"On this day in #1936, The #GreatPalestinianRevolt against #British colonial rule and the #Zionist political project of developing a #Jewish national homeland began. It ended in August 1939 following brutal suppression by #Britishforces, with thousands of #Palestinians being killed.
The revolt followed years of oppression by British #colonial policies, along with the grinding poverty suffered by Palestinians and the transfer of land to Zionist #settlers, which hit the peasantry particularly hard. 60,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in the year leading to the revolt.
The first phase of the revolt lasted from April 1936 to July 1937 and involved a general strike called by the #Arab Higher Committee (AHC). This brought commercial and economic activity to a standstill in May 1936.
In rural areas, Palestinians formed armed groups to attack British and Zionist targets, joined by some volunteers from across the Arab world. In response, the British used brutal tactics such as house searches, night raids, beatings, imprisonment, torture, and deportation.
British forces demolished part of #Jaffa's #OldCity, imposed collective fines, and threatened #martiallaw while also calling in #military reinforcements. In October 1936, the ANC called off the #generalstrike after six months following pressure from the British.
The British also responded by setting up an investigation into the way forward for Palestine following the violent clashes known as the #PeelCommission. In July, the commission published its report recommending #Palestine should be partitioned into two states, Jewish and Arab.
The rebels controlled many rural areas and the Old City of #Jerusalem for a period and set up separate courts and a postal service to replace the institutions of the hated British mandate.
This time, the British responded with even harsher measures, banning the AHC and all political parties while exiling prominent public figures. Thousands of Palestinians were sent to "detention camps," residential areas were destroyed, schools closed, and villages fined.
Eventually, the British decided against the entire partition, but by mid-1939, the brutal British #counterinsurgency, with the help of the Jewish settlement police, had defeated the rebellion, and a promise to cap Jewish immigration was given. However, #WorldWarII would change everything."