Riots in Palestine of 1920: Encyclopedia II - Riots in Palestine of 1920 - The aftermath

Riots in Palestine of 1920 - The aftermath

Fatalities: 5 Jews, 4 Arabs. Wounded: 216 Jews (18 critically), 23 Arabs (1 critically), 7 British soldiers.

The majority of the victims were old-Yishuv (non-Zionist, and some anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews). About 300 Jews from the Old City were evacuated.

After the riots, Storrs visited Menachem Ussishkin, the chairman 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."

At the demand of the Palestinian Arab leadership, the British searched the offices and apartments of the Zionist leadership, including Weizmann's and Jabotisky's homes, for arms. At Jabotinsky's house they found 3 rifles, 2 pistols, and 250 rounds of ammunition. Nineteen men were arrested, including Jabotinsky.

A committee of inquiry placed responsibility for the riots on the Zionist Commission, for provoking the Arabs. Jabotinsky was given a fifteen year prison term for possessing weapons. The court blamed "Bolshevism," claiming that it "flowed in Zionism's inner heart" and ironically identified fiercely anti-Socialist Jabotinsky with the Socialist-aligned Poalei Zion ("Zionist Workers") party, which it called "a definite Bolshevist institution".

Some of the rioters were punished. Musa al-Hussayni was replaced as mayor by the head of the rival Nashashibi clan. Hajj Amin Al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref were each sentenced to ten years in absentia, since by then both had fled to Syria.

The official inquiry that followed found that the British military administration was rife with anti-Semitism and that the measures taken to maintain order were inadequate, but no one was charged. Not a single policeman was charged for failing in his duties.

A few weeks later, the San Remo conference replaced military administration of the Mandate with a civil government under Sir Herbert Samuel.

One of the most important results of the riot was that legal Jewish immigration to Palestine was halted, a major demand of the Palestinian Arab community. Feeling that the British were unwilling to defend them from continuous Arab violence, the Palestinian Jews decided to set up an underground self-defense militia, the Haganah ("defense").

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The aftermath", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki