1920 Nebi Musa Riots - Aftermath

Aftermath

Five Jews and four Arabs were killed, while wounded were 216 Jews, 18 critically; 23 Arabs, one critically. The majority of the Jewish victims were members of the Old Yishuv. About 300 Jews from the Old City were evacuated.

Meinertzhagen told Lord Curzon that a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist officers in the military administration had initiated the riots to prove the Jewish national home policy had no chance of success. In particular, Meinertzhagen asserted that Allenby's chief of staff, Colonel Bertie Harry Waters-Taylor, had given explicit instructions to Mohammad Amin al-Husayni on how to demonstrate to the world that Palestinian Arabs would not tolerate Jewish rule. However, Meinertzhagen had his own reason for blaming the riots on his colleagues as only four days before them he had written to the Foreign Office that all was quiet and that no trouble was anticipated. According to Segev, Meinertzhagen is "a doubtful source for such a serious charge". The Zionist Commission noted that Arab milkmen demanded their customers in Meah Shearim 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 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 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." 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.

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, though the next day he was returned to Acre. His trial and sentencing created an uproar, and were protested by London press including The Times and questioned in the British Parliament. 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 19 to six months. Over 200 were put on trial, including 39 Jews.

The Palin Commission (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:

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 court placed the blame for the riots on 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 and Ze'ev Jabotinsky in particular. The latter, however, was not, as the Court believed, an exponent of 'Bolshevism', which it thought 'flowed in Zionism's inner heart', but rather fiercely anti-Socialist. They had confused his politics with that of the Socialist-aligned Poalei Zion ('Zionist Workers') party, which it called 'a definite Bolshevist institution.' The document was never published. It was not even signed until July 1920, after the San Remo conference and replacement of the military administration with a civilian government under Sir Herbert Samuel.

Some rioters were punished. Musa Kazim al-Husayni was replaced as mayor by the head of the rival Nashashibi clan. Hajj Amin al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref were each sentenced to 10 years in absentia, since by then both had fled to Syria.

As the riots began, Jewish immigration to Palestine was temporarily halted by the British. Also, feeling that the British were unwilling to defend them from continuous Arab violence, Palestinian Jews decided to set up an underground self-defense militia, the Haganah ("defense"). Furthermore, the riots prompted the Arab leadership in Palestine to view themselves less as southern Syrian Arabs and more as a unique Palestinian Arab community.