Palestine was already occupied by Arabs (Christians and Muslims), Sephardic Jews, and Zoroastrian Persians when Zionism came along which moved larged numbers of Jews to an already occupied Palestine.
The region of Palestine, also known as the Land of Israel and the Holy Land, has a complex and tumultuous history. It has been controlled by many kingdoms and powers, including Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel and Judah, the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great and his successors, the Hasmoneans, the Roman Empire, several Muslim caliphates, and the crusaders1.
Zionism, as an organized nationalist movement, is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. However, the history of Zionism began earlier and is intertwined with Jewish history and Judaism. The organizations of Hovevei Zion (lit. ‘Lovers of Zion’), held as the forerunners of modern Zionist ideals, were responsible for the creation of 20 Jewish towns in Palestine between 1870 and 18972. At the core of the Zionist ideology was the traditional aspiration for a Jewish national home through the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in Palestine, to be facilitated by the Jewish diaspora2.
It’s important to note that the history of this region is complex and multifaceted, involving a multitude of cultures, religions, and political movements. The movement of large numbers of Jews to Palestine under the banner of Zionism did indeed occur in a region that was already home to diverse groups of people12.
