Arab Revolt in Palestine

The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine was an uprising in protest against mass Jewish Immigration, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, by Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine.

It should not be confused with the Arab Revolt of 1916–18. The revolt was unsuccessful but its outcomes had influence on the 1948 Palestine war.

An early manifestation of the National revolt was the Palestinian general strike which lasted from April to October 1936.

The dissent was influenced by the Qassamite rebellion following the killing of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam in 1935 as well as the declaration by Hajj Mohammad Amin al-Husayni of 16 May 1930 as 'Palestine Day' and calling for a General Strike on this day, following the 1929 Buraq (Western Wall) Uprising. This led to the formation on 25 April 1936 of the Arab Higher Committee or HAC.

About one month after the general strike started, the leadership group declared a general non-payment of taxes in explicit opposition to Jewish immigration. In the countryside, armed insurrection started sporadically, becoming more organized with time. One particular target of the rebels was the spur line to Haifa of the Trans Arabian Pipeline (TAP) constructed only a few years earlier, this ran from Kirkuk to Sidon. This was repeatedly bombed at various points along its length. Other attacks were on railways (including trains), Jewish settlements, secluded Jewish neighborhoods in the mixed cities, and Jews, both individually and in groups.

The strike was called off in October 1936 and the violence abated for about a year while the Peel Commission deliberated and eventually recommended partition of Palestine. With the rejection of this proposal, the revolt resumed during the autumn of 1937, marked by the assassination of Commissioner Andrews in Nazareth. Violence continued throughout 1938 and eventually petered out in 1939. The decision of the French to crack down on Arab leaders in Damascus may have been a significant factor in stopping the conflict.