1925 Jewish National Fund Map of Jewish Lands in Palestine

This c. 1925 Jewish National Fund Zionist map of Jewish land in Palestine highlights the Jewish National Fund's (JNF) push to acquire land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. Areas shaded black indicate land owned by the JNF where it established Jewish settlements. Although unclear from reading the map, the JNF likely founded many of the smaller settlements identified. Major cities outside the areas are identified, including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, and Haifa. The JNF, founded as part of the early 20th-century Zionist movement, played a critical role in establishing Tel Aviv. Major highways (and possibly railroads) are illustrated as well.

Jewish Land Purchases in Palestine

The Talmud mentions the religious duty of settling the Land of Israel, even going so far as to allow the lifting of certain religious restrictions of Sabbath observance to further this goal. No foreigners were allowed to buy land in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire, by policy until 1856 and in practice until 1867. The Ottomans opposed Jewish self-rule in Palestine, out of fear that this might lead them to lose control of the region. The British closed all sale of land in Palestine after taking control in 1918, only to reopen it in 1920. Between the 1880s and the 1930s, because of a preference for unoccupied, inexpensive land, most Jewish land purchases fell in the coastal plain, the Jordan Valley, the Jezreel Valley, and, to a lesser extent, Galilee. Most land purchased in the 1930s was bought from small landowners.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for and published by the Jewish National Fund c. 1925. Three examples are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the institutional collections at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.