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298 | 57 “The Pogroms in Palestine” (1929) The Forverts In August 1929, widespread violence broke out in Palestine following an incident in which Muslim groups protested the terms of Jewish use of the Western Wall. Tensions escalated and led to public demonstrations and murderous attacks against Jews— Zionists and non-Zionists alike—in cities and towns such as Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. The Forverts condemned the violence in the following editorial. The pogroms against Jews in Palestine have taken on the character of a bloody catastrophe. Murderous attacks by Arabs against Jews have occurred several times in recent years. The hateful mood, which has recently been incited against Jews in Palestine, is also known. But nobody had imagined that such a fire of blood and hatred would break out in the Land of Israel. Nobody had imagined that such would be possible under English rule and in a land where the Jewish population consists entirely of a creative, constructive element. It will still take time for all the facts behind the catastrophe to be thoroughly investigated and determined. The most important questions for everyone who reads about the bloody events are these: Where did the Arabs get their weapons? Who provided them with ammunition? It is clear that they were organized, carefully organized . This was not a sudden, mass outbreak. In certain cases the pogromists used cunning means, “strategic” means, to be able to more easily break into Jewish neighborhoods. There were people who thought through all of this, carried out all of this; people who provided the weapons; people who led the attacks; people who worked out strategy. The political situation in Palestine and the general politics around Palestine is so muddled that it is easy for each side to interpret the facts as they suit him. Opponents of a Jewish Palestine find justification for the Arab pogromists in the fact that Jews held a demonstration by the Western Wall; oppo- “The Pogroms in Palestine” | 299 nents of the current English government say the pogroms happened because there were not enough soldiers in and around Palestine to keep order; countries which are against the British Mandate in Palestine cast blame on Britain ’s general policies in the Middle East; and so on. Every side in this great political muddle finds a justification for itself finds in the Jewish misfortune, and an accusation against its opponents. But what are the dry facts? There was a conflict between the Arabs and Jews over the Western Wall, over whether or not Jews should have certain rights there. The conflict, of course, consisted of words, claims, and arguments. Both sides appealed to the British government in Palestine. The government took a position in favor of the Arabs. The Jews were not pleased, and they organized a demonstration , a demonstration that consisted entirely of verbal demands, which they considered right and just. And at the demonstration the Arabs responded with a bloody attack on a Jewish family. The bloodbath began therewith. Jews spoke and Arabs stabbed. A little later a second instance very similar to the first happened. Jews again held a demonstration, a funeral demonstration, carrying the body of the murdered young boy to his eternal rest. And during the demonstration Jews were beaten by the police, which consisted mainly of Arabs. And afterward the fire truly blazed. Armed Arabs began murdering right and left. They attacked defenseless neighborhoods, yeshivas, private residences , stabbing and shooting young and old, women and men. Of course, the Arabs would not have responded so bloodily, so murderously, against Jewish demonstrations if they were not incited earlier. Above all, therefore , the blood of the Jewish victims falls on the heads of all those who incited Arabs against Jews in all the years since Jews began to build up Palestine. The inciters have been diverse. There are fanatical Christians who cannot stand the idea that the birthplace of Jesus should become a Jewish country. There are fanatical Muslims who fear that the Jews in Palestine would defile their holy sites. There are groups, both Arabs and Englishmen, with specific economic interests, which have come into conflict with the economic policies of the Jewish colonists. There are just plain anti-Semites, who are always prepared to incite against Jews. And, finally, there are Communists, who, in the interests of world revolution, have incited the Arabs against the British government as an imperialist country, against the Zionist organization as an imperialist assistant to England, and, perforce, against all Jews who have...

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