On This Day: The Start of the 1929 Uprisings

Although in most neighborhoods across the country, Jews and Arabs lived in peace around 100 years ago, underlying tensions were brewing. For many months, Muslims claimed that Jews were plotting to take over the Temple Mount. Eventually, this incitement took hold, influencing the masses in what became the unofficial kickoff of the Jewish-Arab struggle over the land.

On the 17th of Av, 1929, Arabs descended from the Temple Mount to neighborhoods across the country and attacked Jews. In some communities, where Jewish defense forces had already organized, the Jews fought back. However, in other places, the Arabs succeeded in attacking, murdering, and brutally mistreating Jews.

In some areas, the British removed the rioters, but only after significant destruction had already occurred. The British displayed a clear inability to manage the situation, and the riots subsided only after about a week. During this week, 135 Jews were murdered in various communities around the country.