The Holy City of Jerusalem has been in the possession of the Albanians from 1831 to 1840. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, though with the June 10, 1826 massacre, he thought that this would end the power of the janissaries, where the Albanians had the dominant positions. He could not foresee that one day, eight years later, the Albanians would again be the most serious threat of the throne and that unless Europe stopped them, the army of Muhammad Ali, of this greate Albanian soldier, would have been triumphant in Istanbul.
Muhammad Ali had long been frustrated by military expeditions in Arabia and Greece and achieving victories on account of Sultan Selim and Mahmoud II. He began the expedition to Palestine and Syria for his account. Muhammad Ali's military troops consisted of Albanians.
Muhammad conquered Palestine and Syria with ease. The only resistance was in the harbor town of Acra, which eventually is surrendered on May 27, 1832. The Jerusalem had been occupied since December 1831. |
| Muhammad Ali of Egypt |
After the fall of Acra, Mehmet Ali's army marched towards Anatolia.
"The Albanian conquest 1830-40" is called Chapter 36 of the eighth part, "Empire", of the "Jerusalem" biography, where the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore describes the entrance of Albanians to the holy city. "... the army marched through the city same as happy and contented Jerusalem citizens, celebrating with lights, bouncing and street music. For five days, Muslims, Greeks, Franciscans, Armenians and even Jews were in binge."
Why did so many residents of the city rejoice from the arrival of the Albanians? For more than 30 years, Jerusalem was squeezed by Abdullah Pasha, the nephew of Butcher, named Mustafa the Criminal and Haim Fahri.
With Ibrahim as governor of Syria and Israel, the possessions belonging to Albanians took the form of an empire. He shook Jerusalem's Muslims when he replaced the hassock with the European chair, but especially with the wine drinking openly by himself and everyone else that was now allowed.
The son of Muhammad, who had won the nickname "Ruddy" because of his reddish beard, as long as he stayed in Jerusalem, was careful to implement equality before the law in all races. He eased the oppression of Jews and Christians: they could ride the streets and wear clothes as Muslims also wore, and they did not payed anymore the jizaya tax.
Ibrahim invited Europeans to establish consulates in Jerusalem and for the first time since the Crusades allowed the church bells to ring.
In 1838, Muhammad Ali told to Britain and France that he would declare the independence of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. France supported it, but it was Britain who decided.
It ruined the status quo of the Ottoman Empire. Russia had its intentions within the Russian Empire. In Istanbul the Turkish commander, Hafiz Pasha, assured Sultan Mahmoud II that he was able to defeat the "Egyptian" army of Albanians.
The European powers and the British government intervened energetically, agreeing with Austria, Prussia and Russia to sign the London Convention. The convention offered to Muhammad Ali the inherited rule of Egypt, as part of the Ottoman Empire, as an obligation to withdraw from Syria, Jerusalem, the coastal regions and Lebanon.
Muhammad Ali originally hesitated, believing that he had the support of France, which costed so much for him because the French support never arrived, as British naval forces moved toward Syria, Jerusalem and Alexandria.
Muhammad agreed with the terms of the Convention. On November 27, 1840, Albanians fled from Jerusalem and Palestine, the lands had been occupied by the British dictate until the end of World War II.