Conclusion

Tracing the roots of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict is a daunting task as nationalist narratives have obscured real historical origins. This book has sought to offer a new interpretation of the first years of the conflict and presents a new context in which to understand it by going back to the late Ottoman era. This starting point is crucial to understanding how the conflict later developed into a full-fledged clash between two national movements during the British Mandate and the subsequent 1947–8 war. This book has clearly shown that the Jewish population in Ottoman Palestine was able to become a dominant force even before the Balfour Declaration, something that was accomplished within the Ottoman system....