From 1831 to 1841 , Palestine was under the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty of Egypt . During this period , the town suffered an earthquake as well as the destruction of the Muslim quarter in 1834 by Egyptian troops , apparently as a reprisal for the murder of a favored loyalist of Ibrahim Pasha . In 1841 , Bethlehem came under Ottoman rule once again and remained so until the end of World War I. Under the Ottomans , Bethlehem 's inhabitants faced unemployment , compulsory military service , and heavy taxes , resulting in mass emigration , particularly to South America . An American missionary in the 1850s reported a population of under 4,000 , nearly all of whom belonged to the Greek Church . He also noted that a lack of water crippled the town 's growth
an earthquake
Galilee earthquake of 1837
Bethlehem