRANSFORMATION, AND SHE THROWS IN HER LOT WITH THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: BY THE TIME THE 2nd ALIYAH COMES TO PALESTINE, THE EMPIRE HAS REACHED A CRISIS POINT.

IT'S FIGHTING MULTIPLE WARS WITH NEIGHBORING EMPIRES, WHILE LOSING ONE TERRITORY AFTER ANOTHER TO INTERNAL FACTIONS.

IN DESPERATION, SULTAN ABDUL HAMID II TIGHTENS HIS GRIP ON THE REMAINING TERRITORIES...

BUT IT'S TOO LATE.

IN 1908, INTELLECTUALS AND ARMY OFFICERS JOIN TOGETHER TO OVERTHROW THE SULTAN IN WHAT BECOMES KNOWN AS THE YOUNG TURK REVOLUTION.

Man: THE YOUNG TURKS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO CREATE A NEW SYSTEM OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY, BASED VERY MUCH ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND BASED ON AN OTTOMAN IDENTITY.

THROUGH THIS IDEA OF PATRIOTISM, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THEY BELIEVED THAT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE COULD SURVIVE.

Marcus: THEY WANT TO KEEP THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE INTACT, BUT THEY WANT TO ALLOW THE DIFFERENT GROUPS UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN LIVES.

Narrator: THE REVOLUTION INSTILLS NEW HOPE IN MANY ARABS, INCLUDING KHALIL SAKAKINI WHO HAD FLED THE DESPOTISM OF THE SULTAN'S OLD REGIME.

Campos: KHALIL SAKAKINI IS A YOUNG CHRISTIAN PALESTINIAN SCHOOLTEACHER.

HE HAD EMIGRATED TO AMERICA, TO NEW YORK, A FEW YEARS PRIOR SEEKING BETTER FORTUNES THERE, HOPING TO AMASS ENOUGH MONEY TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK AND MARRY HIS SWEETHEART WHOM HE HAD LEFT BEHIND IN JERUSALEM.

AND WHEN NEWS ARRIVES IN NEW YORK ABOUT THE OTTOMAN REVOLUTION, WE KNOW FROM HIS DIARIES THE UTTER EXCITEMENT HE'S OVERCOME WITH.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Tamari: WHEN HE WENT BACK, IT WAS A BIG COMEBACK FROM HIM.

HE BUILT HIS SCHOOL.

HE BECAME A NEWSPAPER EDITOR.

HE PUBLISHED HIS BOOKS AND BECAME EXTREMELY PROMINENT.

[PEOPLE SHOUTING] Narrator: THE REVOLUTION'S EUPHORIA IS CAPTURED IN THE DIARIES OF THE MUSICIAN WASIF JAHARRIYEH, WHO WAS ALSO A STUDENT OF SAKAKINI.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] [DRUMS BEATING] Narrator: BUT THE CELEBRATIONS MASK THE CRACKS ALREADY FORMING WITHIN PALESTINE'S NEW OTTOMAN SOCIETY.

Fishman: IN PALESTINE, IT BECOMES VERY EVIDENT THAT EACH GROUP, WHILE THEY'RE JOINED TOGETHER AND UNITING OVER THE IDEA OF THE YOUNG TURK REVOLUTION, THEY STILL HAVE VERY DIFFERENT IDEAS OF WHAT THEY WANT FROM THE REVOLUTION.

Narrator: JEWS WELCOME THE REVOLUTION'S PROMISE OF GREATER AUTONOMY, BUT ALBERT ANTEBI IS ALARMED BY THEIR RELUCTANCE TO ASSUME OTTOMAN IDENTITY OR CITIZENSHIP.

[SPEAKING FRENCH] Narrator: ARAB COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE JEWISH ACTIVITY FIND A VOICE IN THE NEW CONSTITUTIONAL PARLIAMENT IN ISTANBUL.

JERUSALEM'S ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE THERE IS RUHI KHALIDI, YUSEF'S NEPHEW.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Marcus: RUHI KHALIDI HAS TO SPEND QUITE A BIT OF TIME IN CONSTANTINOPLE, BUT HE DOES COME BACK TO PALESTINE AND MAKES A POINT TO VISIT THE JEWISH SETTLEMENTS.

HE TRAVELS BY HORSEBACK.

HE GOES FROM ONE SETTLEMENT TO THE NEXT ONE, AND HE WRITES IN HIS JOURNALS THAT IN MANY WAYS HE'S IMPRESSED.

IN FACT, HE'S VERY IMPRESSED BY HOW FAR THEY'VE COME.

HE NOTES EVEN THAT THE WINE THAT THEY'RE DEVELOPING THERE AND GROWING THERE IS DELICIOUS.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS HE NOTICES IS THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE TO GO FAR BEFORE HE IS GREETED BY A GUARD AT THE NEXT SETTLEMENT ASKING HIM WHAT HIS BUSINESS IS.

[HORSE NICKERS] Narrator: KHALIDI BEGINS TO DISCERN A LARGER VISION AT WORK.

THE VISION BELONGS TO ARTHUR RUPPIN, NEWLY ARRIVED FROM GERMANY.

Shafir: ARTHUR RUPPIN IS A STATISTICIAN AND PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY.

HE IS THE POINT MAN OF THE WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION IN PALESTINE.

HE HAS A MUCH CLEARER AND A MUCH MORE FOCUSED VISION OF THE PARTS OF PALESTINE WHERE SETTLEMENT SHOULD TAKE PLACE.

Man: THE MESSAGE OF RUPPIN IS THE MESSAGE OF PRACTICAL ZIONISM.

HE'S ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDING AT THAT POINT THAT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL, IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS DREAM OF JEWISH STATE, THERE MUST BE DONE CERTAIN THINGS WHICH ARE RELATED TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE SETTLEMENT--ROADS, ELECTRICITY, HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND OF COURSE BUYING LAND, WHICH IS THE FIRST THING THAT HE'S DOING.

[SPEAKING GERMAN] Ben-Bassat: ALREADY DURING THE FIRST ALIYAH, YOU HAD 4 OR 5 MAJOR BLOCKS OF WHAT WE CALL BLOCKS OF COLONIES, AND NOW THOSE BLOCKS BASICALLY WERE COMBINED TOGETHER TO FORM THE FAMOUS "N" SHAPE.

Marcus: RUPPIN'S IDEA WAS THAT, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, SETTLEMENTS SHOULD BE CONTIGUOUS PLOTS OF LAND.

IT WOULD MAKE IT EASIER TO DEFEND, BUT ALSO THIS WOULD HELP FORM THE LARGER INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A POTENTIAL STATE.

Doumani: IF YOU LOOK AT THE "N" PATTERN, IT AVOIDS ANY HILL AREAS.

THIS IS BECAUSE THE HILL AREAS WERE DOMINATED BY SMALL LANDHOLDING PEASANTRY WHO DID NOT HAVE ANY INCENTIVE OR ANY WISH TO SELL THEIR LAND, NOT TO ANYBODY.

IN THE COASTAL AREAS IS WHERE WE SEE CONCENTRATED OWNERSHIP IN THE HANDS OF A FEW LARGE PALESTINIAN LANDHOLDERS, AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT SOLD.

Narrator: "THE LIFE OF THE JEWS IN PALESTINE" PREMIERES AT THE 1913 ZIONIST CONGRESS IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND.

[APPLAUSE] THE FILM PROVIDES RUPPIN A PERFECT TOOL TO MOBILIZE WORLDWIDE SUPPORT FOR THE ZIONIST CAUSE.

[SPEAKING GERMAN] Bloom: RUPPIN UNDERSTANDS THERE IS A GREAT NEED TO EXPLAIN THE URGENCY OF THE SITUATION, BECAUSE THE JEWS ARE IN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN EUROPE, AND THEY MUST TAKE THEIR POLITICAL FUTURE IN THEIR OWN HANDS.

AND THE ZIONISTS' SOLUTION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR THE PROBLEM OF THE JEWS IN THE MODERN TIMES.

[FILM REEL CLICKING] Narrator: AND THOUGH ARABS REMAIN AT THE MARGINS OF THE FILM, RUPPIN IS AWARE THEY WILL SOON BE PLAYING A MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLE.

[SPEAKING GERMAN] Narrator: RUPPIN'S PLAN, KNOWN AS THE CONQUEST OF LAND, WOULD DEPEND LARGELY ON ARAB LANDOWNERS OUTSIDE PALESTINE.

Marcus: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT RUPPIN WAS ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IS THAT A LARGE PORTION OF LAND WAS OWNED BY ABSENTEE LANDLORDS WHO WERE PERFECTLY HAPPY TO SELL THE LAND IF SOMEONE WAS WILLING TO PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR IT.

Doumani: DEMAND FOR THESE LANDS RAISED THE PRICES.

AND THAT IS WHY THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT WAS ABLE TO BUY FROM LARGE LANDOWNERS A GREAT DEAL OF LAND, BECAUSE THEY WERE WILLING TO PAY VERY, VERY HIGH PRICES FOR THESE LANDS.

Marcus: THIS WAS A PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH THERE WAS A LOT OF ROOM TO MANEUVER.

THERE WERE RULES, THERE WERE LAWS, BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS A WAY AROUND THEM.

Saposnik: THE ABILITY TO BRIBE LOCAL OTTOMAN OFFICIALS AND DETERMINATION SOMETIMES TO FIND LEGAL OR LESS-THAN-LEGAL LOOPHOLES AND WAYS TO GET AROUND WILL LEAD TO A SITUATION IN WHICH THE OTTOMANS ARE SIMPLY UNABLE AND PERHAPS NOT ALWAYS FULLY MOTIVATED TO CURB EITHER THE IMMIGRATION OR THE LAND SALES.

Narrator: THE ZIONISTS INCREASINGLY TURN TO OTTOMAN JEWS LIKE ALBERT ANTEBI.

Ben-Bassat: ANTEBI WAS OFTEN ASKED TO COME AND HELP IN VARIOUS LAND DEALS AND IN CASES OF MEDIATION NEEDED WITH THE OTTOMAN AUTHORITIES AND WITH THE LOCAL POPULATION.

HE KNEW EVERYBODY.

HE HAD TIES WITH EVERYBODY.

Marcus: ANTEBI IS NOT A ZIONIST.

HE WASN'T SURE WHAT ALL OF THEIR GOALS WERE OR IF HE EVEN AGREED WITH THEM, BUT HE IS VERY MUCH IN FAVOR OF JEWISH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT.

AND SO I THINK HE ALWAYS FOUND HIMSELF CAUGHT IN BETWEEN.

[SPEAKING FRENCH] Saposnik: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'LL SEE HAPPENING AFTER THE REVOLUTION IS LIBERALIZATION OF THE PRESS.

LIBERALIZATION OF THE PRESS WILL ALLOW FOR THE EMERGENCE OF AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF ARABIC LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS TO APPEAR, WHICH WILL BE VOICING ALL SORTS OF IDEAS.

AND PRETTY EARLY ON, WE'LL FIND A NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE IMPACT OF ZIONISM IN PALESTINE.

[TYPEWRITER KEYS CLICKING] Narrator: IN 1908, THE JOURNALIST NAJIB NASSAR ESTABLISHES THE NEWSPAPER "EL-CARMEL," WHICH WILL BECOME AN IMPORTANT VOICE AGAINST THE PERCEIVED ZIONIST THREAT.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: ISA AL-ISA, AN INTELLECTUAL FROM JAFFA, LAUNCHES ANOTHER PAPER, "FILASTIN," AND GOES DIRECTLY AFTER THE ARAB ABSENTEE LANDOWNERS.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: AMID THE GROWING CHORUS OF ARAB PROTESTS, ZIONISTS ARE ALREADY TAKING THEIR NEXT STEP-- THE CONQUEST OF LABOR.

Alorey: THE JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE WERE CRAFTSMEN AND PEDDLERS, AND IN PALESTINE IT SHOULD BE DIFFERENT.

THEY SHOULD BE AGRICULTURISTS, BUILD FARMS--BE A NEW JEW.

Saposnik: ONE OF THE CRITIQUES HELD THAT JEWS WERE DISCONNECTED FROM LAND GENERALLY AND FROM THEIR OWN LAND IN PARTICULAR, AND THAT A RETURN TO THE LAND WAS FUNDAMENTAL TO THIS.

Ben-Bassat: THE PEOPLE OF THE SECOND ALIYAH CAME TO THE FIRST ALIYAH COLONIES.

THEY SAW THAT THE JEWISH FARMERS WERE THE BOSSES OVERLOOKING THE ACTIVITY OF HUNDREDS OF ARAB WORKERS, AND THEY REJECTED IT.

THEY REJECTED THIS NOTION OF ARAB LABOR AND WANTED TO CONQUER THE LAND, WANTED TO BE ABLE TO DO IT THEMSELVES.

Alorey: LEGALLY, OF COURSE, THE ZIONISTS COULD EXPEL THE ARABS, BUT MORALLY WE CAN SEE THE PROBLEM.

THE SOCIALIST PIONEERS SPOKE ABOUT PURE JEWISH LABOR.

AND WHEN YOU SPEAK ABOUT PURE JEWISH LABOR, YOU MAKE A SHIFT IN THE CONFLICT.

IT'S NOT ANYMORE LOCAL, BUT NATIONAL.

Narrator: IN MANYA SHOCHAT'S DIARY, THE SUBTLE BUT UNMISTAKABLE SHIFT IS EVIDENT.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: AND WITH THE DISPLACEMENT OF PEASANT FARMERS, ARAB NATIONALISM BEGINS TO EMERGE, VOICED BY LEADERS LIKE SAKAKINI.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] [SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Marcus: SAKAKINI REALLY RAISED A KIND OF POLITICAL IDENTITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG YOUNG CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM ARABS.

HE WOULD EVENTUALLY COME TO REPRESENT THE KIND OF OPPOSITION THAT RUPPIN WAS WARNING AGAINST-- SOMEONE WHO HAD A VISION JUST LIKE THE ZIONISTS DID AND WOULD BE IN CONFLICT WITH THE ZIONIST VISION.

Narrator: MEANWHILE, THE ZIONIST VISION IS TAKING SHAPE-- HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS, POST OFFICES APPEAR.

RUHI KHALIDI SOUNDS THE ALARM IN THE OTTOMAN PARLIAMENT.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] I MEAN, WHAT RUHI AL-KHALIDI IS TRYING TO SAY IS THAT THIS IS A THREAT NOT ONLY TO PALESTINIANS OR TO THE ARABS, LOCAL ARABS OF THE REGION, BUT IT'S ALSO A THREAT TO THE OTTOMAN STATE.

HE'S NEVER ABLE TO SELL THIS IDEA.

THE OTTOMAN PARLIAMENTARIANS, THEY ASK ONE QUESTION: "ARE THE JEWS PAYING TAXES?"

AND RUHI AL-KHALIDI SAYS, "YES."

SO THEN THEY ANSWER, "THEN WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?"

Narrator: WITH PARLIAMENT LOOKING THE OTHER WAY, PALESTINE DESCENDS INTO LAWLESSNESS.

Marcus: ON THE ONE HAND, THIS ALLOWS THE ZIONISTS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE AND TO REALLY PUSH THEIR AGENDA FORWARD.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT BECAME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO HIRE GUARDS TO PROTECT THEIR GROWING NUMBER OF SETTLEMENTS.

Saposnik: EARLY ON, THESE GUARDS ARE OFTEN ARAB GUARDS FROM THE LOCAL NEARBY VILLAGE, RIGHT?

IN FACT, SOMETIMES YOU EVEN GET A SORT OF PROTECTION SYSTEM THERE, RIGHT?

"HIRE ME AS A GUARD SO I DON'T COME AND DESTROY YOUR VINEYARD."

IN OTHER WORDS, GUARDING IS NOT AN INDICATION IN THESE DAYS OF NATIONAL CONFLICT BY ANY MEANS.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HASHOMER INDICATES THE BEGINNING OF A SHIFT.

Narrator: HASHOMER BECOMES THE FIRST ZIONIST PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATION.

IT'S COMPRISED SOLELY OF JEWISH GUARDS.

Marcus: THEY WOULD COME FROM RUSSIA.

FREQUENTLY DIDN'T SPEAK ARABIC, WHICH CREATED SOME TROUBLE, AND THEY WOULD DRESS LIKE BEDOUINS AND RIDE ON HORSEBACK.

Alorey: THEY WERE ILLITERATE PEOPLE, CHAUVINISTS.

THEY SPOKE YIDDISH AND NOT HEBREW, EVEN A POOR YIDDISH.

THEY CURSE A LOT.

THEY WERE PEOPLE THAT I WOULDN'T LIKE TO MEET IN SEJERA IN MIDNIGHT.

SOME PEOPLE SEE THEM AS EXACERBATING CONFLICT RATHER THAN ALLEVIATING IT.

THE SLOGAN OF HASHOMER WAS, "IN BLOOD AND FIRE, JUDEA FELL.

IN BLOOD AND FIRE, JUDEA WILL ARISE AGAIN".

[HOOFBEATS] Narrator: BY 1913, SUCH PROVOCATIONS HAVE RAISED TENSIONS TO A DANGEROUS NEW LEVEL.

[SPEAKING FRENCH] [SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: THE ARAB PRESS GROWS OPENLY CONTEMPTUOUS.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] [SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: IN RUPPIN'S PALESTINE OFFICE, JOURNALISTS LIKE NISSIM MALUL READ THE ARAB PRESS, FEARFUL OF WORSENING RELATIONS.

[SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE] Narrator: EVEN RUPPIN WONDERS IF THE ZIONISTS HAVE GONE TOO FAR.

[SPEAKING GERMAN] [SLOW HOOFBEATS] Narrator: IT BEGAN, REPORTS AGREE, AS A SIMPLE BRAWL OVER THE THEFT OF A BUNCH OF GRAPES.

WITHIN DAYS, IT WOULD MARK A TURNING POINT IN THE HISTORY OF ARABS AND JEWS.

ACCORDING TO THE ZIONIST REPORT, ARAB CAMEL DRIVERS FROM A NEIGHBORING VILLAGE ARE BRINGING GOODS TO REHOVOT, SITE OF THE LAND DISAGREEMENT YEARS EARLIER.

ON THE WAY, THEY ENTER A VINEYARD AND STEAL SOME GRAPES.

[HORSE NICKERS] A HASHOMER GUARD GIVES CHASE AND BRUTALLY BEATS AN ARAB.

Man: AAH!

AAH!

[PUNCHES BEING THROWN] Man: UHH!

[CHOKING] IN THE PROCESS, HE'S ROBBED OF HIS WEAPON.

WITHIN HOURS, MORE HASHOMER FROM REHOVOT APPEAR ON THE SCENE.

THEY CONFRONT THE CAMEL DRIVER.

[GUN COCKS] THEN REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE FROM THE ARAB VILLAGE.

[HORSE NICKERS] [GUNSHOTS] THE SCUFFLE BECOMES A SHOOT-OUT.

[GUNSHOT] A HORSE IS SHOT AND A CAMEL.

[GUNSHOT] [THUD] ONE HASHOMER AND ONE ARAB ARE KILLED.

[BIRDS CHIRPING] Ben-Bassat: IT'S A MILESTONE IN THE JEWISH-ARAB CONFLICT.

EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A LOCAL INCIDENT, IT LED TO SUCH AN UPROAR.

YOU CAN SEE VILLAGERS FROM ALL OVER THE REGION COMING TOGETHER TO SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE JEWISH ACTIVITY.

Alorey: HASHOMER-- WHEN THEY WERE ASKED BY THE COLONISTS, "WHY DID YOU BEAT THE THIEF SO BRUTALLY?"

THE GUARDS SAY, "BECAUSE THEY STOLE A GRAPE, NOT FROM THE COLONY BUT FROM THE JEWISH PEOPLE."

Marcus: UP UNTIL THAT MOMENT, THERE WAS A SENSE THAT THERE'S THIS KIND OF US.

"WE'RE OTTOMANS, MUSLIMS, JEWS, CHRISTIANS.

WE SHARE A COMMON HISTORY."

AND WHAT EMERGES FROM REHOVOT IS A FRACTURING OF THE OTTOMANS AND A GREATER SENSE OF THIS IS BECOMING AN US VERSUS THEM CONFLICT BETWEEN JEWS AND ARABS.

Narrator: IN REHOVOT'S WAKE, THE GROWING CONFLICT CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED.

BOTH SIDES SEEK A PEACEFUL SOLUTION, AND TALKS BEGIN.

THEN, IN 1914, WWI INTERVENES.

[EXPLOSIONS] AS THE WORLD IS ENGULFED IN WAR, ANY HOPE FOR RESOLUTION QUICKLY FADES.

INSTEAD, EVENTS IN REHOVOT WOULD FORESHADOW A CENTURY OF MISTRUST, ENMITY, AND VIOLENCE.

Marcus: HISTORY IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN'T CONTROL.

IF THE WAR HADN'T BROKEN OUT, COULD THINGS HAVE GONE IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION?

WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

BUT I THINK ITS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN DIFFERENT GROUPS SHARED A CITY, SHARED A LAND, AND FOR A MOMENT IN TIME, SHARED HISTORY.

Narrator: TODAY, SOKOLOVSKY'S FILM PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO HOW THINGS FIRST WENT WRONG.

IN AN OPENING SCENE, IMMIGRANTS BRIM WITH OPTIMISM AS THEY HEAD TOWARD THE PROMISED LAND.

THEY SAIL PAST ISTANBUL, SEAT OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

AND FOR A MOMENT, THE CAMERA PANS TO AN ALLIED WARSHIP IN THE HARBOR.

IT'S 1913.

WORLD WAR I IS LOOMING ON THE HORIZON, AS IS THE CONFLICT WHOSE SEEDS HAVE JUST BEEN SEWN.

1913:Seeds of Conflict is available on DVD To order visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS