Palestine: A Modern History (ص 109)

غرض

عنوان

Palestine: A Modern History (ص 109)

المحتوى

CONCLUSION
The emergence of the Zionist movement in the late nineteenth century
coincided with the rise of nationalism in the Arab provinces of the
Ottoman Empire. From the outset the Arabs of Palestine viewed
Zionism as a territorial colonialist movement which threatened their
national existence. They fought it as'a community by all peaceful
means available to them under Ottoman rule. In this fight the educated
classes played an important role in mobilising public opinion through
newspapers, petitions and ‘the formation of anti-Zionist societies, while
the notables played an innocuous patriotic role as an intermediary
between the populace and the Government.
After the revolution of the “Young Turks’ in 1908, the rulers of
Constantinople pursued a more oppressive attitude towards the Arab
elements of the Ottoman Empire in the Fertile Crescent lands thus
giving rise to bolder Arab secret movements which called for Arab
autonomy and independence. This feeling of rebelliousness was
enhanced in Palestine itself by the leniency the Government displayed
in checking Zionist immigration and land sales to‘Jews. ;
The outbreak of World War I carried the promise of independence
for the Arabs of Syria, of which Palestine formed the southern part. A
number of Palestinians were hanged for joining the ranks of the Allies
and Sharif Hussein’s Arab Revolt against the Turks. Instead of the
desired independence, the defeat of Turkey brought British rule,
committed, through the Balfour Declaration, to the e&tablishment of a
Jewish national home in Palestine.
On hearing of the Balfour Declaration, the Palestinians.protested to
their new«rulers in every peaceful way possible, Without surrendering
their intermediary role the political notability sought’to deflect what in
their view was the convergence of British and.Zionist interests in
Palestine by pointing out to the British’ the importartce of maintaining
Arab good-will and the futility of the Ziohist dream.
As the nature of the British firm commitment to Zionism became
clearer, the Palestinians were faced with two alternatives: revolution
or acquiescence. The older notability opted for acquiescence to
preserve their vested interests which depended on the good-will of the
Government. The younger generation and the lower classes were both
harder hit by the implementation of the Zionist schemes and were
228
Conclusion 229
more determined to resist what they considered a foreign invasion that
would culminate in their eviction or subservience. The young activists
depended on the rural masses for their plans or armed resistance against
“Zionism and the British Adrhinistration. They succeeded in staging two
short-lived anti-Zionist uprisings in 1920 afd 1921, that involved
defiance of British authorities, but failéd to persuade the British to
withdraw from Palestine or to rescind their pro-Zionist polities. The
collapse of Faisal’s Arab Government in 1920 in Damascus and
America’s endorsement of the Balfour Declaration militated against
effective external pressure in favour of Palestinian national demands.
Even before the final ratification of the Mandate in September 1923,
most of the Palestinian notables including some of the younger
generation had succumbed to a,policy of co-operation with the Govern-
_ment in one'form or another. Yet at no point did the Arab national
‘tnovement in Palestine recognise the British Mandate as this implied the
‘acceptance of the Balfour Declatation and the right of the Jews to a
national home in Palestine. It was this factor that prevented their
deceptance of Churchill’s Legislative Council and later the Arab Agency
offer. The notability, however, were exercising their intermediary role
by using their influence to suppress insurrectionist tendencies among
the ‘lower strata’ of the Palestinian Arabs. .
The period of political relaxation and stagnation between 1924 and
*1929 saw a decline in Jewish immigration and land settlement. During
this period the strugble for power between the Husseinis and Nashashibis
exposed the factiousness and the inadequacy of the notables to measure
up to the grave Zionist challenge. :
The British attitude during the clashes of 1929 between the Arabs
‘and the Jews over the Burag, or Wailing Wall, convinced the Palestinians
that Britairl was the real sponsor and defender of Zionism in Palestine.
As a direct consequence, the first Arab guerrilla bands emerged in the
vicinity of Acre and Safad to fight the British Mandate as well as the
Jewish colonists. On the political plane the advocates of co-Gperation
with the Government were discreditied and the younger generation
among the educated classes, which formed the /stiqial Party, challenged
‘the traditional leadership of the notables. The /stiq/alists defined their
aim as the attainment of Palestinian independence within the frame-
work of Arab unity ‘and boldly called for a policy of non-co-operation
with the British Government which théy viewed ‘as the root of evil’.
Revolutionary as Istiglal’s aims were, it nevertheless failed to create
the vehicle of’révolution, namely, a mass peasant organisation capable
of waging armed ‘resistance. Yet despite the fact that the /stigialists
Jamey Tawaes eee

هو جزء من

Palestine: A Modern History

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

مجموعات العناصر

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