Summary
The murderous attacks on Jews across Palestine from 23 to 29 August 1929, preceded by the Wailing Wall screen incident of 24 September 1928 and the rival processions to the Wall of 15-16 August 1929, as narrated in Chapter III of the Peel Commission Report (Report of the Palestine Royal Commission, PDF p.78-81 / printed p.65-68).
Details
- The starting point, in the Report’s account, was the forcible removal by police of a screen set up to divide men from women at a Day of Atonement service in front of the Western Wall on 24 September 1928, the Administration maintaining the status quo under Article 13 of the Mandate for Palestine; the incident raised the religious factor — the fear that Jewish designs extended to the Haram-esh-Sharif and a rebuilt Temple — which had previously had little to do with the growth of Arab antagonism (PDF p.78-79 / printed p.65-66).
- The Supreme Muslim Council under the Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Hussaini, campaigned on the incident, and the Arab Executive Committee revived nationalist agitation in early 1929; Jews marched in procession to the Wall on 15 August and Arabs on 16 August (PDF p.80 / printed p.67).
- The attacks of 23-29 August fell most violently not on the new settlements but on the old-established Jewish communities at Hebron — over 60 Jews killed, including women and children, and more than 50 injured, a Jewish hospital looted, only the one British police officer’s courage preventing a general massacre — and at Safad, where 45 Jews were killed or wounded; several rural colonies were attacked and six virtually destroyed (PDF p.80-81 / printed p.67-68).
- Totals as reckoned in the Report: 133 Jews killed and 339 wounded; 116 Arabs killed and 232 wounded, the majority of Arab casualties inflicted by the troops or police; 27 death sentences for murder were finally confirmed, one of them on a Jew, three Arabs were hanged and the rest commuted (PDF p.81 / printed p.68).
- The Shaw Commission’s fundamental cause is quoted: racial animosity on the part of the Arabs consequent on disappointed political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future (PDF p.81 / printed p.68).
- Aftermath in the Report: reciprocal trade boycotts, Jewish merchants leaving Jerusalem’s Old City and Jaffa, and the schism between the two peoples open and undisguised (PDF p.83 / printed p.70).
Related pages
Report of the Palestine Royal Commission, Western Wall, Shaw Commission, Hebron, Safad