Reply #29: Nothing exists in a vacuum [View All]

Prior to the influx of Jewish settlers, the specific discontent was against the European Consuls and the Christian Churches in the area. For instance, one of the main early areas where anti-Muslim sentiments were expressed, sometimes violently, was the Nabi Musa (Moses) processions which were used at the end of the 19th Century as a means of expressing anti-Muslim sentiment. The targets were the Christian and Foreign Consuls who were prevalent at the time.

The uprisings and revolts of 1929 and 1936-1939 were part of this long continuation of uprisings and demonstrations that had started a hundred years earlier and were part of the continuing rise of Palestinian and Muslim self-identification and Nationalism. The main difference was the extreme degree of machination by Hussayni to capitalize on the situation. Most of the specific incidences against Jewish settlers and long-standing inhabitants, I personally believe, were the reflection of the personal ideology and political machinations of al-Husayni in his attempt to make himself leader of Palestine and a power of greater Pan Arabia. He essentially played on the fears of people, blamed the Jews for the severe economic downturn the world faced following the Great Depression and appealed to the rising Nationalism in his attempt to gain power. To be perfectly frank, 1936 was a Coup attempt, nothing more. The main casualties during the first part of the Uprising weren't Jews or British, but rather those moderate Palestinians who stood in the way of Hussayni.


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