Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, very few Moroccan Jews migrated to Palestine. Although the spread of Zionism in Morocco began at the turn of the 20th century, only starting in 1948 was there significant Zionist emigration from Morocco. From 1947 to 1949 the Jewish Agency organized emigration, though it was illegal; prospective migrants caught attempting to cross the border into Algeria would be sent back. Clandestine migration through Algeria during the Palestine war led to the 1948 anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada in June.