Palestine/Nabi Musa riots in Jerusalem

The 1920 Palestine riots, or Nabi Musa riots, were violent Arab pogroms against the Jews in Jerusalem.

They took place under British rule through April 4-7, 1920 in and around the Old City of Jerusalem.

The events coincided with and are named after the local Muslim holiday, Nabi Musa; the riots followed rising tensions in Arab-Jewish relations over the implications of Zionist immigration, tensions which coincided with attacks on outlying Jewish settlements in the Galilee. Speeches by Arab Palestinian religious leaders during the festival, in which traditionally large numbers of Muslims gathered for a religious procession, led to a serious outbreak of violent assaults on the city's Jews. The British military administration's erratic response failed to contain the rioting, which continued for four days. As a result of the events, trust between the British, Jews, and Arabs eroded. One consequence was that the Jewish community increased moves towards an autonomous infrastructure and security apparatus parallel to that of the British administration.