Palestine: A Modern History (ص 92)

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Palestine: A Modern History (ص 92)

المحتوى

194 The Great Palestine Revolt: 1936-1939
The workers were‘threatened by the complete loss of their jobs if they
joined the strikers as‘the labour force in the harbour was mixed and the
“Jews would havé replaced them immediately and. permanently.. As:for
the municipal workers the matter aas.in the:hands of the Mayors who
were not as resolute in the defiance of the Government as other Arab
sectors were. Under considerable pressure, the Mayors agreed to meet
to-.discuss the situation and take concerted action, pit the Government
cancelled .the: meeting.:On 31 May they met in seéret and subsequently
half af them decided to po on strike.”
Despite popular démands, Government employees were not asked by
the Higher Arab Committee to join the strike. Instead the senior
officials arfd judges submitted a strong-worded memorandum to the
Government in which they recommended the stoppage’ of immigration
and advised that. ‘the trouble cannot be.temoved by force, but only by
, removing the causes of it’.?°
Responsibility for the.failiire of the Government employees to join the
-strike, which, would have crippled the Administration, must necessarily
be attributed to the lack of militancy.on the part of the Arab Higher
Committee. Out of the ten members on this Committee only one,
‘Awni ‘Abdul Hadi was interned in June in a ‘concentration camp’ at
Sarafand because of what Wauchope described as his organising
capabilities.*° Despite Hajj Amin’s position as the President ‘of the
Higtier Committee which was nominally leading the Arabs in their
anti-Government strike and non-payment policies, Wauchope showed
‘appreciation and gratitude for the Mufti’s moderation: On 7 June,
Wauchope reported these feelings to W: Ormsby-Gore,.the new Colonial
s
Secretary: }
‘
It is a remarkable fact that the weligious cry'has not been -raised
during the last six weeks, that the Friday sermons have: been far
‘more moderate that I could :have hoped during. a,period when
feelings of the people are’so deeply stirred, anfd for this, the Mufti
is mainly-responsible.?” '
ty, aos
_Five days later Jamal Husseini, ‘Shibil Jamal, Dr ‘Izzat Tannus and
‘Abdul Latif: Salah were granted..visas to England, and the first three
were given a letter of introduction by Wauchope to Sir John Maffey of
the Colonial Office. These leaders were willing to negotiate-d way out
of the impasse in Palestine which would be acceptable to the British
Government and the Palestinian Arabs at the same time. During one of
their interviews at the Colonial Office, ‘they admitted that the leaders
The Great Palestine Revolt: 1936-1939 195
were largely now in the hands of the people, and .they mentioned
threats which had been made against Jamal Husseini himself and Awni
Bey in the event of any weakening on their part’.
Punitive Measures
The British authorities were convinced that the Strike had the ‘full
sympathy of the Arabs’, that they could see ‘no weakening in the will
atid spirit of the Arab people’.”? and that the armed bands were backed
by the villagers, Peirse and the military concluded that:
It was quickly evident that the only way to regain the initiative from
the rebels was by initiating measures against-the villages-from which
the; rebels and saboteurs) came... 1 therefore initiated, in
co-operation with the Inspector-General of Police, village searches.
Ostensibly these searches were undertaken to find arms and wanted
persons; actually the measures adopted by the Police on the lines of
similar Turkish methods, were punitive and effective. *
These punitive measures were not only distasteful to the-Palestinian
Police but were also instrumental in bringing about a greater degree of
cohesion and identification between -the, villagers and the rebels. The
pro-Government Mayor of Nablus informed Wauchope that ‘During the
last searches effected in villages, properties were destroyed, jewels
+ Stolen, and the Holy Qoran tom, and this had increased the excitement
- of the fellahin’.*
Two days later the ‘Ulama interviewed Wauchope and,made vigorous
f representations on the same subject. They further informed the High
4 Commissioner that the Arabs were aware jthat by attacking His
t Majesty’s troops they commit suicide, but, as Your Excellency is aware,
% a desperate man often commits suicide’.*? The object ‘of Arab
1 disorders was simply ‘letting their voice reach, England ‘grid induce the
f British people to help them-in considering their desperate position’, for
g they would rather commit suicide or be shot down by British troops
rather than suffer Jews to become dominant in Palestine. «
Although largely a peasant movement armed resistance was not
# restricted to: the rural areas. Before the British troops entered Nablus
& in late! May, barricades were.drected across the main roads and-in the
@ narrow alleyways: of that ancient Arab town. The camp of the troops
; and the Fort were heavily sniped from the steep slopes of the
@ Surrounding mountains which directly overlooked them. A similar
| Situation: arose at Tulkarem and the village of ‘Aqraba. Around

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

مجموعات العناصر

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