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from wikipedia

Agricultural settlements
Main articles: Mikveh Israel Settlement, Bilu, and Hovevei Zion

The first aliyah: Biluim used to wear the traditional Arab headdress, the kaffiyehIn the late 1870s, Jewish philanthropists such as the Montefiores and the Rothschilds, responded to the persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe by sponsoring agricultural settlements for Russian Jews in Palestine. The Jews who migrated in this period have become known in Zionist history as the First Aliyah.[16] Aliyah is a Hebrew word meaning "ascent," referring to the act of spiritually "ascending" to the Holy Land.

Founded in 1878, Petah Tikva was the first Zionist settlement.

Rishon LeZion was founded on 31 July 1882 by a group of ten members of Hovevei Zion from Kharkov (today's Ukraine). The land was owned by Tzvi Leventine and was purchased by the "Pioneers of Jewish Settlement Committee" that was formed in Jaffa, the port of arrival for many of the immigrants to the area.

In 1890 Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, was inhabited by about 520,000 people, mostly Muslims and Christian Arabs?but including 20-25,000 Jews.