Hebron massacre (1929)

The Hebron massacre refers to the mass murder of at least 67 Jews on August 24, 1929 in Hebron, British Mandate for Palestine. The massacre was committed by Arabs who believed that there was a Jewish conspiracy to take over the Temple Mount. The massacre was considered one of the worst mass murders of Jews in Mandatory Palestine.

All Hebron's Jews were evacuated by the British colonial government following the massacre. The massacre formed part of the 1929 Palestine riots, where at least 133 Jews were killed. The massacre resulted in the rise of Jewish self-defence groups,Itamar Rabinovich, Jehuda Reinharz (eds.), Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present , UPNE 2008 p. 85 including the Haganah, due to the lack of protection of Jews by the antisemitic'Eye Witnesses Describe Horrors of the Moslem Arabs’ Attacks at Hebron on Saturday, August 24,'  Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 1, 1929. colonial police force. 

Background

Hebron is a religiously important city for both Jews and Muslims. Hebron's population numbered about 20,000. 700 (3.5%) of them were Jews. The Jewish immigration to Ottoman Palestine – caused by millennia of persecutions in Europe 



  – through the late 19th and early 20th centuries was associated with a rise in tension between Jews and Arabs.

Arabs in Mandatory Palestine disliked the increasing ethnic diversity as they considered Jewish immigrants a threat to the Muslim majority. Most Jews in Mandatory Palestine supported Zionism. Douglas V. Duff, The Rough With the Smooth (London: J.M. Dent & Sons LTD., 1940), 124.
 Letter 514, To Arthur J. Balfour, London, 3 October 1917 English: T.W.:P.R.O. – F.O. 371/3083, F. 143082, No. 171885. See The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann: Volume VII, Series A, August 1914-November 1917, Meyer W. Weisgal, Gen. Ed. (Jerusalem: Israel University Press, 1975), Page 521-522


Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, 






  led the Arab opposition to further Jewish immigration. Al-Husseini ordered works to the Western Wall, during which bricks fell on those who prayed in front of the Western Wall while feces from mules stank the area. The Jews unsuccessfully requested the British colonial government to stop it.

Massacre

The massacre began with minor attacks by Arabs on Jews on August 23, which escalated to full-scale attacks on Jews across Hebron. The Arabs shouted "Kill the Jews", broke into Jewish houses, and raped, castrated and murdered the Jews. Some Jews survived by hiding in the houses of Arab neighbors, though the level of help is unclear due to the widespread antisemitism in the region.


Testimonies

Sir John Chancellor

British High Commissioner Sir John Chancellor wrote:

Raymond Cafferata

Raymond Cafferata, the Assistant District Superintendent of the Palestine Police Force, wrote:

Jacob Joseph Slonim

Rabbi Jacob Joseph Slonim, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Hebron, said that Cafferata made the antisemitic reply that "the Jews deserve it, you are the cause of all troubles" when he asked him to protect the Jews.


Legacy

Historical assessments of the Hebron massacre changed over time due to the dynamics of geopolitics in relation to the Israel–Palestine conflict. 

  Scholars hold different views on the matter. Some of them considered the Hebron massacre a pogrom, comparing it to the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel – seen by some scholars as the worst massacre of Jews since the end of the Holocaust. 




Related pages

 Kraków pogrom
 Lisbon massacre
 Odessa massacre
 Jedwabne pogrom
 Szczuczyn pogrom

Footnotes

References

Category:Riots
Category:Pogroms
Category:Massacres
Category:Antisemitism
Category:Crimes against humanity
Category:Islamic terrorist attacks
Category:History of the Middle East