Mandatory Palestine Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===1930s: Arab armed insurgency=== In 1930, [[Sheikh]] [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam]] arrived in Palestine from Syria, then part of the French-ruled [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]], and organised and established the [[Black Hand (Mandatory Palestine)|Black Hand]], an [[anti-Zionist]] and anti-British militant organisation. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants, and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. They used bombs and firearms against Zionist settlers and vandalised settlers' orchards and British-built railway lines.<ref name=segev>{{harvnb|Segev|2000|pp=[https://archive.org/details/onepalestinecomp00sege/page/360 360–362]}}</ref> In November 1935, two of his men engaged in a firefight with a [[Palestine Police]] patrol hunting fruit thieves and a policeman was killed. Following the incident, British colonial police launched a search and surrounded al-Qassam in a cave near [[Ya'bad]]. In the ensuing battle, al-Qassam was killed.<ref name=segev/> ====The Arab revolt==== [[File:Resistance of Palestinian men and women.png|thumb|Arab revolt against the British]] {{main|1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine}} The death of al-Qassam on 20 November 1935 generated widespread outrage in the Arab community. Huge crowds accompanied Qassam's body to his grave in [[Haifa]]. A few months later, in April 1936, the Arab national [[general strike]] broke out. The strike lasted until October 1936, instigated by the Arab Higher Committee, headed by Amin al-Husseini. During the summer of that year, thousands of Jewish-farmed acres and orchards were destroyed. Jewish civilians were attacked and killed, and some Jewish communities, such as those in [[Beisan]] ([[Beit She'an]]) and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], fled to safer areas.<ref>{{harvnb|Gilbert|1998|p= 80}}</ref> The violence abated for about a year while the British sent the [[Peel Commission]] to investigate.<ref>{{harvnb|Khalidi|2006|pp=87–90}}</ref> During the first stages of the Arab Revolt, due to rivalry between the clans of al-Husseini and [[Nashashibi]] among the Palestinian Arabs, Raghib Nashashibi was forced to flee to Egypt after several assassination attempts ordered by Amin al-Husseini.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Charles D. |title=Palestine and the Arab–Israeli Conflict: A History with Documents |edition=Sixth |year=2007 |pages=111–225}}</ref> After the Arab rejection of the Peel Commission recommendation, the revolt resumed in autumn 1937. Over the next 18 months, the British lost [[Nablus]] and Hebron. British forces, supported by 6,000 armed Jewish auxiliary police,<ref>{{Harvnb|Gilbert|1998|p= 85}}: The [[Jewish Settlement Police]] were created and equipped with trucks and armoured cars by the British working with the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]].</ref> suppressed the widespread riots with overwhelming force. The British officer [[Orde Charles Wingate|Charles Orde Wingate]] (who supported a Zionist revival for religious reasons<ref>{{Citation |publisher= IDC |title= Covenant |contribution= The Zionism of Orde |volume= 3 |issue= 1 |url= http://www.covenant.idc.ac.il/en/vol3/issue1/The_Zionism_of_Orde.html |access-date= 4 August 2014 |archive-date= 1 August 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140801015753/http://covenant.idc.ac.il/en/vol3/issue1/The_Zionism_of_Orde.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>) organised [[Special Night Squads]] of British soldiers and Jewish volunteers such as [[Yigal Alon]]; these "scored significant successes against the Arab rebels in the lower Galilee and in the Jezreel valley"<ref>{{harvnb|Black|1991|p= 14}}</ref> by conducting raids on Arab villages.<ref>{{harvnb|Shapira|1992|pp=247, 249, 350}}</ref> [[Irgun]], a Jewish militia group, used violence also against Arab civilians as "retaliatory acts",<ref name=Irgun>{{cite book |title=Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea |publisher=Oxford University Press |author=Firestone, Reuven |year=2012 |page=192 |isbn=978-0-19-986030-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EHyqYbTM-dwC&q=Irgun+%22retaliatory+acts%22&pg=PA192}}</ref> [[List of Irgun attacks during the 1930s|attacking marketplaces and buses]]. By the time the revolt concluded in March 1939, more than {{formatnum:5000}} Arabs, 400 Jews, and 200 British had been killed and at least {{formatnum:15000}} Arabs were wounded.<ref name=HistoryOfPalestinianRevolts>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9A489B74-6477-4E67-9C22-0F53A3CC9ADF.htm |title=Aljazeera: The history of Palestinian revolts |access-date=15 December 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215061527/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9A489B74-6477-4E67-9C22-0F53A3CC9ADF.htm |archive-date=15 December 2005 }}</ref> In total, 10% of the adult Arab male population was killed, wounded, imprisoned, or exiled.<ref>{{harvnb|Khalidi|2001|p=26}}</ref> From 1936 to 1945, while establishing collaborative security arrangements with the Jewish Agency, the British confiscated {{formatnum:13200}} firearms from Arabs and 521 weapons from Jews.{{sfn|Khalidi|1987|p=845}} The attacks on the Jewish population by Arabs had three lasting effects: firstly, they led to the formation and development of Jewish underground militias, primarily the [[Haganah]], which were to prove decisive in 1948. Secondly, it became clear that the two communities could not be reconciled, and the idea of partition was born. Thirdly, the British responded to Arab opposition with the [[White Paper of 1939]], which severely restricted Jewish land purchase and immigration. However, with the advent of the [[Second World War]], even this reduced immigration quota was not reached. The White Paper policy itself radicalised segments of the Jewish population, who after the war would no longer cooperate with the British. The revolt had also a negative effect on Palestinian Arab leadership, social cohesion, and military capabilities, and it contributed to the outcome of the 1948 War because "when the Palestinians faced their most fateful challenge in 1947–49, they were still suffering from the British repression of 1936–39, and were in effect without a unified leadership. Indeed, it might be argued that they were virtually without any leadership at all."{{sfn|Khalidi|2001|p=28}} ====Partition proposals==== [[File:Jewish protest demonstrations against Palestine White Paper, May 18, 1939. King George Ave, Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|Jewish demonstration against White Paper in Jerusalem in 1939]] In 1937, the [[Peel Commission]] proposed a partition between a small Jewish state, whose Arab population would have to be transferred, and an Arab state to be attached to the [[Emirate of Transjordan]], this emirate also being part of the wider [[Mandate for Palestine]]. The proposal was rejected outright by the Arabs. The two main Jewish leaders, [[Chaim Weizmann]] and [[David Ben-Gurion]], had convinced the [[World Zionist Congress|Zionist Congress]] to equivocally approve the Peel recommendations as a basis for more negotiation.<ref name=Louis>Louis, William Roger (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC ''Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128022458/https://books.google.com/books/about/Ends_of_British_Imperialism.html?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&redir_esc=y |date=28 November 2022 }}, p. 391.</ref><ref name=Morris66>Morris, Benny (2009). ''One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict'', p. 66</ref><ref name=Morris48>{{cite book |last= Morris |first= Benny |author-link= Benny Morris |title= The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |pages= 11, 48, 49 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year= 2004 |orig-year= 1988 |isbn= 978-0-521-00967-6 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |access-date= 12 February 2022}} p. 11 "while the Zionist movement, after much agonising, accepted the principle of partition and the proposals as a basis for negotiation"; p. 49 "In the end, after bitter debate, the Congress equivocally approved—by a vote of 299 to 160—the Peel recommendations as a basis for further negotiation."</ref><ref>'Zionists Ready To Negotiate British Plan As Basis', ''The Times'' Thursday, 12 August 1937; p. 10; Issue 47761; col B.</ref><ref>Eran, Oded (2002). "Arab-Israel Peacemaking." ''The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East''. Ed. [[Avraham Sela]]. New York: Continuum, p. 122.</ref> In [[1937 Ben-Gurion letter|a letter to his son in October 1937]], Ben-Gurion explained that partition would be a first step to "possession of the land as a whole".<ref>[http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/B-G%20LetterTranslation.pdf Letter from David Ben-Gurion to his son Amos, written 5 October 1937] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512101840/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/B-G%20LetterTranslation.pdf |date=12 May 2019 }}, Obtained from the Ben-Gurion Archives in Hebrew, and translated into English by the [[Institute of Palestine Studies]], Beirut</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Morris|first=Benny|author-link=Benny Morris|title= Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–1998|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2011|isbn=978-0-307-78805-4|page=138}} Quote: "No Zionist can forgo the smallest portion of the Land Of Israel. [A] Jewish state in part [of Palestine] is not an end, but a beginning ….. Our possession is important not only for itself … through this we increase our power, and every increase in power facilitates getting hold of the country in its entirety. Establishing a [small] state …. will serve as a very potent lever in our historical effort to redeem the whole country"</ref><ref name=Finkelstein208>{{citation|title=Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-semitism and the Abuse of History|first=Norman|last=Finkelstein|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-520-24598-3|page=280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xmi2Yw0QzN8C&pg=PA280}}</ref> The same sentiment was recorded by Ben-Gurion on other occasions, such as at a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938,<ref>Quote from a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938: "[I am] satisfied with part of the country, but on the basis of the assumption that after we build up a strong force following the establishment of the state, we will abolish the partition of the country and we will expand to the whole Land of Israel." in<br />{{citation|title=Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882–1948|first=Nur|last=Masalha|publisher=Inst for Palestine Studies|year=1992|isbn=978-0-88728-235-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/expulsionofpales00masa/page/107 107]|url=https://archive.org/details/expulsionofpales00masa/page/107}}; and {{harvnb|Segev|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/onepalestinecomp00sege/page/403 403]}}</ref> as well as by Chaim Weizmann.<ref name=Finkelstein208/><ref>From a letter from Chaim Weizmann to [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Arthur Grenfell Wauchope|Sir Arthur G. Wauchope]], [[High Commissioners for Palestine and Transjordan|High Commissioner for Palestine]], while the Peel Commission was convening in 1937: "We shall spread in the whole country in the course of time ….. this is only an arrangement for the next 25 to 30 years." {{citation|title=Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882–1948|first=Nur|last=Masalha|publisher=Inst for Palestine Studies|year=1992|isbn=978-0-88728-235-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/expulsionofpales00masa/page/62 62]|url=https://archive.org/details/expulsionofpales00masa/page/62}}</ref> Following the [[London Conference of 1939|London Conference]] in February and March 1939, the British Government published a [[1939 White Paper|White Paper]] which proposed a limit to Jewish immigration from Europe, restrictions on Jewish land purchases, and a programme for creating an independent state to replace the Mandate within ten years. This was seen by the ''[[Yishuv]]'' as betrayal of the mandatory terms, especially in light of the increasing persecution of Jews in Europe. In response, Zionists organised ''[[Aliyah Bet]]'', a programme of illegal immigration into Palestine. [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]], a small group of extremist Zionists, staged armed attacks on British authorities in Palestine. However, the [[Jewish Agency]], which represented the mainstream Zionist leadership and most of the Jewish population, still hoped to persuade Britain to allow resumed Jewish immigration and cooperated with Britain during the [[Second World War]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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