The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 113)

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The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 113)

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97
imports were consumed by foreigners and the local “upper class.”*? From 1882
onwards, the rapid increase in imports reflected the growing number of Jewish
settlers,’ the increasing wealth of the local “upper class,” especially those
involved in the export trade, but also included “middle-class” urban dwellers and
villagers to the extent of benefits accruing to some from auxiliary activities
associated with the export trade and the general economic expansion.
As Scholch has shown, exports exceeded imports for the period 1856-1882,
and thus alleviated the trade deficit of Greater Syria.® Palestine’s trade surplus
continued to the turn of the century, after which imports exceeded exports.*° This
trade deficit was offset by migrant remittances, pilgrims’ spending, and transfers to
the Jewish and other religious communities.®’
Besides the growth in trade, another noticeable change in this sector, albeit
relatively small, was the establishment of banks and the building of railroads, both
of which reflected the penetration of European capital into Palestine. Foreign
investment in Palestine was part of the general flow of European investment in the
Ottoman Empire that, in turn, was part of the intensified European export of
capital in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
83Scholch, 108.
*Owen, Middle East, 265.
Scholch, 106.
%Qwen, Middle East, 265, Table 68; and Issawi, “Trade of Jaffa,” 50-1, Table
Owen, Middle East, 248, 265-6.
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The Dispossession of the Peasantry

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المنشئ

Riyad Mousa

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