[Palestine Content] – [Jaffa Riots] Luke, Harry Charles.

[Report on Jaffa Riots – Haycraft – Luke – Commission] Palestine. Disturbances In May, 1921. Reports of the Commission of Inquiry with Correspondence Relating Thereto.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1921. 24,5 cm x 16 cm. 64 pages. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Cockled boards, dampstain to front board. Otherwise in fair condition.

With addresses by Winston Churchill etc.

The Jaffa riots (commonly known in Hebrew: Me’oraot Tarpa?) was a series of violent riots in Mandatory Palestine on May 1–7, 1921, which began as a fight between two Jewish groups but developed into an attack by Arabs on Jews during which many were killed. The rioting began in Jaffa and spread to other parts of the country. The riot resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews and 48 Arabs. 146 Jews and 73 Arabs were wounded.
High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel established an investigative commission headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Palestine, Sir Thomas Haycraft (see Haycraft Commission of Inquiry). Its report confirmed the participation of Arab policemen in the riots and found the actions taken by the authorities adequate. The report angered both Jews and Arabs: it placed the blame on the Arabs, but said that, “Zionists were not doing enough to mitigate the Arabs’ apprehensions.” The report concluded that, “the fundamental cause of the violence and the subsequent acts of violence was a feeling among the Arabs of discontent with, and hostility to, the Jews, due to political and economic causes, and connected with Jewish immigration.” .

The report included an Appendix summarising the findings as follows.

The fundamental cause of the Jaffa riots and the subsequent acts of violence was a feeling among the Arabs of discontent with, and hostility to, the Jews, due to political and economic causes, and connected with Jewish immigration, and with their conception of Zionist policy as derived from Jewish exponents.
The immediate cause of the Jaffa riots on the 1st May was an unauthorised demonstration of Bolshevik Jews, followed by its clash with an authorised demonstration of the Jewish Labour Party.
The racial strife was begun by Arabs, and rapidly developed into a conflict of great violence between Arabs and Jews, in which the Arab majority, who were generally the aggressors, inflicted most of the casualties.
The outbreak was not premeditated or expected, nor was either side prepared for it ; but the state of popular feeling made a conflict likely to occur on any provocation by any Jews.
The general body of Jews is opposed to Bolshevism, and was not responsible for the Bolshevik demonstration.·
When the disturbance had once begun an already acute anti-Jewish feeling extended it into an anti-Jewish riot. A large part of the Moslem and Christian communities condoned it, although they did not encourage violence. While certain of the educated Arabs appear to have incited the mob, the notables on both sides, whatever their feelings may have been, aided the authorities to allay the trouble.
The police were, with few exceptions, half-trained and inefficient, in many cases indifferent, and in some cases leaders of or participators in violence.
The conduct of the military was admirable throughout.
The raids on five Jewish agricultural colonies arose from the excitement produced in the minds of the Arabs by reports of Arabs having been killed by Jews in Jaffa. In two cases unfounded stories of provocation were believed and acted upon without any effort being made to verify them.
In these raids there were few Jewish and many Arab casualties, chiefly on account of the intervention of the military.
This résumé is necessarily too condensed to be regarded as the expression of the conclusions of the Commission, except when read in conjunction with the report. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: British Colonial Administration · British Colonial History · British Foreign Office · British Foreign Policy · Churchill, Sir Winston · Colonial History · Colonial History – Rare · Harry Luke – Palestine I (1920 – 1924) · Haycraft-Luke-Commission · Jaffa Riots (Palestine 1921) · Luke, Sir Harry · Palestine · Palestine – Content / Sir Harry Luke Collection · Sir Harry Luke · Sir Harry Luke – Personal Archive of Books and Correspondence · Sir Harry Luke Collection
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 30137AB

EUR 275.000,--