ABSTRACT
In the 19th and 20th centuries the Middle East witnessed migration flows far larger than ever before in its history. Some of these were part of worldwide currents, e.g., the influx and subsequent outflow of Europeans; the emigration of Greeks, Armenians, and Syro-Lebanese to the New World, and the emigration of South Arabians to Indonesia. Others were due to causes originating in or around region, like the inflow of Muslims from the Caucasus and Balkans; the migration of Syro-Lebanese, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews to Egypt and Sudan; the exodus of Palestinians and influx of Jews from Arab countries into Israel; the Greco—Turkish exchange of population in the 1920s; and the massive movement of labor to the oil countries. The status of minorities also changed radically during this period; first they came to enjoy affluence and power on an unprecedented scale, and then they were gradually squeezed out of the favorable economic and social positions they had succeeded in occupying.
