Introduction

Palestine was ruled by Arab Moslems between the seventh Century and the thirteenth Century. In 1099 the Crusaders attacked Jerusalem and later spread their control over the whole of Palestine until 1187 when Salah el Din al Ayuby defeated the Crusader army in Hiteen near Jerusalem. In 1291 the Turkish Mamluks entered Palestine and expelled the Crusaders from Palestine (ARIJ, 2000). The Mamluks ruled Palestine until 1516 when the Othoman Turkish army invaded Palestine and ruled the area until World War I in 1917. British forces occupied Palestine in October 1917. On November 2nd,1917, the British responded to Zionist demands through Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, by declaring their support for creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine through the "Balfour Declaration" (ARIJ, 2000).