The colonization of the Near and Middle East by the European powers began in the 19. and 20th century. With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War, Great Britain and France divided up the former Ottoman territories between them. In the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, the United Kingdom and France agreed on the division of the Middle East. This was followed by regional uprisings against British and French rule, such as in Syria and Iraq in 1920, where the uprising was put down by military means. In Palestine, there was a popular uprising against the British colonial power from 1936-1939. Mezalim research is of particular importance here because, on the one hand, the massacres committed against the Muslim population have not been sufficiently researched and, on the other, colonial rule challenged the social basis of the Middle East.
Contact us
Ferhat Avşar
Head of NO & MO
f.avsar@mezalim.org