The 1920 Nebi Musa riots or 1920 Jerusalem riots took place in British-controlled part of
Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British, French and Arab military administration over Levantine provinces of the former Ottoman Empire between 1917 and 1920, set up on 23 October 1917 following the Sinai and Pale ...
between Sunday, 4 April, and Wednesday, 7 April 1920 in and around the
Old City of Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem ( he, הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, translit=ha-ir ha-atiqah; ar, البلدة القديمة, translit=al-Balda al-Qadimah; ) is a walled area in East Jerusalem.
The Old City is traditionally divided into ...
. Five Jews and four Arabs were killed, and several hundred were injured.
[ The riots coincided with and are named after the Nebi Musa festival, which was held every year on ]Easter Sunday
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, and followed rising tensions in Arab-Jewish relations. The events came shortly after the Battle of Tel Hai
The Battle of Tel Hai was fought on 1 March 1920 between Arab irregulars and a Jewish defensive paramilitary force protecting the village of Tel Hai in Northern Galilee. In the course of the event, a Shiite Arab militia, accompanied by Bedouin fro ...
and the increasing pressure on Arab nationalists in Syria in the course of the Franco-Syrian War
The Franco-Syrian War took place during 1920 between the Hashemite rulers of the newly established Arab Kingdom of Syria and France. During a series of engagements, which climaxed in the Battle of Maysalun, French forces defeated the forces of t ...
.
Speeches were given by Arab religious leaders during the festival (in which large numbers of Muslims traditionally gathered for a religious procession), which included slogans referencing Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
immigration and previous confrontations around outlying Jewish villages in the Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
. The trigger which turned the procession into a riot is not known with certainty.
The British military administration
Military administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and armed services involved in managing the armed forces. It describes the processes that take place within military organisations outsid ...
of Palestine was criticized for withdrawing troops from inside Jerusalem and because it was slow to regain control. As a result of the riots, trust among the British, Jews, and Arabs eroded. One consequence was that the Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
increased moves towards an autonomous infrastructure and security apparatus parallel to that of the British administration.
In its wake, sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
s of 82 villages around the city and Jaffa, claiming to represent 70% of the population, issued a document protesting the demonstrations against the Jews. This condemnation may have been procured with bribes.Tom Segev
Tom Segev ( he, תום שגב; born March 1, 1945) is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives.
Biography
Segev was born in Jerus ...
,
When Zionism was an Arab cause
, at ''Haaretz'', 6 April 2012. Notwithstanding the riots, the Palestinian Jewish community held elections for the Assembly of Representatives on 19 April 1920 among Jews everywhere in Palestine except Jerusalem, where they were delayed to 3 May. The riots also preceded the San Remo conference
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution pas ...
which was held from 19 to 26 April 1920 at which the fate of the Middle East was to be decided.
Background
The contents and proposals of both the Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
of 1917 and Paris Peace Conference, 1919
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, which later concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, were the subject of intensive discussion by both Zionist and Arab delegations, and the process of the negotiations were widely reported in both communities. In particular, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, led to an undertaking by the victorious powers, predominantly Great Britain and France, to assume a 'holy mission of civilization' in the power vacuum of the Middle East. Under the Balfour Declaration, a homeland for the Jewish people was to be created in Palestine. The principle of self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
affirmed by the League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
was not to be applied to Palestine, given the foreseeable rejection by the people of Zionism, which the British sponsored. These post-World War I arrangements both for Palestine and other Arab societies led to a 'radicalization' of the Arab world.
On 1 March 1920, the death of Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (21 November 1880 – 1 March 1920, he, יוֹסֵף טְרוּמְפֶּלְדוֹר , russian: Иосиф Владимирович (Вольфович) Трумпельдор ) was an early Zionist a ...
in the Battle of Tel Hai
The Battle of Tel Hai was fought on 1 March 1920 between Arab irregulars and a Jewish defensive paramilitary force protecting the village of Tel Hai in Northern Galilee. In the course of the event, a Shiite Arab militia, accompanied by Bedouin fro ...
at the hands of a Shiite
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
group from Southern Lebanon, caused deep concern among Jewish leaders, who made numerous requests to the OETA administration to address the Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...
's security and forbid a pro-Syrian public rally. However, their fears were largely discounted by the Chief Administrative Officer General Louis Bols
Lieutenant General Sir Louis Jean Bols (23 November 1867 – 13 September 1930) was a British Army General, he served as Edmund Allenby's Third Army Chief of Staff on the Western Front and Sinai and Palestine campaigns of World War I. Fro ...
, Military Governor Ronald Storrs
Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs (19 November 1881 – 1 November 1955) was an official in the British Foreign and Colonial Office. He served as Oriental Secretary in Cairo, Military Governor of Jerusalem, Governor of Cyprus, and Governor of No ...
and General Edmund Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...
, despite a warning from the head of the Zionist Commission
Zionist Commission for Palestine was a commission chaired by Chaim Weizmann, president of the British Zionist Federation following British promulgation of the pro-Zionist, Balfour Declaration. The Commission was formed in March 1918 and went to ...
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
that a "pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
is in the air", supported by assessments available to Storrs.[, pp. 127–144.] Communiqués had been issued about foreseeable troubles among Arabs, and between Arabs and Jews. To Weizmann and the Jewish leadership, these developments were reminiscent of instructions that Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n generals had issued on the eve of pogroms. In the meantime, local Arab expectations had been raised to a pitch by the declaration of the Syrian Congress on 7 March of the independence of Greater Syria in the Kingdom of Syria
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* Kingdom (British TV series), ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 200 ...
, with Faisal as its king, that included the British-controlled territory within its claimed domain. On 7 and 8 March, demonstrations took place in all cities of Palestine, shops were closed and many Jews were attacked. Attackers carried slogans such as "Death to Jews" or "Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs!"[, quoting the official history of the Hagana]
Jewish leaders requested that OETA authorise the arming of the Jewish defenders to make up for the lack of adequate British troops. Although this request was declined, Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
, together with Pinhas Rutenberg
Pinhas Rutenberg (russian: Пётр Моисеевич Рутенберг, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; he, פנחס רוטנברג: 5 February 1879 – 3 January 1942) was a Russian Jewish engineer, businessman, and political activist. He pla ...
, led an effort to openly train Jewish volunteers in self-defense, an effort of which the Zionist Commission kept the British informed. Many of the volunteers were members of the Maccabi sports club and some of them were veterans of the Jewish Legion
The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during ...
. Their month of training largely consisted of calisthenics
Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) ( /ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as standing, graspi ...
and hand to hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...
with sticks.[ By the end of March, about 600 were said to be performing military drills daily in Jerusalem.][, p. 63; extract from a private letter dated 30 March 1920, citing CZA L3/27.] Jabotinsky and Rutenberg also began organizing the collection of arms.[
The Nebi Musa festival was an annual spring Muslim festival that began on the Friday before ]Good Friday
Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...
and included a procession to the Nebi Musa shrine (tomb of Moses) near Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
. It had apparently existed since the time of Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
. Arab educator and essayist Khalil al-Sakakini
Khalil Sakakini ( ar, خليل السكاكيني; 23 January 1878 – 13 August 1953) was a Palestinian Orthodox Christian teacher, scholar, poet, and Arab nationalist.
Biography
Khalil Sakakini was born into a Palestinian Christian family ...
described how tribes and caravans would come with banners and weapons.[ The Ottoman Turks usually deployed thousands of soldiers and even artillery to keep order in the narrow streets of Jerusalem during the Nebi Musa procession. However, Storrs issued a warning to Arab leaders, but deployed only 188 policemen.
]
4–7 April 1920, Old City
By 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, 4 April 1920, 60,000–70,000 Arabs had congregated in the city square for the Nebi Musa festival, and groups had been attacking Jews in the Old City's alleys for over an hour. A speech marked by anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...
rhetoric was delivered by Amin al-Husayni
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notab ...
from the balcony of the Arab Club. Musa al-Husayni
Musa Kazim Pasha al-Husayni ( ar, موسى كاظم الحسيني, ) (1853 in Jerusalem – 27 March 1934) held a series of senior posts in the Ottoman administration. He belonged to the prominent al-Husayni family and was mayor of Jerusalem (1 ...
, his uncle, the mayor, was also with him and spoke from the municipal building's balcony in similar terms. According however to testimony given by Fayyad al-Bakri to the Palin Commission, the rioting began when the Hebron banner he was holding while standing in Jaffa Street outside the Crédit Lyonnais Bank, was spat on by a Jew and when the latter was pushed away, Jewish bystanders began throwing stones
"Throwing Stones" is a song by the Grateful Dead. It appears on their 1987 album '' In the Dark''. It was also released as a single, with a B-side of "When Push Comes to Shove".
The song is based loosely on the nursery rhyme Ring Around the R ...
.
The editor of the newspaper '' Suriya al-Janubia'' (''Southern Syria
Southern Syria (سوريا الجنوبية, ''Suriyya al-Janubiyya'') is the southern part of the Syria region, roughly corresponding to the Southern Levant. Typically it refers chronologically and geographically to the southern part of Ottom ...
''), Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref ( ar, عارف العارف, 1892–1973), variously spelled as Arif el Arif, 'Arif el-'Arif, etc., was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician. He served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s during the Jordanian annex ...
, another Arab Club member, delivered a speech on horseback at the Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...
. The nature of his speech is disputed. According to Benny Morris
Benny Morris ( he, בני מוריס; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. He is a member of t ...
, he said "If we don't use force against the Zionists and against the Jews, we will never be rid of them", while Bernard Wasserstein
Bernard Wasserstein (born 22 January 1948 in London) is a British historian.
Early life
Bernard Wasserstein was born in London on 22 January 1948. Wasserstein's father, Abraham Wasserstein (1921–1995), born in Frankfurt, was Professor of Class ...
wrote "he seems to have co-operated with the police, and there is no evidence that he actively instigated violence". In fact, Wasserstein adds, "Zionist intelligence reports of this period are unanimous in stressing that he spoke repeatedly against violence".
The crowd reportedly shouted "Independence! Independence!" and "Palestine is our land, the Jews are our dogs!" Arab police joined in applause, and violence started.[, p. 123.] The local Arab population ransacked the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The Torath Chaim Yeshiva was raided, and Torah scroll
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
s were torn and thrown on the floor, and the building then set alight. During the next three hours, 160 Jews were injured.
Khalil al-Sakakini
Khalil Sakakini ( ar, خليل السكاكيني; 23 January 1878 – 13 August 1953) was a Palestinian Orthodox Christian teacher, scholar, poet, and Arab nationalist.
Biography
Khalil Sakakini was born into a Palestinian Christian family ...
witnessed the eruption of violence in the Old City:
:" riot broke out, the people began to run about and stones were thrown at the Jews. The shops were closed and there were screams. … I saw a Zionist soldier covered in dust and blood. … Afterwards, I saw one Hebronite approach a Jewish shoeshine boy, who hid behind a sack in one of the wall's comers next to Jaffa Gate, and take his box and beat him over the head. He screamed and began to run, his head bleeding and the Hebronite left him and returned to the procession. … The riot reached its zenith. All shouted, "Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
's religion was born with the sword". … I immediately walked to the municipal garden. … my soul is nauseated and depressed by the madness of humankind."
The army imposed night curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
on Sunday night and arrested several dozen rioters, but on Monday morning they were allowed to attend morning prayers and were then released. Arabs continued to attack Jews and break into their homes, especially in Arab-majority mixed buildings.
On Monday, as disturbances grew worse, the Old City was sealed off by the army and no one was allowed to exit the area. Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
was declared, but looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
, burglary
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
, rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
, and murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
continued. Several homes were set on fire, and tombstones were shattered. British soldiers found that the majority of illicit weapons were concealed on the bodies of Arab women. On Monday evening, the soldiers were evacuated from the Old City, a step described in the Palin Report as "an error of judgment". Even with martial law, it took the British authorities another 4 days to restore order.
The Old City's Jewish community had no training or weapons, and Jabotinsky's men had found themselves outside the walled Old City, and shut out by British soldiers. Two volunteers were able to enter the Jewish Quarter disguised as medical personnel to organize self-defense – using rocks and boiling water.
Five Jews and four Arabs died in the riots. Two-hundred and sixteen Jews were injured, 18 critically, and 23 Arabs, one critically. About 300 Jews were evacuated from the Old City.
Accusations of British complicity
In Hebrew the incidents were described as ''meoraot'', connoting targeted attacks reminiscent of what had often occurred especially in Russia, whereas Palestinian Arabs referred to them as an heroic witness to an 'Arab Revolt'. The use of the word pogrom to describe such outbreaks of communal violence bore with it the implication that the governing authorities, in this case the British administration, had actively connived in an anti-Jewish riot. The term drew an analogy between the classic form such actions took in Eastern Europe, where Jews were the victims of racist, anti-Semitic terror campaigns supported by the ruling authorities, with the situation in Palestine where Zionism was promoting a colonial adventure that was ethnically exclusive and challenged local Arab nationalist aspirations.
It was asserted soon after, by Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
and British army Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Richard Meinertzhagen
Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and ...
, that Haj Amin al-Husseini
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notable ...
had been put up to inciting the riot by British Field-marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Allenby's Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
, Colonel Bertie Harry Waters-Taylor, to demonstrate to the world that Arabs would not tolerate a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The assertion was never proven, and Meinertzhagen was dismissed.
The Zionist Commission noted that before the riots Arab milkmen started to demand their customers in Meah Shearim
Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...
pay them on the spot, explaining that they would no longer be serving the Jewish neighbourhood. Christian storekeepers had marked their shops in advance with the sign of the cross so that they would not be mistakenly looted. A previous commission report also accused Storrs of inciting the Arabs, blaming him for sabotaging attempts to purchase the Western Wall
The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
as well. A petition circulated among American citizens and presented to their consul protested that the British had prevented Jews from defending themselves.[
After the violence broke out, ]Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
met Military Governor Storrs and suggested deployment of his volunteers, but his request was rejected. Storrs confiscated his pistol and demanded to know the location of his other weapons, threatening to arrest him for possessing a firearm. Later, Storrs changed his mind and asked for 200 volunteers to report to the police headquarters to be sworn in as deputies. After they arrived and the administering of the oath had begun, orders came to cease and he sent them away. Arab volunteers had also been invited, and were likewise sent away.
On Sunday night, the first day of the riots, several dozen rioters were arrested, but on Monday morning they were allowed to attend morning prayers and were then released.[ On Monday evening, after ]martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
was declared, the soldiers were evacuated from the Old City, a step described in the Palin Report as "an error of judgment".
After the riots, Storrs visited Menachem Ussishkin
Menachem Ussishkin (russian: Авраам Менахем Мендл Усышкин ''Avraham Menachem Mendel Ussishkin'', he, מנחם אוסישקין) (August 14, 1863 – October 2, 1941) was a Russian-born Zionism, Zionist leader and head ...
, the new head of the Zionist Commission, to express "regrets for the tragedy that has befallen us".
- Ussishkin asked, "What tragedy?"
- "I mean the unfortunate events that have occurred here in the recent days", Storrs said.
- "His excellency means the pogrom", suggested Ussishkin.
When Storrs hesitated to categorize the events as such, Ussishkin replied,
- "You Colonel, are an expert on matters of management and I am an expert on the rules of pogroms."[
The Palin Report noted that Jewish representatives persisted in describing the events as a "pogrom", implying that the British administration had connived in the violence.
]
Palin Commission of Inquiry
The Palin Commission
The Palin Commission or Palin Commission of Inquiry or Palin Court of Inquiry was the first British Commission of Inquiry on the question of Palestine.
It was sent to the region in May 1920 by the British authorities, to examine the reasons for ...
(or Palin Court of Inquiry), a committee of inquiry sent to the region in May 1920 by the British authorities, examined the reasons for this trouble. According to the Survey of Palestine
The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the survey and mapping of Palestine during the British mandate period.
The survey department was established in 1920 in Jaffa, and moved to the outskirts of Tel Aviv in 19 ...
:
Savage attacks were made by Arab rioters in Jerusalem on Jewish lives and property. Five Jews were killed and 211 injured. Order was restored by the intervention of British troops; four Arabs were killed and 21 injured. It was reported by a military commission of inquiry that the reasons for this trouble were:--
:(a) Arab disappointment at the non-fulfilment of the promises of independence which they claimed had been given to them during the war.
:(b) Arab belief that the Balfour Declaration implied a denial of the right of self-determination and their fear that the establishment of a National Home would mean a great increase in Jewish immigration and would lead to their economic and political subjection to the Jews.
:(c) The aggravation of these sentiments on the one hand by propaganda from outside Palestine associated with the proclamation of the Emir Feisal as King of a re-united Syria and with the growth of Pan-Arab and Pan-Moslem ideas, and on the other hand by the activities of the Zionist Commission supported by the resources and influence of Jews throughout the world.
The Palin Report on the April riots was not signed until July 1920, after the San Remo conference
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution pas ...
and replacement of the British OETA by a High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935.
He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to beco ...
.[ The Report was submitted in August 1920, though never published, and was critical of both sides.
The report blamed the Zionists, 'whose impatience to achieve their ultimate goal and indiscretion are largely responsible for this unhappy state of feeling’ and singled out ]Amin al-Husayni
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notab ...
and Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
in particular. However, they incorrectly identified the anti-socialist Jabotinsky as organizer of the "definite Bolshevist" Poalei Zion
Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century after ...
('Zionist Workers') party.
The report was critical of some of the actions of OETA military command, particularly the withdrawal of troops from inside Jerusalem early on the morning of Monday, 5 April and that, once martial law had been proclaimed, it was slow to regain control.
Aftermath
Over 200 people were put on trial as a result of the riots, including 39 Jews.[ Musa Kazim al-Husayni was replaced as mayor by the head of the rival Nashashibi clan, Ragheb Bey Nashashibi. ]Amin al-Husayni
Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897
– 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.
Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notab ...
and Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref ( ar, عارف العارف, 1892–1973), variously spelled as Arif el Arif, 'Arif el-'Arif, etc., was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician. He served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s during the Jordanian annex ...
were arrested for incitement, but when they were let out on bail they both escaped to Syria.[ In another version, al-Aref was warned and escaped before being arrested.] In their absence, a military court sentenced them to 10 years imprisonment.[
The Arab riots were publicly protested by sheikhs from 82 villages in the Jerusalem and Jaffa areas who issued a formal statement saying that, in their view, Zionist settlement was not a danger to their communities. Similar declarations would be repeated in cablegrams sent to London in 1922, as hundreds of sheikhs and mukhtars lent their authority and support to Jewish immigration. The tenor of these positions was that such immigration would, as the Zionist movement itself affirmed, improve the lives of Arabs as industrial development progressed. The sheikhs protesting the riots, and telegramming later the British colonial secretary to express solidarity with the Zionist programme were sometimes bribed to state this position by the World Zionist Organisation. Their opinions were procured.]
British soldiers were sent to search Jews for arms at the demand of the Palestinian Arab leadership. They searched the offices and apartments of Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
, the head of the Zionist Commission
Zionist Commission for Palestine was a commission chaired by Chaim Weizmann, president of the British Zionist Federation following British promulgation of the pro-Zionist, Balfour Declaration. The Commission was formed in March 1918 and went to ...
, and Jabotinsky. At Jabotinsky's house, they found three rifles, two pistols, and 250 rounds of ammunition. Nineteen men were arrested, but not Jabotinsky, who went to the jail of his own volition to insist on his arrest. A military judge released him because he had not been home when the guns were discovered, but he was again arrested a few hours later.[ Jabotinsky was convicted of possessing the pistol that Storrs had confiscated on the riot's first day, among other things. The primary witness was none other than Ronald Storrs, who said he "did not remember" being told about the self-defence organization. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and sent to ]Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, though the next day he was returned to Acre Prison
Acre Prison also known as Akko Prison is a former prison and current museum in Acre, Israel.
The citadel was built during the Ottoman period over the ruins of a 12th-century Crusader fortress. The Ottomans used it at various times as a govern ...
. Jabotinsky's trial and sentencing created an uproar, and were protested by London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
press including ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' and questioned in the British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
. Even before the editorials appeared, the commander of British forces in Palestine and Egypt, General Congreve, wrote Field Marshal Wilson that Jews were sentenced far more severely than Arabs who had committed worse offences. He reduced Jabotinsky's sentence to a year, and that of the other 19 Jews arrested with him to six months.[
The new civilian government under ]Herbert Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935.
He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to beco ...
granted a general amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
in early 1921. However, Amin al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref were excluded from the amnesty because they had fled before their convictions had been passed down. Samuel pardoned Amin in March 1921 and appointed him Mufti of Jerusalem. When the Supreme Muslim Council was created in the following year, Husseini demanded and received the title Grand Mufti, a position which came with life tenure. Also, General Storrs became the civil governor of Jerusalem under the new administration.
As the riots began, Jewish immigration to Palestine was temporarily halted by the British. Also, feeling that the British were unwilling to defend Jewish settlements from continuous Arab attacks, Palestinian Jews set up self-defense units, which came to be called the Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
("defense"). Furthermore, the riots increased the feeling of Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Palestinian National Charter of 1968' ...
within the Palestinian Arab community.
See also
*Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...
*Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Palestinian National Charter of 1968' ...
*Killing of Moshe Barsky
Moshe Barsky (1895 – 22 November 1913) was the first member of a Zionist kibbutz to be killed by an Arab.
Barsky was a member of Degania Alef, the first kibbutz established by Jewish Zionist pioneers. It was founded in 1909. He was 18 year ...
, 1913 - the first kibbutz member killed in Arab attack
*Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...
*Timeline of Jewish History
This is a list of notable events in the development of Jewish history. All dates are given according to the Common Era, not the Hebrew calendar.
Ancient Israel and Judah
;c. 1312 BCE ( ?*): Moses and the Exodus from Egypt
;c. 1250 BCE–c. 1025 ...
*Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine
The intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine was the civil, political and armed struggle between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish Yishuv during the British rule in Mandatory Palestine, beginning from the violent spillover of the Franco-Syrian ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
* Lenni Brenner
The Iron Wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:1920 Nebi Musa Riots
Nebi Musa riots
Nebi Musa riots
Riots and civil disorder in Mandatory Palestine
Anti-Zionism in Mandatory Palestine
Ethnic riots
Franco-Syrian War
April 1920 events
1920 in Judaism
1920s in Jerusalem