1929 Hebron Massacre Offers Historical Context to Middle East Conflict

The Hebron massacre of 1929, in which 67 Jews were killed, serves as a crucial, yet often overlooked, historical context for understanding the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an analysis by Yardena Schwartz.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, proponents of Hamas have argued for understanding the events within their historical context, a point acknowledged by Schwartz. She contends that this context extends back to 1929, predating the establishment of the state of Israel by two decades.

On August 24, 1929, more than 3,000 Muslim men reportedly attacked the Jewish quarter of Hebron, then part of British Mandate Palestine. The violence resulted in the deaths of 67 Jewish men, women, and children, with dozens more injured. Accounts describe horrific cruelty, including mutilation and rape. Many victims recognized their assailants, who had previously been their neighbors and associates.

This historical event bears striking similarities to the Oct. 7 attacks, according to the analysis. Schwartz suggests that the roots of the violence in 1929 lie in a disinformation campaign led by Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He allegedly spread the claim that Jews intended to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque to rebuild the ancient Jewish Temple on its ruins. This narrative, the analysis posits, fueled the subsequent violence against Jews in Palestine and is echoed by Hamas, which named its Oct. 7 operation "The Al-Aqsa Flood."

The aftermath of the 1929 massacre also presents parallels to contemporary reactions. Despite international condemnation at the time, the Arabic press in Palestine reportedly claimed that Jews had initiated the riots. The British, in their subsequent Shaw Commission report, cited peaceful Jewish demonstrations at the Western Wall as a cause for the riots. In an effort to appease the Arab majority, British authorities implemented quotas on Jewish immigration and restricted Jewish land purchases, despite land being sold by wealthy Arab landowners.

Schwartz argues that omitting the context of 1929 from current discussions about the conflict leads to a distorted understanding, potentially reinforcing the idea that the conflict originated with the state of Israel. She notes that the disinformation and religious underpinnings that fueled the 1929 violence remain obscured or ignored.

As the author of "Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict," Schwartz, who reported from Israel and the Palestinian Territories for a decade, aims to illuminate this pivotal period. She observes that the lies that incited violence a century ago are now sustained by the international community, rather than being rejected. The analysis concludes that a complete understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires acknowledging the long-ignored forces of religious domination, disinformation, and historical amnesia that have shaped it for the past century.