(pg. 166)
The 1929 Riots
* Relative quiet persisted in Palestine throughout most of the rest of the 1920‘s, due in
part to the new High Commissioner, Herbert Plumer. The Yishuv continued to grow.
* The Arab nationalist movement, however, was tending toward greater extremism
under the leadership of arch anti-semite and Nazi collaborator Haj Amin al Husayni,
Mufti of Jerusalem, who avoided any form of compromise and dialogue with the
Yishuv in favor of religiously-fueled rabble-rousing and incitement to violence.
* The results of the 1929 riots were damaging to the Yishuv, and from an Arab
standpoint, made the the conflict also a matter of religion.
Background Conditions
* The Kotel Affair: In September 1928, as Yom Kippur Eve prayers were beginning at
the Western Wall, worshippers placed chairs and customary screens between the men
and women present, precipitating emotional protests and demands from observing
sheiks that it be removed. Unless it was taken down, they said, they would not be
responsible for what happened. They claimed the worshippers were violating the
Ottoman status quo that forbade Jews from making any construction in the Western
Wall area, though such screens had been put up from time to time. When police
officers in riot gear were then sent in, a scuffle took place with worshippers and the
screen in question was destroyed.
* Al Husayni exploited the incident by distributing leaflets to Arabs in Palestine and
throughout the Arab world which claimed that the Jews were planning to take over the
Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. Of late, Muslims have claimed the Temple
Mount and Western Wall as holy sites, claiming Mohammed tethered his horse, al
Buraq, to the Western Wall before ascending to heaven via the Temple Mount.
(pg. 167)
* As tensions increased, local Arabs started to use the prayer area before the Western
Wall as a thorough fare for themselves and their animals, held noisy gatherings
nearby, and extended nearby buildings into the prayer area.
* During the fast of Tisha B'Av, several members of the Betar youth movement
assembled at the Wall shouting "the Wall is ours" and waving Zionist flags. The
members of Betar saw the Kotel as a national symbol that could not be given up.
* The next day saw reactionary Arab riots, and afterwards, open incitements to violence
in the Arab street from al Husayni, with the claim that the Temple Mount needed to be
protected from Jewish attempts to rebuild Solomon's temple.
* The Fourth Aliyah: the success of continued immigration and Yishuv growth terrified
native Arabs.
* The Anti-Zionist Policy of the New British High Commissioner: In 1928, John
Chancellor replaced Lord Plumer as High Commissioner. Chancellor believed that the
British should annul their commitments as illustrated in the Balfour Declaration, as
working toward building a Jewish National Home hurt the rest of Britain's interests in
the Middle East.
* Chancellor also believed in a policy of appeasement towards the Arabs, and to that
end, fired many of the Jewish officers in the British-run police and confiscated the
weapons given to the outlying Jewish settlements after the 1921 riots, claiming that
the Jews might turn their weapons against the Arabs.
(pg. 168)
* Holiday Leave for British Officials: many upper-level mandatory officials, including
the High Commissioner, travelled back to Britain for the summer of 1929, leaving a
ripe opportunity for disorder in their absence.
The Riots Erupt
* On Friday, August 23, 1929, one week after Tisha B’av, Arab worshippers stormed
away from their prayers and inflammatory sermons on the Temple Mount, and
proceeded to the Old City to murder Jews and loot their possessions. The Haganah
prevented them from also storming the New City.
* The Arab squatters of Dir Yassin and Bet Safafa villages south of Jerusalem attacked
the Jewish Neighborhoods of Talpiot and Mekor Hayim. Others attacked the
agricultural settlements on Jerusalem’s periphery: Moza, Atarot, Neveh Yaakov, and
Ramat Rachel.
* After a week of Arab bloodshed, 33 Jews were murdered, and many more injured.
* Until that point, Hebron had been the home to some 600 jews of the Old Yishuv, many
of whom of Sephardic descent and boasting of longstanding cordial relations with their
Arab neighbors. On the eve of the riots, Haganah emissaries warned the Hebron
Jewish community of possible violence and advised that they evacuate.
* The Jews of Hebron refused, claiming that they had a guarantee of protection from the
Arab notables of Hebron, and that their evacuation would hurt the feelings of their
neighbors for having been suspected by them of ill feelings.
* Many did not even live to regret their decision, as the Arabs of Hebron surpassed
previous Arab precedents for brutality as they unleashed an awesome pogrom, killing
more than 60 Jews, many of them women and children, and injuring tens.
* The Jewish quarter of Hebron was looted and destroyed, and the surviving Jews were
evacuated by the British to Jerusalem, bringing Jewish settlement in Hebron to an end
for more than forty years.
(pg. 169)
* The small Jewish community of Safed was also warned by the Haganah of impending
danger, but like the Jews of Hebron, refused to evacuate. 18 Jews were killed and
another 80 injured before the British gathered the survivors and sheltered them in the
local police station. The Safed Jewish community stood its ground in the end, and the
survivors returned to their houses.
* The Arabs of Haifa attempted to infiltrate the Jewish neighbor hood of Hadar
HaCarmel, but were repelled by the Haganah. Six Jews were killed in the melee.
* Muslim clergy incited Jaffa arabs to attack the Manshia quarter on their way to
terrorize Tel Aviv, but were held off by the Haganah and the British. Six jews were
murdered.
* Many small outlying agricultural settlements were left undefended, and during the
riots, Arab marauders burned down houses after the Jews escaped: Moza, Har Tuv,
Kfar Uriah, B’er Toviah, and Mishmar Ha’Emek.
* The few Jewish defenders of Hulda in the Judean plain held off hundreds of Arab
savages for hours, killing many of them until the British came to demand that the Jews
evacuate.
(pg. 171)
The Consequences of the 1929 Riots for the Jewish Community
* About 130 Jews were murdered and more than 300 injured, whole communities were
destroyed, and many formerly-Jewish areas abandoned.
* Many Jews chose to abandon what the British called the “Jewish” and “Arab” quarters
of Jerusalem’s old city, which were the heart of the Old YIshuv. The Jewish community
and yeshiva of Hebron were transplanted to Jerusalem. Many more Jews left Jaffa for
Tel Aviv.
* The Palestine Relief Fund: (Not to be confused with the modern-day, anarchist-run
fund of the same name.) After the riots, diaspora Jews rallied to help the Yishuv
rebuild and improve the security situation.
* Strengthening the Haganah: the British police and military could not be relied upon
to protect the Yishuv. The Haganah could handle local Arab flare-ups, but could not
repel attacks on a national scale.
* From that point on, the Haganah would be subordinate to the Jewish National Council
and the Zionist Administration, instead of reporting to the Histadrut, as it had until now.
The Haganah would also be commanded by a national board of six trustees, three
from within the Labor Bloc, and three from without. Prominent members included
Eliyahu Golomb, Dov Hoz, and Shaul Meyeroff (later Avigur).
(pg. 172)
* The Haganah accepted more members and raised the level of training it offered, and
expanded operations to beyond the borders of the settlements.
* The Haganah also started to purchase arms from foreign suppliers, like Belgium and
Italy. Arms were smuggled in via Jaffa port. The Yishuv also operated under-cover
factories for grenades, explosives, and rifles in the vicinity of Tel Aviv.
* The changes in the structure of the Haganah were not without controversy. In 1931,
Avraham Tehomi, who already had worked as an assassin for the Zionist
establishment, left the Haganah to form the “Haganah B,” claiming the Haganah was
not reacting strongly enough against growing Arab threats. The new “Irgun” believed in
striking back with severity. The first years of the Irgun were dedicated to recruitment,
seeing many volunteers from the citizen’s bloc.
The Consequences of the 1929 Riots for the British Authorities
* British reinforcements were brought in from Egypt and Malta in order to quell Arab
unrest. Many Arabs were arrested, tried, and punished.
* The Shaw Commission: The British established a Commission of Inquiry whose
purpose was to determine the cause of the rioting and to propose policies which would
prevent further violence from erupting. Sir Walter Shaw chaired the Commission,
which delivered its report in March 1930.
(pg. 173)
* Conclusions of the Report: “The outbreak in Jerusalem on 23 August was from the
beginning an attack by Arabs on Jews for which no excuse in the form of earlier
murders by Jews has been established.”
* “The fundamental cause, without which in our opinion disturbances either would not
occurred or would not have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of
animosity and hostility towards the Jews consequent upon the disappointment of their
political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future.”
* Other causal factors leading to racial tension in Palestine included Jewish immigration,
acquisition of lands, and settlement. Many Arabs were of the belief that the Jews fully
intended to remove all Arabs from Palestine.
* Recommendations of the Commission: Jewish immigration to Palestine should be
limited to that which is appropriate considering the country’s economic strength, and
quotas should take into account Arab feelings.
* Jewish land purchases from Arabs should be regulated.
* The arabs should be granted a degree of autonomy, just like the Jews have the
Jewish Agency as their representative to the British Authorities.
* The authority of the Zionist Organization in Palestine should be revoked.
* British forces and police presence should be increased.
* Reactions to the Shaw Commission: the Arabs greeted the findings of the Shaw
Commission with happiness and enthusiasm, as they saw it as legitimizing their
grievances against the Jewish National Home in Palestine.
* The Jewish community saw the findings as one-sided and representing a British
withdrawal from the guarantees of the Balfour Declaration.
* The Jewish Agency sent an official communication to the British Government
reminding it that the the riots were the immediate result of Arab nationalist-religious
incitement, not Jewish immigration and settlement.
* Central British figures, like Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour, who were supporters of
Zionism, defended the Shaw Commission's findings.
(pg. 174)
* The Mandate Commission of the League of Nations audited the Shaw Report and
claimed that it repudiated the commitments the British Government made in the
Balfour Declaration, and blamed the British for not anticipating and preventing the
riots.
* The Hope-Simpson Commission: after strong negative reactions to the findings of
the Shaw Commission among prominent British politicians and the leadership of the
Yishuv, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord S.Y. Webb, 1st Baron
Passfield, decided to send a second investigative committee to Palestine to ascertain
the economic conditions. For this task he chose Sir John Hope-Simpson.
* Lord Passfield had a reputation for being an anti-Zionist, and sought to provide a
“scientific basis” for eliminating the policies of the Balfour Declaration. The HopeSimpson report was delivered to him in the summer of 1930, and published in October
1930.
* Findings of the report: "Actually the result of the purchase of land in Palestine by the
Jewish National Fund has been that land became extra-territorial. It ceases to be land
from which the Arab can gain any advantage either now or at any time in the future.
Not only can he never hope to lease or cultivate it, but, by the stringent provisions of
the lease of the Jewish National Fund, he is deprived forever from employment on the
land."
* Considering then current Arab work practices, there remained no lands in Palestine fit
for agricultural settlement by new Jewish immigrants.
* Recommendations of the Commission: in what was seen as a victory for the antiZionist policies of Chancellor and Passfield, the Hope-Simpson report justified the
findings of the Shaw Commission.
* Jewish immigration to Palestine should cease completely if it will lead to further Arab
unemployment. This recommendation did not include immigrants with private capital.
* The authorities should crack down on illicit Jewish immigration to Palestine and deport
illegal Jewish laborers.
* The government should parcel out among Arabs 3.5 million dunam of lands slated for
agricultural development, and until that is completed, prohibit land sales to Jews.
* The authorities should build a national irrigation system and water carrier, and act to
strengthen the Arab agricultural market.
(pg. 175)
The Passfield White Paper (1930)
* Concurrent with the publishing of the Hope-Simpson report, Lord Passfield issued the
second White Paper in October 1930, which established Britain’s new anti-Zionist
policy in Palestine.
* Text of the White Paper: the British mandate has obligations toward both the Jewish
people and the Arab population.
* There is a necessity to set up a “legislative body” to reflect the mixed composition of
Palestine’s population.
* Jewish immigration to Palestine must be limited to that which is economically
sustainable, as Jewish immigration and settlement cause Arab unemployment.
* Land sales to Jews must cease until a program for developing the Arab agricultural
market is implemented. Jewish land acquisitions must be authorized by the British
authorities. Jewish settlement must make do with whatever lands it already
possesses.
* Consequences of the White Paper: an obvious attempt to freeze the development of
the Jewish National Home through limiting immigration and settlement.
* Evading the responsibilities of the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate.
* With the publishing of the White Paper, anti-Zionism went from being a position of the
opposition in the British parliament to a position of the government. Lord Passfield, a
socialist of the Labor Party, viewed the Arabs as the oppressed and exploited victims
of the rich and educated Jews.
* Reactions to the White Paper: vociferous protests that united streams from all
across the Jewish political spectrum.
* The Jewish Agency published a rebuttal to the White Paper, outlining its various
logical and factual flaws, and showed that the Jews had not in any way deprived Arabs
of their livelihoods, but had rather done more to improve conditions for Arabs.
(pg. 176)
* For example, the Jewish Agency pointed out that the report cited health problems
among the Arab population along with Arab complaints of "the enormous influx of
Jewish doctors into the country.”
* The head of the Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann, resigned his position and
accused the British of betraying the Balfour Declaration and obligations of the
Palestine Mandate. Weizmann also regretted his long-time support of Britain, which in
his opinion was now wrong.
* Many prominent British personalities, including pro-Zionist members of parliament and
journalists, were incensed by the government’s new policy, claiming that Britain was
now shirking its international obligations and tarnishing its image as a country which
championed law and justice.
* The MacDonald Letter: Under siege from the reactions at home and abroad to the
White Paper, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald convened a committee of British
ministers to communicate with representatives of the Zionist Administration and iron
out disagreements.
* In February 1931, MacDonald sent Chaim Weizmann a letter that attempted to clarify
Britain's Palestine Policy.
* The Palestine Mandate obligated Britain towards the entire Jewish people, and not just
the Yishuv.
* Britain was still intending to live up to its obligation to build the Jewish National Home.
* “His Majesty’s Government did not prescribe and do not contemplate any stoppage or
prohibition of Jewish immigration in any of its categories.”
* Land sales to Jews would not be prohibited, but merely monitored so as not to harm
Arab agricultural interests. Similarly, the truthfulness of Arab claims of Jewish
misappropriations of lands would be investigated.
* Consequences of the MacDonald Letter: effectively nullified the Passfield White
Paper, and reaffirmed Britain’s commitments in the Balfour Declaration.
(page 177)
* The Yishuv, the Zionist movement, and Britain continued to cooperate, resulting in
continued Jewish immigration (the Fifth Aliyah) and the appointment of the pro-Zionist
Arthur Wauchope as the new High Commissioner.
* Palestinian Arabs, however, met the letter with trepidation, as it showed them that the
“International Jewish Conspiracy” could dictate its policies to the British, or that the
British were the primary force behind the Jewish National Home. This set the stage for
even wider-scale Arab violence in the ensuing years.