The 1933 Palestine riots marked a major escalation in Arab-British tensions over Jewish immigration and land policy under the British Mandate.
Key Facts
- Riot start date
- 13 October 1933
- Killed at Jaffa demonstration
- 19 people
- Injured at Jaffa demonstration
- ~70 people
- Additional Arabs killed in unrest
- 7 people
- Additional Arabs wounded in unrest
- 130 people
- General strike duration
- 1 week
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Arab resentment surged following a sharp rise in Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine after the Nazi rise to power in Germany in 1933. Arab leaders also directed anger at British Mandate authorities, accusing them of facilitating Jewish land purchases. The Arab Executive Committee organized demonstrations to express this grievances, though British authorities banned them.
On 13 October 1933, police broke up a banned Arab Executive Committee demonstration, sparking widespread riots. A second mass demonstration in Jaffa turned violent when police fired into the crowd, killing 19 and injuring around 70 in what Palestinians called the 'Jaffa massacre.' Further unrest spread rapidly across Mandatory Palestine.
The violence triggered a week-long general strike and urban insurrections throughout Mandatory Palestine. Police killed 7 more Arabs and wounded an additional 130 during the subsequent unrest. The riots signaled a deepening crisis in intercommunal and Arab-British relations that would intensify in the years leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Political Outcome
Riots suppressed by British Mandate police; Arab protests failed to halt Jewish immigration or land purchases, deepening intercommunal tensions.