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To 1939
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British Mandate—Transjordan
in the east intended* as a
place for Arabs
Palestine west of the Jordan
River—At the San Remo
conference 1920 (Treaty of
Sevres) the Balfour
Declaration was honored and
Jewish people were
encouraged to move here
(Reminder: French in Syria,
Britain in Iraq, Ibn Saud in
Saudi Arabia, Reza Khan in
Iran…)
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Rising Hostilities 1920s: Arabs were bitter about the
growing number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine
Jewish people bought farmland from Arabs and hired mainly
Jewish workers, effectively pushing Arabs out of Palestine
Violence began to spread—mostly Arabs attacking Jews
Britain stepped in to quell the violence but gave the
appearance of helping the Jews
Britain sent multiple commissions of enquiry to determine
the source of violence and try to set up solutions
o British White Paper of 1922
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Between 1930-1935 the Jewish population doubled
By the end of 1939, Jews made up 1/3 of the population of
Palestine
The newer immigrants were fleeing persecution from
Europe. They were highly skilled and often wealthy
Haiffa (see your map) was the end of oil pipelines from Iraq
to the Mediterranean (owning this land = $)
The average Jewish worker received 145% more in wages
than his Arab counterpart
The trend of Arab wages was decreasing 10% a year; Jewish
wages increased 10% a year
All of this led to severe resentment towards the Jews
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Great Arab Revolt 1936-1939
Began with Arabs attacking two Jews and Jews retaliating
with two Arab deaths
Arabs showed increased organization:
Arab demands:
o An end to Jewish immigration
o An end to transfers of land to Jewish owners
o A representative government based on democratic rules *
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* new: previously Arabs had refused democratic principles,
now felt it was time
Stats!
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More systematic than previous Arab Revolt (WWI, Feisal et. al):
o Arab Higher Committee formed as leadership
o Crops, pipelines, roads, transportation were destroyed
o Non-payment of taxes as a general strike
o Bring everyday life to a standstill
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Revolt was met with violence from the Jews
Much of the violence was against British officials, who of
course sent 20,000 men to suppress the revolt
Lord Robert Peel was sent to figure out what the mess was
all about
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The Peel Commission:
Divide Palestine into separate
states
Rejected by both sides—no
partial land ownership
The Arab Revolt violence
increased and involved
general strikes against all
businesses to kill the economy
British were unable to slow the
violence until 1939
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Effects of the Arab Revolt: greater unity among Arabs
convinced British to take their demands seriously, but also
resulted in loss of Arab lives
Issued the White Paper of 1939
o It is not British policy that Palestine should be a Jewish state
o Jewish immigration should be limited to 15,000 a year for 5 years
o In light of the treatment of Jews in Europe, they should accept
25,000 refugees
o Land transfer to Jews should be only restricted zones
o Palestine would be independent in 10 years-Arabs could determine
immigration restrictions.
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Rejected.
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The White Paper of 1939 coincided with Hitler’s invasion of
Poland and the start of WWII
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Arab countries tried to stay neutral but often sought alliance
with Axis powers—thinking maybe Germany & Friends could
save them from British imperialism and Zionism?
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The Grand Mufti (head Islamic law leader) of Jerusalem had
fled Palestine during the revolt, went to Europe and met
with Hitler
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Jews felt rejected by Britain—limits to immigration while the
Jews of Europe were being heavily persecuted and allowing
Arabs to decide on immigration
Jewish people in Palestine had no choice but to support
Britain in WWII—save Jews from Hitler
o Many Palestinian Jews even joined the British army
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Illegal immigration continued throughout the war—but the
British stuck to their principles
o Jews in Mauritius and the SS Struma (go down to “Sinking” on wiki)