1920 Nebi Musa riots The 1920 Nabi Musa riots or 1920 Jerusalem riots took place in British - controlled , pre - British Mandate of Palestine between Sunday , 4 and Wednesday , 7 April 1920 in and around the Old City of Jerusalem . The riots coincided with and are named after the Nabi Musa festival and followed rising tensions in Arab - Jewish relations . The events came shortly after the Battle of Tel Hai and the increasing pressure on Arab nationalists in Syria on the course of the Franco - Syrian War . Among the slogans used to incite the riots were the implications of Zionist immigration and the previous tensions which coincided with attacks on outlying Jewish settlements in the Galilee . Speeches by Arab religious leaders during the festival , in which traditionally large numbers of Muslims gathered for a religious procession , led to a serious outbreak of violent assaults on the city ' s Jews . Five Jews and four Arabs were killed and several hundreds were injured . In its wake , sheikhs of 82 villages round the city and Jaffa , claiming to represent 70 % of the population , issued a document protesting the violence against the Jews . The British Occupied Enemy Territory Administration ( OETA ) was the military administration of Palestine , in anticipation of the grant of a League of Nations Mandate . OETA military command was criticised in the Palin Report into the riots , particularly the withdrawal of troops from inside Jerusalem early in the morning of Monday , 5 April and that , once martial law had been proclaimed , it was slow to regain control . As a result of the riots , trust between the British , Jews , and Arabs eroded . One consequence was that the Jewish community increased moves towards an autonomous infrastructure and security apparatus parallel to that of the British administration . Notwithstanding the riots , the Palestinian Jewish community held elections for the Assembly of Representatives on 19 April 1920 , except for Jerusem where the voting took place on 3 May 1920 . The riots also preceded the San Remo conference which was held from 19 to 26 April 1920 at which the fate of the Middle East was to be decided . Background . The contents and proposals of both the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and Paris Peace Conference , 1919 , which later concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles , were the subject of intensive discussion by both Zionist and Arab delegations , and the process of the negotiations were widely reported in both communities . In particular , the collapse of the Ottoman Empire , led to an undertaking by the victorious powers , predominantly Great Britain and France , to assume a ' holy mission of civilization ' in the power vacuum of the Middle East . Under the Balfour Declaration , a homeland for the Jewish people was to be created in Palestine . The principle of self - determination affirmed by the League of Nations was not to be applied to Palestine , given the foreseeable rejection by the people of Zionism , which the British sponsored . These post - WW1 arrangements both for Palestine and other Arab societies led to a ' radicalization ' of the Arab world . On 1 March 1920 , the death of Joseph Trumpeldor in the Battle of Tel Hai at the hands of a Shiite group from Southern Lebanon , caused deep concern among Jewish leaders , who made numerous requests to the OETA administration to address the Yishuv ' s security and forbid a pro - Syrian public rally . However , their fears were largely discounted by the Chief Administrative Officer General Louis Bols , Military Governor Ronald Storrs and General Edmund Allenby , despite a warning from the head of the Zionist Commission Chaim Weizmann that a " pogrom is in the air " , supported by assessments available to Storrs . Communiqués had been issued about foreseeable troubles between Arabs , and Arabs and Jews . To Weizmann and the Jewish leadership , these developments were reminiscent of instructions that Russia n generals had issued on the eve of pogroms . In the meantime , local Arab expectations had been raised to a pitch by the declaration of the Syrian Congress on 7 March of the independence of Greater Syria in the Kingdom of Syria , with Faisal as its king , that included the British - controlled territory within its claimed domain . On 7 and 8 March , demonstrations took place in all cities of Palestine , shops were closed and many Jews were attacked . Attackers carried slogans such as " Death to Jews " or " Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs ! " Jewish leaders requested that OETA authorise the arming of the Jewish defenders to make up for the lack of adequate British troops . Although this request was declined , Ze ' ev Jabotinsky , together with Pinhas Rutenberg , led an effort to openly train Jewish volunteers in self - defense , an effort of which the Zionist Commission kept the British informed . Many of the volunteers were members of the Maccabi sports club and some of them were veterans of the Jewish Legion . Their month of training largely consisted of calisthenics and hand to hand combat with sticks . By the end of March , about 600 were said to be performing military drills daily in Jerusalem . Jabotinsky and Rutenberg also began organizing the collection of arms . The Nebi Musa festival was an annual spring Muslim festival that began on the Friday before Good Friday and included a procession to the Nebi Musa shrine ( tomb of Moses ) near Jericho . It had apparently existed since the time of Saladin . Arab educator and essayist Khalil al - Sakakini described how tribes and caravans would come with banners and weapons . The Ottoman Turks usually deployed thousands of soldiers and even artillery to keep order in the narrow streets of Jerusalem during the Nabi Musa procession . However , Storrs issued a warning to Arab leaders , but deployed only 188 policemen . 4 – 7 April 1920 , Old City . By 10 : 30 a . m . on Sunday , 4 April 1920 , 60 , – 70 , 000 Arabs had congregated in the city square for the Nebi Musa festival , and groups had been attacking Jews in the Old City ' s alleys for over an hour . Inflammatory anti - Zionist rhetoric was delivered by Amin al - Husayni from the balcony of the Arab Club . Another inciter was Musa al - Husayni , his uncle , the mayor , who spoke from the municipal building ' s balcony . The editor of the newspaper " Suriya al - Janubia " ( " Southern Syria " ) , Aref al - Aref , another Arab Club member , delivered his speech on horseback at the Jaffa Gate . The nature of his speech is disputed . According to Benny Morris , he said " If we don ' t use force against the Zionists and against the Jews , we will never be rid of them " , while Bernard Wasserstein wrote " he seems to have co - operated with the police , and there is no evidence that he actively instigated violence " . In fact , Wasserstein adds , " Zionist intelligence reports of this period are unanimous in stressing that he spoke repeatedly against violence " . The crowd reportedly shouted " Independence ! Independence ! " and " Palestine is our land , the Jews are our dogs ! " Arab police joined in applause , and violence started . The local Arab population ransacked the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem . The Torath Chaim Yeshiva was raided , and Torah scroll s were torn and thrown on the floor , and the building then set alight . During the next three hours , 160 Jews were injured . Khalil al - Sakakini witnessed the eruption of violence in the Old City : The army imposed night curfew on Sunday night and arrested several dozen rioters , but on Monday morning they were allowed to attend morning prayers and were then released . Arabs continued to attack Jews and break into their homes , especially in Arab - majority mixed buildings . On Monday , as disturbances grew worse , the Old City was sealed off by the army and no one was allowed to exit the area . Martial law was declared , but looting , burglary , rape , and murder continued . Several homes were set on fire , and tombstones were shattered . British soldiers found that the majority of illicit weapons were concealed on the bodies of Arab women . On Monday evening , the soldiers were evacuated from the Old City , a step described in the Palin Report as " an error of judgment " . Even with martial law , it took the British authorities another 4 days to restore order . The Old City ' s Jewish community had no training or weapons , and Jabotinsky ' s men had found themselves outside the walled Old City , and shut out by British soldiers . Two volunteers were able to enter the Jewish Quarter disguised as medical personnel to organize self - defense - using rocks and boiling water . Five Jews and four Arabs died in the riots . 216 Jews were injured , 18 critically , and 23 Arabs , one critically . About 300 Jews were evacuated from the Old City . Accusations of British complicity . It was asserted soon after , by Chaim Weizmann and British army Lieutenant Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen , that al - Husseini had been put up to inciting the riot by British Field - marshal Allenby ' s Chief of Staff , Colonel Bertie Harry Waters - Taylor , to demonstrate to the world that Arabs would not tolerate a Jewish homeland in Palestine . The assertion was never proven , and Meinertzhagen was dismissed . The Zionist Commission noted that before the riots Arab milkmen started to demand 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 violence broke out , Ze ' ev Jabotinsky met Military Governor Storrs and suggested deployment of his volunteers , but his request was rejected . Storrs confiscated his pistol and demanded to know the location of his other weapons , threatening to arrest him for possessing a firearm . Later , Storrs changed his mind and asked for 200 volunteers to report to the police headquarters to be sworn in as deputies . After they arrived and the administering of the oath had begun , orders came to cease and he sent them away . Arab volunteers had also been invited , and were likewise sent away . On Sunday night , the first day of the riots , several dozen rioters were arrested , but on Monday morning they were allowed to attend morning prayers and were then released . On Monday evening , after martial law was declared , the soldiers were evacuated from the Old City , a step described in the Palin Report as " an error of judgment " . After the riots , Storrs visited Menachem Ussishkin , the new head 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 . Palin Commission of Inquiry . 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 : - - The Palin Report on the April riots was not signed until July 1920 , after the San Remo conference and replacement of the British OETA by a High Commissioner , Sir Herbert Samuel . The Report was submitted in August 1920 , though never published , and was critical of both sides . The report blamed 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 report was critical of some of the actions of OETA military command , particularly the withdrawal of troops from inside Jerusalem early on the morning of Monday , 5 April and that , once martial law had been proclaimed , it was slow to regain control . Aftermath . Over 200 people were put on trial as a result of the riots , including 39 Jews . Musa Kazim al - Husayni was replaced as mayor by the head of the rival Nashashibi clan . Amin al - Husayni and Aref al - Aref were arrested for incitement , but when they were let out on bail they both escaped to Syria . In another version , al - Aref was warned and escaped before being arrested . In their absence , a military court sentenced them to 10 years imprisonment . British soldiers were sent to search Jews for arms at the demand of the Palestinian Arab leadership . They searched the offices and apartments of Chaim Weizmann , the head of the Zionist Commission , and Jabotinsky . At Jabotinsky ' s house , they found three rifles , two pistols , and 250 rounds of ammunition . 19 men were arrested , but not Jabotinsky , who went to the jail of his own volition to insist on his arrest . A military judge released him because he had not been home when the guns were discovered , but he was again arrested a few hours later . 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 Prison . Jabotinsky ' s 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 other 19 Jews arrested with him to six months . The new civilian government under Herbert Samuel granted a general amnesty in early 1921 . However , Amin al - Husayni and Aref al - Aref were excluded from the amnesty because they had fled before their convictions had been passed down . Samuel pardoned Amin in March 1921 and appointed him Mufti of Jerusalem . When the Supreme Muslim Council was created in the following year , Husseini demanded and received the title Grand Mufti , a position which came with life tenure . Also , General Storr became the civil governor of Jerusalem under the new administration . As the riots began , Jewish immigration to Palestine was temporarily halted by the British . Also , feeling that the British were unwilling to defend Jewish settlements from continuous Arab attacks , Palestinian Jews set up self - defense units , which came to be called 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 .