Which event was a significant factor in the first major wave of MENA immigration to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s?

The first major wave of immigration from the Middle East and North Africa to the United States occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many people from areas including present-day Syria and Lebanon left the Ottoman Empire. Political and religious oppression, along with economic hardship, helped drive their departure. The Gulf War, Iranian Revolution, and Suez Crisis all occurred much later.

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