90 years ago: The Palestine Riots and the Hebron Massacre

From the "some things never change" department: On August 23, 1929, 700 Arabs, incited by rumours that Jews were planning to seize the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, gathered at the bus station in Hebron and began rioting. One of the instigators of the riots was Haj Amin al Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem; if that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the same Mufti who made propaganda broadcasts on behalf of the Nazis during World War II. On August 24, the rioting escalated into the massacre of 67 or 69 people in Hebron, seriously injuring many more. Jewish homes and synagogues were ransacked. Some of the 435 Jewish survivors were hidden by local Arab families.

The massacre was part of a series of riots that occurred in August 1929 in Palestine, which was then administered by the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate.

By the time the rioting concluded on August 29, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs had been killed, and 198 Jews and 232 Arabs had been injured. 55 Arabs were convicted of murder; 17 of attempted murder; 150 of looting and or/arson; and 219 of lesser offenses. 2 Jews were convicted of murder; 1 of attempted murder; 7 of looting and/or arson/ and 9 of lesser offenses. 26 Arabs were sentenced to death, 14 for the Hebron massacre; the Jews convicted of murder were also sentenced to death. All of the death sentences were either overturned on appeal or commuted, except for those against Arabs Atta Ahmed el Zeer, Mohamamed Khalil Abu Jamjum and Fuad Hassab el Hejazi, who were hanged on June 17, 1930.

The riots led to the Shaw Commission of Enquiry, which in turn led to the Hope Simpson Royal Commission, whose report, issued in October 1930, recommended limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine because of a lack of agricultural land to support continued Jewish immigration at current levels.

90 years after the Palestine Riots of 1929, the Hebron massacre is being commemorated by Israeli leaders, while the Palestinian authority continues to mourn as martyrs the three Arabs who were hanged for murder: