Middle East Piece - How Many Palestinian Arabs were Dispossessed?

Did Zionism Dispossess Palestinian Arabs?

*This article is part of a series*

As the Jews took possession of the land, they faced the responsibility of what to do with poor Arab farmers residing there. Often times, the previous owner who sold to the Jews lived outside the region and the existence of these farmers was of little concern. If the landlord could collect rent from them, he would. If not, their presence was tolerated in so far as prosecuting them for trespassing did not top the landlord's priorities. The problem arose when the new Jewish landlords desired not only ownership of the land, but to live and work there, to cultivate with their own hands. A British report describes this troublesome scenario:

“An Arab of the effendi class acquires ... a large tract in return for a comparatively trivial outlay: and is content to collect such rents as he can from some occupiers. Others, being illiterate and cut off from common sources of information, do not recognise the existence of an alleged owner who himself is certainly quite unable to identify the boundaries of his own supposed property. These limits are described in his title deeds only in such vague terms as are possible in an unsurveyed area with few distinctive topographical features, and so may be today, practically, unidentifiable. A Jewish Organisation buys this land from the owner, and, as entitled under law, proceeds to take possession for development of its prosperity. That proceeding involves eviction of a number of men who have possibly heard of the late owner merely as a neighbouring effendi, and who have grazed a more or less indeterminate local area for generations without paying the alleged owner any rent. The eviction displaces them from land of which, to all intents and purposes, they are, and have been for generations hereditary occupiers ... Monetary compensation is no solace for such men as these who can find no other pied-a-terre: and who can recognize no reason for the change of circumstances which deprives them of the only form of livelihood known to them. And the offers by organizations to provide money for the purchase of land elsewhere for the re-settlement of evicted tenants represent simply the familiar device of transferring a nuisance from oneself to one’s neighbour.”¹

Knowing this was the case, and not wanting to become entangled in legal disputes that could last for years, the Jewish organizations preferred to buy land free of any such landless tenants:

"In 1920 he [Ben-Gurion] told a visiting delegation of Poalei Zion that '... the most important economic asset of the native population is the fellahs, the builders of the country and its laborers ... Under no circumstances must we touch land belonging to the fellas or worked by them. ... They must receive help from Jewish settlement institutions, to free themselves from their dead weight of their oppressors, and to keep their land. Only if a fellah leaves his place of settlement should we offer to buy his land, at an appropriate price.' And if an effendi landowner sold land worked by fellahs, 'then we must give the displaced tenants their own plots, and the means to cultivate such tracts more intensively. When this is impossible, the fellahs must receive new land elsewhere.'"²

"Ben-Gurion placed the work of renewal in the desert and the wastelands. He told a visiting delegation in 1920 that the possibilities for massive settlement of Jews lay in the abandoned or uninhabited reaches ... on land that had no owners, and on partially utilized tracts owned privately or by the government. He estimated that four fifths of the country's territory was available for new settlement. Six million persons using modern methods could earn their livelihoods from farming these lands; an untold number could prosper from industry. None of this activity would impinge on the Arabs, who would continue to live in their established areas, while Jews lived in new settlements and worked new fields."³

"From 1936 on Arabs sold land only when there were no tenant farmers on it. In 1938 the Palestine Land Development Company wrote to the Political Department of the Jewish Agency: 'Some time ago you requested detailed information from us concerning Arabs living on lands in the Sharon Plain, where new settlements were established. For the last two years it has been our policy to buy lands unencumbered by tenant farmers or by other claimants for indemnity. The Arab owners, aware of this policy, have refrained from engaging tenant farmers to cultivate their lands."⁴

"Acquiring land with the fewest number of fellaheen occupants was also a priority since this meant reducing the number of contacts between the JNF and Arab sellers."⁵

It was only after property completely free of tenant farmers could not be found that Jewish organizations began purchasing land used by them. This inspired "apprehensions concerning the fate of Palestine's Arabs in a Jewish state. Most of the Arabs were farmers; what would become of them once the country passed to the Jews? They would be dispossessed, 'and without land, the Arabs will have nothing to do.'"⁶

How Many Landless Arabs?

As defined in the introduction, these were Arabs who were dispossessed and never secured any alternate land to live and work on. How many Arabs were rendered landless directly because of Zionist land purchase? The quick answer is approximately 3,300. How I arrived there is detailed below.

"The ultimate official but inaccurate estimates of landless Arabs displaced by Jewish land purchase were achieved through the efforts of the Development Department... That estimate, based upon the narrowest of definitions of what constituted a landless Arab, found that less than 900 Arabs were displaced because of Jewish land purchase. There is little doubt that Jewish land purchase and Arab land sales forced a greater number of fellaheen from land they had traditionally cultivated and used for grazing. But in the absence of accurate information on the former status of cultivators, or of the intermediary activities of Arab landlords, merchants, lawyers, and other individuals who acted as land brokers, no true assessment of landless or displaced Arabs could then, or now, objectively be made."⁷

It seems a more accurate estimate can be made using data from Lewis French's in-depth investigations into Arab landlessness. French was Britain's Director of Development for Palestine and using data from his reports, it appears closer to 3,300 Arabs were displaced by Jewish land purchases. French's methods for counting landless Arabs are explained in detail:

"The tribunal which was appointed to investigate claims decided to admit as entitled to resettlement Arabs who have been displaced from the land which they occupied in consequence of those lands having passed into Jewish hands, and who have failed to obtain other holdings on which to establish themselves or equally satisfactory occupation, subject to the following exceptions:-- 1. Persons who have themselves sold their land, that is, owners who of their own free will have sold their lands; 2. Persons who own land elsewhere; 3. Persons who have found and are now cultivating as tenants land other than that from which they were displaced; 4. Persons who obtained land after the sale of the land from which they were displaced, but have since ceased to cultivate it on account of poverty or other reasons; 5. Persons who were not cultivators at the time of the sale, for example, ploughmen and labourers."⁸

“The procedure being adopted in verifying claims by Arabs, who have been displaced from the lands which they occupied in consequence of the lands falling into Jewish hands, and who have not obtained other holdings on which they have established themselves or other equally satisfactory occupation is as follows: Each claim is carefully examined by the Legal Advisor ... Where the claim appears to be invalid it is submitted to me and, if I concur, rejected. Where prima facie the claim appears sustainable, papers dealing with it are sent to the Jewish Agency, who are asked to submit their views. Where they object to the validity of the claim, the Legal Assessor proceeds to the locality concerned and makes further investigation on the spot, then submitting the case with his opinion for my final orders.”⁹

With the definition of who qualified to be considered a landless Arab established along with the mechanism for validating the claims, French thought “It was obvious that, whether this extensive area has been bought from large Arab proprietors or from small land holders, the acquisitions for permanent settlement by immigrants could not have been effected without considerable displacement of existing cultivators.”¹⁰.

But the reality did not meet French's expectations. In fact, after investigating Arab landless claims for over a year with his opinion on the outcome already formed, "by March 1932 it was clear that the number of landless Arab families did not reach the figure of thousands, as expected; there were only 664 families to be dealt with.'"¹¹ "... although 3,271 applications for re-settlement had been received from landless Arabs, only 664 had been admitted to the register, while 2,607 had been disallowed."¹²

There were on average 5 members to a Palestinian Arab family.¹³ ¹⁴ ²⁷ ²⁸ ²⁹ This means that 3,300+ Arabs were relegated to a landless class out of a total of roughly 700,000 Arabs in Palestine which is not quite one half of one percent of the Arab population. This is why the widely held conclusion is that Palestinian Arabs, largely, were not dispossessed by immigrating Jews:

"The old bogy that the Jew has come to deprive the Arab of his lands is being rapidly dispelled. Only a few days ago, in Safed, I was offered, for the Zionist Executive of Palestine, an immense tract of land (comprising nearly 75,000 acres) at a price nearly one-fourth of the amount demanded by the Arabs for the same land two years ago. At that time the Arab landlords really believed that the Jew was ready, willing and able to pay any price, however exorbitant, for land. He, therefore, naturally feared to part with his holdings and demanded prices that could not stand the test of economic reason. Now he has learned that 'rich as a Jew' is merely a figure of speech, and that we are too wise to pay high prices for unproductive land. Now the Jews can purchase in the open market, at reasonable prices, all the lands necessary for their future development. But, as a matter of fact, there is already more than enough land in Jewish hands for the next ten years' development."¹⁵

“The shortage of land is due less to purchase by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population. The Arab claims that the Jews have obtained too large a proportion of good land cannot be maintained. Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamps and uncultivated when it was bought.”¹⁶

“As pioneers in Palestine the Jews have a record of which they can be proud. In Palestine there has been no expulsion of the indigenous population, and exploitation of cheap Arab labor has been vigorously opposed as inconsistent with Zionism.”¹⁷

"Zionist settlement between 1880 and 1948 did not displace or dispossess Palestinians. Every indication is that there was net Arab immigration into Palestine in this period, and that the economic situation of Palestinian Arabs improved tremendously under the British Mandate relative to surrounding countries. By 1948, there were approximately 1.35 million Arabs and 650,000 Jews living between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, more Arabs than had ever lived in Palestine before, and more Jews than had lived there since Roman times. Analysis of population by sub-districts shows that Arab population tended to increase the most between 1931 and 1948 in the same areas where there were large proportions of Jews. Therefore, Zionist immigration did not displace Arabs.”¹⁸

"Economic, social, and political circumstances compelled many Palestinians to dislodge or uproot themselves. Over decades, 'landlessness' was caused mainly by the peasants' overwhelming indebted condition. It was enhanced by a perilous agricultural economy and augmented by an inhospitable bureaucracy which endorsed a 'politics of notables.' ... 'landlessness' was not due primarily to Jewish land purchase or ARab land sales. A large plurality of Palestinians who were engaged in rural occupations were in fact not landowners, though many may have been in previous decades."¹⁹

"Mr. GALLACHER: Is it not the case that the strike of Arabs is based partly on the fact that they are being driven off the land? Mr. ORMSBY-GORE [Secretary of State for the Colonies]: I cannot accept that suggestion for one moment."²⁰

"In the early 1930s, Arab land sales and Jewish land purchases contributed to the evolution of an Arab landless class. But the principal factor influencing Arab landlessness was the fellaheen's deteriorating economic condition."²¹

Is roughly one half of one percent of a population ending up landless enough to serve as a major contribution to such a grand struggle? It doesn't seem to add up. Even if every single case of a landless Arab served as an example of harsh and unjust Zionist treatment, half a percent of the population being evicted from land they often times didn't own just doesn't sound like a mobilizing factor in itself.

As it turns out, there wasn't much harsh or unjust treatment going on. These landless Arabs were not left to roam Palestine without regard for their well-being or future livelihoods. Many of them reached agreements with the Jewish purchasers to evacuate the land willingly:

"An overwhelming preponderance of the tenants for whom we have records preferred monetary compensation to a maintenance area."²²

"There were surprisingly few claims to tenancy rights from Arabs with respect to Jewish-owned land. This lack of claims was evidence that Jewish landowners were finding little difficulty, by means of payment of liberal compensation, in persuading Arabs who claimed rights to abandon their claims."²³

"The most unanticipated result of the POCO was its stimulating effect upon land transfers. Many landowners who still possessed reasonably large estates of 1,000 dunams or more sold their lands to Jewish purchasers rather than run the risk of tenancy claims."²⁴

"Nevertheless, Arab tenants gladly took compensation to vacate their holdings. Some relished the opportunity while others were reluctant to accept anything but land. Ultimately, the peasants were defenseless against the process of dispossession and the legalized but relentless pressure that went with it. Such pressure emanated simultaneously from Arab sellers, Jewish purchasers, and an agricultural economy that was precarious at best. Many who received monetary compensation saw these lump sums as means toward debt extrication. Most squandered the money given them. Very few invested the proceeds in other, more profitable commercial or agricultural pursuits."²⁵

"In the 1920s and 1930s, there were hundreds of examples of Palestinian Arabs voluntarily emigrating away from new or imminent Jewish settlements and enclaves because of economic reasons, Arab sales, and Jewish purchases. For example, when the Palestine Land Development Company purchased land for the Jewish National Fund (INF) in the Acre area and Jezreel Valley in the 1920s, more than 688 Arab tenants and their families from more than twenty Arab villages comprising more than 250,000 dunams (one dunam equals a quarter acre) vacated their lands after each tenant received financial compensation from Zionist buyers. Most of these former tenants remained in northern Palestine; some were given the option of purchasing other lands with money they had received as compensation; others remained as tenants on the same land for a period of six years. 30 In testifying before the Shaw Commission, which investigated the disturbances in Palestine in 1929, the Palestine Director of lands noted: A[n Arab] vendor would come along and make a contract for sale and purchase with the Jews. We would know nothing of this until four, five, or six months later when the transaction would come to the office. We then instructed the District Officer to report to the tenants. He would go to the village and in some cases he would find that the whole population had already evacuated the village. They [the tenants] had taken certain sums of money and had gone, and we could not afford them any protection whatever."²⁶

In addition to favorable agreements being privately reached between Jewish buyer and Arab tenant, a slew of laws and ordinances were passed with these landless Arabs in mind, whether to keep them from becoming landless in the first place, or to assist them in the event they ended up that way. The next page will look at this in depth.

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Navigate this series:

Part 1 - Introduction to Dispossession in Palestine
Part 2 - Arab Dispossession Methods
Part 3 - Jewish Dispossession Methods
Part 4 - How Many were Disposessed?
Part 5 - Arab Land Sales
Part 6 - Preventing Dispossession
Part 7 - Improvements for the Fellahin

Footnotes:
¹ French, Lewis. "Supplementary Report on Agricultural Development and Land Settlement in Palestine," Director of Development, Jerusalem, April 20, 1932
² Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs - From Peace to War, Pp. 31-32
³ Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs - From Peace to War, Pg. 43
⁴ Avneri, Aryeh L. The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land-Settlement and the Arabs 1878-1948. Efal, Israel: Yad Tabenkin, 1982. 178-179.
⁵ Stein, Kenneth W. "The Jewish National Fund: Land Purchase Methods and Priorities, 1924-1939". Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 20, Number 2, April 1984.
⁶ Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs - From Peace to War, Pg. 139
⁷ Stein, Kenneth W. The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. 110
⁸ League of Nations. Report by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Council of the League of Nations on the Administration of Palestine and Trans-Jordan For the Year 1933. 31 December 1933.
⁹ French, Lewis. Supplementary Report on Agricultural Development and Land Settlement in Palestine. 1932.
¹⁰ French, Lewis. "First Report on Agricultural Development and Land Settlement in Palestine," Director of Development, Jerusalem, December 23,1931
¹¹ "The Tenants of Wadi Hawarith: Another View of the Land Question in Palestine" by Raya Adler, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2. (May, 1988), pg. 208. (Referencing Cunliffe-Lister Memorandum to HMG, March 1932, P.R.O., C07331215/97050/9)
¹² A Survey of Palestine, Vol. I, Pg. 296
¹³ French, Lewis. "First Report on Agricultural Development and Land Settlement in Palestine," Director of Development, Jerusalem, December 23,1931.
¹⁴ Demograhpic data coming from the Johnson-Crosbie report reinforces the estimate of 5 members per family where 23,573 families represent 136,044 rural Arabs, totalling 5.3 persons per family. Stein, Kenneth W. The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. 109
¹⁵ New York Times, June 25, 1922. (Quoting Bernard Rosenblatt on May 23, 1922) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DE4DD1E3FE432A25756C2A9609C946395D6CF
¹⁶ Palestine Royal Commission, Chapter IX
¹⁷ Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Chapter VIII
¹⁸ http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm (Internet Archive confirms quote as of June 27, 2007)
¹⁹ Stein, Kenneth W. One Hundred Years of Social Change: The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. 1991.
²⁰ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1936/jun/17/land-ownership-and-tenancy
²¹ Stein, Kenneth W. The Land Question in Palestine, 1917-1939, Pg. 142
²² Stein, Kenneth W. Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine
²³ Stein, Kenneth W. Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine
²⁴ Stein, Kenneth W. Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine
²⁵ Stein, Kenneth W. Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine
²⁶ Stein, Kenneth W. One Hundred Years of Social Change: The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. 1991.
²⁷ According to the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1885, there were an average of 5 persons per Palestinian family. Blumberg, Arnold. Zion Before Zionism, 1838-1880. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1985. 170
²⁸ Pinner, Walter. The Legend of the Arab Refugees; A Critical Study of UNRWA's Reports and Statistics. Tel Aviv: Economic and Social Research Institute, 1967. 52-53.
²⁹ A Bedouin camp was recorded as having "113 families, or 563 souls" which gives us 4.98 persons per family. - Avneri, Aryeh L. The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land-Settlement and the Arabs 1878-1948. Efal, Israel: Yad Tabenkin, 1982. 147.