As I understand, the Zionist movement started in the second half of the 19th century, during the time of Ottoman rule over Palestine. How did the Ottoman authorities respond to the thousands of Jews moving to Palestine and establishing communities?

by Xxxn00bpwnR69xxX
Zooasaurus

I'll try to answer your question, sorry if it doesn't satisfy you. In this answer, I'll adress primarily the Ottoman response and policy under Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1908)

The Ottoman Empire was more or less ambivalent towards Jewish immigration. Ottoman advisers and officials, including Sultan Abdülhamid II worried that the Zionist movement might eventually seek the secession of Palestine and the consequences of having a large influx of Jews of foreign nationals. in 1881, a year after the first aliyah (Jewish immigration), the Porte announced that:

[Jewish] immigrants will be able to settle as scattered groups throughout the Ottoman Empire, excluding Palestine. They must submit to all the laws of the Empire and become Ottoman subjects

However, starting in mid-1882, the Porte started to impose harsher restrictions on Jewish immigrants due to the actions of Hovevei Tzion (Lovers of Zion), the same group that encouraged the first aliyah in the 1880s. They called for a Jewish national revival in Palestine, exaggerated their numbers in European Jewish press, contacted prominent Ottoman Jews and send various delegations claiming to bore a petition speaking of the "hundreds of thousands" of potential Jewish immigrant. What's more, the members of Hovevei just like most Jewish immigrants were mostly of Russian origin, and the Porte can't allow a Russian-educated and possibly Russian-inspired nationalist movement to grow, especially in the heart of the Arab provinces or the Empire which was free from European nationalism.

On June 1882, the Porte ordered the mutassarif (administrator) of Jerusalem to forbid any foreign Jews to land on the port of four Holy Cities (Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias) and instead direct them to Jaffa or Haifa. Later on, the Porte contacted the mutassarif of Jerusalem on instructions to handle Jews that comes to Jerusalem. First, the Porte is concerned on preventing Jewish immigrants from settling in Palestine, and so pilgrims and bussinessmen were allowed to stay with the maximum length of their stay limited to one month. Second, the restrictions were primarily aimed against Russian Jews, Jews from other countries, who in any event were arriving in much smaller numbers, were of less concern. However, this restrictions had flaws. For example, Russian Jews could arrive in Istanbul, obtain travel permits, and arrive in Palestine with valid papers. The Porte managed to seal this loophole and tighten the restrictions in 1883, but another loophole appeared, where Jews from all countries, including Russia could always enter Palestine claiming to be a pilgrim and bussinessmen and just stay longer. The Porte recognized this, and after further discussions with the mutassarif, on 1884 the restrictions now also include Jewish bussinessmen of all countries, and Jewish pilgrims must have their passports properly visaed by Ottoman consuls abroad, on arrival they were to hand over a deposit guaranteeing their departure and leave after a month. However, another problem arose, as now the Great Powers generally resisted the restrictions imposed by the Porte and eventually in 1888, the Porte relented and permitted Jews to settle in Palestine, provided that they arrived singly, and not en masse. Later on in 1893, the Great Powers is also able to extract another concession from the Porte regarding land purchase. Foreign Jews, legally resident in Palestine, would be permitted to buy land, on condition that they could prove their legal status in the country and undertook not to let “illegal Jews” live on their land (if urban) or set up a colony on it (if rural)

In the 1890s, administrative difficulties started to arise in Palestine because of conflicting rules from the Great Powers that supports immigration and the Porte who's actively trying to resist it. The 1893 land rules was deemed unsatisfactory by the mutassarif and demanded a more precise instructions, questions were raised over what buildings could be constructed on Jewish land and colonies to accommodate the needs of a growing population and agriculture, and problems of new entry loopholes appeared. Because of these problems, in 1898 the Porte decided to reenact the rule of 1884, restricting all Jewish entry except for pilgrims. This resulted in outcries from Great Power embassies in attempt to revert the 1884 rule. Later in June 1900 the Porte tried to stop Jews from disembarking at Constantinople, requesting the Great Powers to invite their respective shipping companies not to take aboard Jews intending to settle in the Empire. The Powers' response was of course unenthusiastic and keep pressuring the Porte on lifting the 1884 rule and lighten the restrictions, while the mutassarif of Jerusalem keep writing on their administrative difficulties. Pressured by both the Great Powers and the mutassarif, the Porte send a commision to investigate problems on Palestine.

This resulted in another change of rules. On Autumn 1900 the Porte reverted the 1884 rule and introduced a new one in its stead. As from 28 January 1901, Ottoman and foreign Jews “long resident” in Palestine and those “whose residence is not prohibited” were to enjoy the same rights as other Ottoman subjects and they could buy lands and build on it under the provisions of the Land Code, though the prohibition of not aiding "illegal Jews" is still in place. Another significant change is the enactment of "Red Paper" policy. Jewish settlers are no longer required to pay a cash deposit as a guarantee that they would depart after one month. Instead, all Jews, including Ottoman subjects, were to surrender their papers on entry and, in exchange, were to receive a residence permit allowing them to stay in Palestine for three months. To differentiate it from other documents the permit was coloured red, hence the name of the policy. It was to be handed back by the pilgrims on departure so that a check could be kept on Jews visiting Palestine. Detailed statistics were to be compiled every month to enable the authorities to expel pilgrims whose permits had expired. Officials who failed to enforce these orders would be severely punished. These new policies will remain in place until the CUP, who were more tolerant of Jewish immigration take control

Sources

"The Arabs and Zionism before World War One" by Neville J. Mandel

"From Ambivalence to Hostility, the Arabic Newspaper Filastin and Zionism, 1891-1914" by Emanuel Beška