Historical Background By kaykay11507 Dec 1, 640 Muslim Arabs seized power Dec 1, 1516 Ottoman Turks occupies Egypt, Syria, the Hijaz, and Iraq Dec 19, 1901 Romans ruled Palestine at the turn of the first millennium. Oct 22, 1917 British come and take ovver Israel Oct 31, 1918 Falll of the Ottoman Empire May 14, 1948 Israel was founded by the Jewish National Council