...sit in the Ottoman parliament of 1908.

Small groups of Western-educated Arab intellectuals and military officers within the Ottoman Empire form nationalist organizations demanding greater local autonomy.

The primary moving force behind this nascent Arab nationalist movement is the influential Young Turk organization known as the Committee of Union and Progress, a loose umbrella organization of officers and officials within the Ottoman Empire in opposition to the despotic policies of Sultan Abdülhamid.

The removal of the sultan in 1908 by the committee is widely supported by both Arab nationalists and Zionists.

The committee's program of constitutional reform and promised autonomy arouses hope of independence on the part of various nationalities throughout the Ottoman Empire.

The new government grants political rights to Jews.