Guys, you need to read between the lines ^^

It was a desert (compared to developed countries), the return of the Jews have already started from decades before, and in Israel (Palestine was a name given by Roman Empire to humiliate the Jews because in the history before, there was the Philistines in Aza (Gaza) people who attacked Jews every times...) there was already commerce between Arabs and Jews, there was peace btw, but in many place of Israel, it was a desert really, buildings where primitive, it was a very simple civilization, nothing compared to how it was in Europe for example, in that sense it was a desert 😉