Palestine: A Modern History (ص 19)

غرض

عنوان

Palestine: A Modern History (ص 19)

المحتوى

40 Crystallisation 1908-1914 ae
of the Allies, the Allied victory brought forth a new occupation’ by a
power that had promised the Zionist movement a Jewish national home
in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration-of 2 November 1917. The
British occupation and rule in Palestine marked a hew fatefulera in the
country’s history which forms the subject of the subsequent chapters
of this study.
On reviewing the reactions of the. various socio-economic,groups to
Zionism, i.e. Jewishtimmigration and Jewish settlement-between 1881
and 1914, certain patterns emerge. These patterns of*reactions: were
related, by and large, to socio-economic factors.
The big landowners who -were willing to sell their lands to the
Zionists were mostly absentee landlords from outside Palestine.proper,
e.g. the Sursuqs or city merchants who had minimal contact with-the
peasants and no sympathy for their plight. Besides, these two categories
of tandowners did not derive’ their social power from land ownership.
The traditional landowning families whose social standing depended. on
their land holdings and who constituted:.the ‘notables’ were reluctant
to sell their lands to the Zionists for fear of undermining the.base of
their status. Some, like Nassif Khalidi, were disturbed: by popular
agitation and sought accommodation with the: Zionistsi;However, in as
much as Zionism aimed at taking over the country, the notdbles
recognised the threat to their existence and pdsition and sought to
combat the Zionist peril by performing their role as intermediaries
between ruler and ruled. The notables sought to fight Zionism by
appealing to the authorities, the Mutasarrif, the central Government
and Parliament, to restrict Jewish immigration and prohibit land: Sales
to the Zionists. This rolé could only be effective, or indeed feasible, as
long as the authorities were willing to respect the notables’ appeals and
maintain ‘their position in society. Following the Young Turks
Revolution, :the notables’ position and: importance in articulating
political demands was undermined.
The middle classes, professionals, artisans and literary groups were:
apprehensive of the professional competition and the political challenge
introduced by Zionism in Palestine. Newspaper editors and students
belonged to these classe$ and were instrumental in, mobilising the public
against the ‘Zionist peril’ as well as forming the.-backbone of political
and semi-political organisations established to combat Zionism. It was
the vocal sand active groups of newspapermen and students that were
outbidding the notables in the fight against Zionism.
The reaction of the peasants wasless sophisticated and more violent
as they were the direct victims of Zionist land acquisitions, especially
Crystallisation 1908-1914 41
after the second aliya and the introduction of Kibush Avodah. Almost
all attacks on Jewish settlements were undertaken by destitute peasants
who were evicted as a,result of land sales to the Zionists.
Thus, within’ the ranks of the nationalist movement in Palestine, the
notables performed the role of the diplomats, the educated middle
classes that of the articulators of public opinion and the peasants that
of the actual fighters in the battle against the Zionist presence.
t shy
Notes
1. Nevillé Mandel, Turks, Arabs und Jewish Immigration into Palestine 1882-1914,
pp.164-65.
2. H.Frank to Antébi, 8 November 1908, AIU. VIII E.25, quoted in Mandel,
op. cit., p.168. °
3. For clashes between the peasant’ andthe colonists, see Mandel, op. cit., pp 171-9.
J.C.A. stands for Jewish Colonisation Association.
4. Ibid.
5. The Manuscript ispresented under the custody of Professor Walid Khalidi. The
authorship is not definitely known though it is almost certainly that of Ruhi
al-Khalidi, a leading politician and intellectual in Palestine in the first two
decades of the twentieth century.
6. Interview with Haj Amin el-Husseini, Beirut, Summer 1966.
7. The prefix (al) before family names is henceforth eliminated wherevér
éonvenient. It is possible that withholding of these Muslim notables’ names was
an act of political prudence on the part of the author.
8. The Jewish Chronicle, London, 18 June 1909.
9. Mandel, op.cit., p.204. Al-Karmal was founded in Haifa.
10. The Jewish Chronicle, 18 June 1909.
11. Al-Ahmed, 7 October 1909.
12. Albert Antebi to Frank, 18 October 1909, AIU 1X E.27 quoted in Mandel,
op.cit. p.214.
13: Le Jeune Turc, Constantinople, 7 May 1910.
14. Mandel, op.cit., pp.209-10.
15.13 June 1910, FO 195/235, Minute on folder to No.25.
16. For Nassar’s influence see Falastin (Palestine), 2 April 1914.
17. Arthur Ruppin (Jaffa) to ZCO, 31 March 1911, CZA Z2/635, quoted in Mandel,
op.cit., p.251.
18. 21 June 1911, JCA 268/ enclosure No.195. Ibid pp.268-9.
19. Arthur Ruppin to ZCO, 31 March 1911, op.cit., .
20. The Red Passport was a measure initiated to stem the flow of immigrants posing
as tourists. The original passport of the tourist was retained at the point of
entry and a red slip was issued as a receipt which would entitle the owner to
redeem his passport on leaving Palestine.
21. Ha'olam, vol.V (1911), quoted in Moshe Pearlman, ‘Chapters of Arab-Jewish
Diplomacy’, in Jewish Social Studies, 1944.
22. See Mandel, op.cit., p.300.
23. Arthur Ruppin to ZAC, 2 May 1912, CZA Z3/144 8, quoted in Mandel,
op.cit. p.296.
24. Falastin, 24 November 1912, accused the Zionists of sowing the seeds of
Muslim-Christian strife through publishing letters, under Muslim names, designed
to cause ill-will between the two communities.

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

مجموعات العناصر

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