The previous article discussed Balfour’s visit to al-Quds in 1925 to participate in the opening of the Hebrew University. However, he first visited Egypt when the ship carrying him docked at the port of Alexandria. From there, he traveled to Cairo where he stayed as a guest of Lord Allenby. From Egypt, he went to Palestine, where he visited the Zionist settlement of Qara, followed by Tel Aviv, and then another Israeli colony. He spent two weeks in Palestine before visiting Syria. The article then presented the attempts to destroy the unity of the Palestinian people, which involved creating parties opposed to the Arab Executive Committee that was leading the efforts of the Palestinian people.
Between 1920 and 1948, a series of British High Commissioners governed Palestine. These included Sir Herbert Samuel (1920-1925), Lord Plumer (1925-1928), Sir John Chancellor (1928-1931), Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope (1931-1939), Sir Harold MacMichael (1939-1944), The Viscount Gort (1944-1945), and Sir Alan Cunningham (1945-1948).
The British High Commissioner in al-Quds served as a tool to realize the dream of a Jewish homeland. Herbert Samuel, for instance, enacted an immigration law in 1920, facilitating the influx of thousands of Jews into Palestine. He also introduced various laws granting Jewish people ownership of Palestinian land and citizenship, following the same approach as his predecessors in supporting the project of a Jewish homeland.
One of Herbert Samuel’s most significant acts was the Public Works Law, which provided employment opportunities for unemployed Jewish youth who had begun to flee Palestine in search of work elsewhere. Plumer’s efforts led to an increase in the number of Jews and the amount of land they owned in Palestine.
John Chancellor, the High Commissioner, remained silent regarding the Zionist seizure of Palestinian land by force, as the website ‘Al-Quds’ notes: “John Chancellor served as the British High Commissioner in Palestine between 1928 and 1931. Naturally, he continued the policies of his predecessors, remaining silent about the Zionists’ forceful seizure of Arab land, the displacement of their owners, and their provocation of the Arabs. Conversely, he disregarded Arab demands for an elected legislative council. All of this led to the Buraq Uprising which the British met with extreme brutality, siding entirely with the Jews. Arthur Wauchope, who assumed the position of High Commissioner in October 1931, continued the policies of his predecessors in supporting the Zionist project and being obstinate in the face of Arab demands for a representative government and a ban on the sale of Arab land to Jews, as he did in 1936.”
Thus, British policy in Palestine remained consistent. Amidst British intransigence, Palestinian efforts to resist its policies never ceased. At times, these efforts took the form of protests and demonstrations; at other times, they resorted to force in attempts to reclaim their homeland. In 1933, Arab demonstrations erupted in al-Quds and Jaffa, spreading to numerous cities and villages in protest against the continued Jewish immigration to Palestine. Concurrently, the 18th Zionist Congress was held in Czechoslovakia with the aim of accelerating the construction of a national homeland for the Jews.
These demonstrations resulted in the martyrdom of 26 Palestinians and the injury of 187 others, compared to one fatality and 56 injuries among the British police. In 1934, Palestinian demonstrations erupted once more, met with tear gas; the president of the Arab Executive Committee, Musa Kazim al-Husseini, was injured and subsequently passed away. In 1936, renewed demonstrations in Haifa led to the deaths of 7 Jews and the injury of 29 others, while on the Palestinian side, 2 people were killed and 25 injured. Curfews and martial law were imposed, leading to civil disobedience across the country. It is worth noting that, “instead of calming Arab sentiments, the British occupier intensified its military presence in Palestine, bringing in additional forces from Egypt and Malta, and confronted the uprising with 20,000 soldiers. British oppression and brutality intensified, with numerous death sentences and life imprisonments imposed on the Palestinians. 93 homes were demolished as punishment for their owners’ participation in the uprising. The strike only ended in 1936 following appeals from Arab kings and leaders, until the Buraq uprising erupted.”
Speaking of al-Quds still amazes us for stories of “Beautiful Egypt” are endless…
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
