During their annual spring festival Nebi Musa (Prophet Moses), Muslims march from Jerusalem on the road to Jericho to where they believe Moses is buried. In the years predating 1920, these processions were marked by intimidation of Christian communities on their way.
After Emir Faisal I had agreed to the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine by signing the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement at Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the local leaders of the Palestinian Arabs, among them the Jerusalem Mayor Musa Khazim al-Husayni, rejected this agreement made in their name and the relations between Arabs and Jews had worsened.
The Arab attacks of March 1920 in Galilee (see the fall of Tel Hai and Joseph Trumpeldor) and the activities of Arab terrorist group Black Hand caused deep concerns among Zionist leaders, who made numerous requests to the Mandate administration to address the Yishuv's security. Their fears were ruled out by the Chief Administrative Officer General Louis Bols, Governor Ronald Storrs and General Edmund Allenby, particularly at their meeting with the president of the World Zionist Organization Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who warned them: "pogrom is in the air".
Storrs issued a warning to Arab leaders, but his forces included only 188 policemen, among them but 8 officers. The Ottoman Turks had usually deployed thousands of soldiers to keep order in narrow streets of Jerusalem during Nebi Musa procession.
Zeev Jabotinsky, who was earlier discharged from the British army as an "indiscreet political speaker", lead an effort to openly train Jewish volunteers in self-defense. The request to the British authorities to allow to arm the defenders was declined, however about 600 Jews were armed with small guns secretly.
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April 4-7, 1920 in the Old City
During a procession on April 4, 1920, inflammatory anti-Semitic rhetoric led to rioting in Jerusalem. One of the inciters was Hajj Amin al-Husayni, a young nephew of the mayor of Jerusalem, another was the editor of the newspaper Suriya al-Janubia ("Southern Syria") Aref al-Aref, who delivered his speech on horseback. The Arab mob went on to ransack the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, beating anyone they could find and looting shops and homes. The riots lasted for four days.
The British acted erratically. After the violence broke out, Jabotisky met Storrs and suggested deployment of his volunteers, but this request was rejected. Later Storrs changed his mind and asked for 200 volunteers to report to the police headquarters to be sworn in as deputies. After they arrived and the administering of the oath had begun, orders came to cease and send them away. The army imposed night curfew on Sunday night and arrested several dozen rioters, but on Monday morning they were allowed to attend morning prayer and then released.
On Monday disturbances grew worse and the Old City was sealed off by the army. Even the Jews who sought to flee were not allowed to leave. Martial law was declared, but looting, burglary, rape and murder continued. Several homes were set on fire.
On Monday evening, the soldiers were evacuated from the Old City, a step that was later declared an "an error of judgment" by a court inquiry.
Jewish volunteers entered the Old City to organize self-defense of its residents. One of the volunteers was Nehemia Rabin (Rubitzov), future father of Yitzhak Rabin. Eventually, the violence was quelled by the British.
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The aftermath
Fatalities: 5 Jews, 4 Arabs. Wounded: 216 Jews (18 critically), 23 Arabs (1 critically), 7 British soldiers.
The majority of the victims were old-Yishuv (non-Zionist, and some anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews). About 300 Jews from the Old City were evacuated.
After the riots, Storrs visited Menachem Ussishkin, the chairman of the Zionist Commission, to express "regrets for the tragedy that has befallen us," Ussishkin asked, "What tragedy?"
"I mean the unfortunate events that have occurred here in the recent days," Storrs said.
"His excellency means the pogrom," suggested Ussishkin. When Storrs hesitated to categorize the events as such, Ussishkin replied, "You Colonel, are an expert on matters of management and I am an expert on the rules of pogroms."
At the demand of the Palestinian Arab leadership, the British searched the offices and apartments of the Zionist leadership, including Weizmann's and Jabotisky's homes, for arms. At Jabotinsky's house they found 3 rifles, 2 pistols, and 250 rounds of ammunition. Nineteen men were arrested, including Jabotinsky.
A committee of inquiry placed responsibility for the riots on the Zionist Commission, for provoking the Arabs. Jabotinsky was given a fifteen year prison term for possessing weapons. The court blamed "Bolshevism," claiming that it "flowed in Zionism's inner heart" and ironically identified fiercely anti-Socialist Jabotinsky with the Socialist-aligned Poalei Zion ("Zionist Workers") party, which it called "a definite Bolshevist institution".
Some of the rioters were punished. Musa al-Hussayni was replaced as mayor by the head of the rival Nashashibi clan. Hajj Amin Al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref were each sentenced to ten years in absentia, since by then both had fled to Syria.
The official inquiry that followed found that the British military administration was rife with anti-Semitism and that the measures taken to maintain order were inadequate, but no one was charged. Not a single policeman was charged for failing in his duties.
A few weeks later, the San Remo conference replaced military administration of the Mandate with a civil government under Sir Herbert Samuel.
One of the most important results of the riot was that legal Jewish immigration to Palestine was halted, a major demand of the Palestinian Arab community. Feeling that the British were unwilling to defend them from continuous Arab violence, the Palestinian Jews decided to set up an underground self-defense militia, the Haganah ("defense").
