Whenever the dominant power comes out of the West, the coastal region develops at the expense of the inner highlands. We see this with the Romans and the Crusaders: the second Crusader kingdom was confined to the coast. It is also the case at present: the descendants of the ancient Israelites (who came from the East), namely, the Jews coming in from the West in the twentieth century, currently dominate the land. They live mostly in the coastal plain that their ancestors avoided.