List of massacres in Palestine against the Jews - aka Israel

List of massacres in Palestine 

The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Palestine prior to the establishment of the British Mandate for Palestine. For massacres that took place prior to the name Palestine being adopted, see List of massacres in ancient Israel. For massacres that took place in the British Mandate for Palestine, see List of killings and massacres in Mandatory Palestine. For massacres that took place during the 1948 Palestine War, see Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War. For massacres that took place prior to the British Mandate, see List of massacres in Palestine. For massacres that have occurred in Israel following its declaration of independence, see List of massacres in Israel. For massacres that have occurred in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1948, see List of massacres in Palestinian Territories.

Palestine is a name, among others, for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.[1] The region is also known as the Land of Israel and the Holy Land.[2] [3]

Name	Date	Location	Responsible Party	Deaths	Notes
Siege of Jerusalem (614)	614	Jerusalem	Persian Amy ordered by Shahrbaraz	66,509[4]	Christians were massacred by Persian invaders
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)	15 July 1099	Jerusalem	European Crusaders	over 10,000 Muslims, Jews and Christians
1517 Hebron attacks	1517	Hebron	Turkish soldiers	Unknown	Jews were attacked, beaten, and raped, and many were killed in their homes[5]
1517 Safed attacks	1517	Safed	Muslim mobs	Unknown	Many Jews subsequently fled the city[6]
1660 destruction of Tiberias	1660	Tiberias	Druze rebels	Unknown	Resulted in Jewish population abandoning Tiberias[7] [8]
1660 destruction of Safed	1660	Safed	Arab rioters	Unknown, estimated thousands[9]
Siege of Jaffa	7 March 1799	Jaffa	Napoleon'sArmy	2,440-4,100	Ottoman prisoners were executed on the beaches south of the town
Taking of Hebron by Egypt/ 1834 Hebron massacre	1834	Hebron	Egyptian troops	Over 500	Egyptian soldiers did not distinguish between inhabitants; for three hours, troops plundered, killed, raped and maimed Muslim and Jew alike.[10]
1834 looting of Safed	1834	Safed	Arab rioters	unknown	Reports detail torture and mass-rape of Jewish population[11]
1838 Druze attack on Safed	1838	Safed	Druze rebels	Unknown	Druze rebels and Muslim mobs plundered Jewish quarters for three days[10] [12]

See also

• For massacres, taking place during Ottoman times, see List of massacres in Ottoman Syria.

References

1. Carl S. Ehrlich "Philistines" The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 2001.
2. Gideon Biger (2004). The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840–1947. RoutledgeCurzon. passim.
3. de Geus, 2003, p. 7.
4. "Human Skeletal Remains from the Mamilla cave, Jerusalem" by Yossi Nagar.
5. The Solomon Goldman lectures. Spertus College of Judaica Press. 1999. p. 56.ISBN 978-0-935982-57-2. The Turks' conquest of the city in 1517, was marked by a violent pogrom of murder, rape, and plunder of Jewish homes. The surviving Jews fled to Beirut, not to return until 1533.
6. Moses ben Mordecai Bassola; Avraham Daṿid (31 December 1999). In Zion and Jerusalem: the itinerary of Rabbi Moses Basola (1521-1523). C. G. Foundation Jerusalem Project Publications of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies of Bar-Ilan University. p. 62. ISBN 978-965-222-926-7. The demographic data noted here must also be examined against the background of outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence shortly after the Ottoman conquest that caused many of Safed's Jews to flee the city in early 1517.
7. Joel Rappel, History of Eretz Israel from Prehistory up to 1882 (1980), Vol.2, p.531. 'In 1662 Sabbathai Sevi arrived to Jerusalem. It was the time when the Jewish settlements of Galilee were destroyed by the Druze: Tiberias was completely desolate and only a few of former Safed residents had returned..."
8. Barnay, Y. The Jews in Palestine in the eighteenth century: under the patronage of the Istanbul Committee of Officials for Palestine (University of Alabama Press 1992) ISBN 978-0-8173-0572-7 p. 149
9. Jacob De Haas (1934). History of Palestine. p. 345. Safed, hotbed of mystics, is not mentioned in the Zebi adventure. Its community had been massacred in 1660, when the town was destroyed by Arabs, and only one Jew escaped.
10. Sherman Lieber (1992). Mystics and missionaries: the Jews in Palestine, 1799-1840. University of Utah Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-87480-391-4. During a ferocious onslaught of three hours, Ibrahim Pasha allowed his troops to slaughter Muslims, plunder the population, and defile the women. When Muslims sought safety in the Jewish quarter of Hebron, the soldiers pursued them, indiscriminately killing and looting all in their path.
11. Martin Sicker (1999). Reshaping Palestine: from Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831-1922. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-275-96639-3. However, the insurrection soon lost its original purpose and turned into bloody rioting and excesses directed against the Jewish population. Arab villagers joined with the townspeople to attack the Jews, raping, looting and destroying synagogues. The rioting was most severe in Safed, where assaults and vandalism forced many Jews to flee to safety amount the friendly Arabs of the nearby village of Ein Zetim. Others were afraid to remain in the remote area and decided to relocate to Jerusalem. During the course of the disturbances, some 500 Torah scrolls were destroyed in Safed alone. The rioting continued for thirty-three days, until a contingent of Druse troops from Ibrahim's army arrived to restore order. The governor of Safed and thirteen of the ringleaders were taken captive, summarily tried, and put to death.
12. Louis Finkelstein (1960). The Jews: their history, culture, and religion. Harper. p. 679. In the summer of 1838 the Druses revolted against Ibrahim Pasha, and once more the Jews were the scapegoat. The Muslims joined the Druses in repeating the slaughter and plunder of 1834.

List of killings and massacres in Mandatory Palestine aka The Land of Israel 

This is a list of killings and massacres committed in Mandatory Palestine. It is restricted to incidents in which at least three people were deliberately killed. This list does not include unlawful deaths due to criminal activity. It includes all casualties that resulted from the initial attack on civilians or non-combat military personnel.

Note: The designation "responsible party" below refers to those believed to be the principle instigators of the violence. Where culpability is disputed or ambiguous, the sources cited support the chosen designation.

Individual massacres during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine are listed below. In total during the course of these events between September 27, 1937 – 1939 5,000 Arabs, 415 Jews, several hundred Britons were killed[1]

List of killings and massacres committed in Mandate Palestine

Name	Date	Responsible party	Casualties	notes
Battle of Tel Hai	March 1, 1920	Arabs	13	8 Jews killed;[1] 5 Arabs killed.
Nebi Musa riots	April 4–7, 1920	Arabs	9	5 Jews, 4 Arabs killed; 216 Jews, 18 Arabs, 7 Britons wounded[1] [2][3]
Jaffa riots	May 1–7, 1921	Arabs	95	48 Arabs, 47 Jews killed; 140 Jews, 73 Arabs wounded.
NA	November 2, 1921	Arabs	5	5 Jews killed in Jerusalem in stabbing attack. Multiple wounded, including women and children.[4]
Palestine Riots	August 23–26, 1929	Arabs	249	133 Jews, 116 Arabs killed; 339 Jews, 232 Arabs wounded [5] [1] [2][3] [6]
Hebron massacre	August 24, 1929	Arabs	67	67 Jews killed; 58 Jews wounded
Safed massacre	August 29, 1929	Arabs	20	18–20 Jews killed; 80 Jews wounded (included in previous entry)[6]
1933 Palestine riots	October 28, 1933	Arabs	20
The Bloody Day in Jaffa (Hebrew: יום הדמים ביפו)	April 19–20, 1936	Arabs	21	9 Jews killed, 40 Jews wounded (11 critically) in Arab attack in Jaffa. Police killed two attackers. Further 7 Jews and 3 Arabs killed the next day[7] [8] [9]
Labor Strike Revolt	April 20 – October 12, 1936	Arabs, Jews, British authorities	253	138 Arabs, 82 Jews, 33 British killed, 369 Jews wounded (110 critically)[1] [10]
NA	July 7, 1937	Unknown	27	6 Jews and 21 Arabs killed inHaifa when bomb is thrown into a crowd at a marketplace. 11 Jews and 52 Arabs wounded [11][12]
NA	August 13, 1937	Arabs	4	4 members of a Jewish family, 3 children, shot dead by Arabs who broke into their home inSafed[13]
NA	November 9, 1937	Arabs	5	5 Jewish Keren Kayemet workers killed near Har Haruach by an Arab ambush. Ma'ale HaHamisha was named in their honor.[14]
N/A	November 14, 1937	Jewish militants (Irgun)	10	10 Arabs killed by Irgun units launching attacks around Jerusalem, ("Black Sunday")[15][16]
N/A	28 March 1938	Arabs	6	6 Jewish passengers killed by Arabs while traveling from Haifato Safed.[17]
N/A	April 12, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	4	2 Arabs and 2 British policemen were killed by a bomb in a train in Haifa.[16]
N/A	May 24, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	3	3 Arabs were shot and killed in Haifa.[16]
N/A	June 26, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	7	7 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jaffa.[16]
N/A	June (late), 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	0	Unknown number of Arabs killed by a bomb that was thrown into a crowded Arab market place in Jerusalem.[18]
N/A	July 5, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	7	7 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks in Tel-Aviv.[16]
N/A	July 5, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	3	3 Arabs were killed by a bomb detonated in a bus in Jerusalem. Further Arab killed in another attack in Jerusalem[16]
N/A	July 6, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	23	18 Arabs and 5 Jews were killed by two simultaneous bombs in the Arab melon market in Haifa. More than 60 people were wounded.[16] [19] [20]
N/A	July 8, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	4	4 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jerusalem.[16]
N/A	July 16, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	10	10 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jerusalem.[16]
N/A	July 25, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	43	43 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Haifa.[16] [21]
N/A	August 16, 1938	Arabs	3	A Jewish family was kidnapped by Arabs in Atlit. 3 killed.[22] [23]
N/A	August 26, 1938	Jewish militants (Irgun)	24	24 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jaffa.[16]
N/A	September 14, 1938	Arabs	3	3 Jews killed in a bomb attack and ambush on a private vehicle near Nir David then: Tel Amal)[24] Several attackers killed by Britons.
1938 Tiberias pogrom	October 2, 1938	Arabs	19	19 Jews were killed.[25]
N/A	February 27, 1939	Jewish militants (Irgun)	33	33 Arabs were killed in multiple attacks, incl. 24 by bomb in Arab market in Suk Quarter of Haifa and 4 by bomb in Arab vegetable market in Jerusalem.[26]
N/A	May 29, 1939	Jewish militants (Irgun)	5	5 Arabs were killed by a mine detonated at the Rex cinema in Jerusalem.[16]
N/A	May 29, 1939	Jewish militants (Irgun)	5	5 Arabs were shot and killed during a raid on the village ofBiyar 'Adas.[16]
N/A	June 2, 1939	Jewish militants (Irgun)	5	5 Arabs were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.[16][27]
N/A	June 16, 1939	Jewish Militants (Irgun)	6	6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Jerusalem.[16]
N/A	June 19, 1939	Jewish Militants (Irgun)	20	20 Arabs were killed by explosives mounted on a donkey at a marketplace in Haifa.[16] [28]
N/A	June 29, 1939	Jewish Militants (Irgun)	13	13 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks around Jaffa during a one-hour period.[16] [29]
N/A	July 20, 1939	Jewish Militants (Irgun)	6	6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Tel-Aviv.[16]
N/A	July 20, 1939	Jewish Militants (Irgun)	3	3 Arabs were killed in Rehovot.[16]
NA	June 11, 1941	Italian Air Force	20	20 Jews killed in Tel Aviv during Italian air raid [30]
N/A	September 27, 1944	Jewish militants (Irgun)	0	Unknown number of casualties, around 150 Irgun members attacked four British police stations[31]
N/A	November 1, 1945	Jewish militants (Irgun)	0	5 locomotives destroyed inLydda station. Two staff, one soldier and one policeman killed.[32]
N/A	December 27, 1945	Jewish militants (Irgun)	7	3 British policemen and 4Basuto soldiers killed during the bombing of British CIDheadquarters in Jerusalem; 1 British soldier killed during attack of British army camp in north Tel Aviv[33] [34]
King David Hotel bombing	July 22, 1946	Jewish militants (Irgun)	91	91 killed, including 41 Arabs, 28 Britons, and 17 Jews; 40-45 wounded[35] [36]
N/A	January 12, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	4	4 killed in bombing of British headquarters.[37]
N/A	March 1, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	17	17 British officers killed, during raid and explosion.[38]
N/A	September 26, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	4	4 British policemen killed in Irgun bank robbery.[37]
N/A	September 29, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	13	13 killed, 53 wounded in attack on British police station.[37]
1947 Jerusalem riots	December 2, 1947	Arabs	14	8 Jews Reported Killed[39] [40]
al-Tira	December 12, 1947	Jewish militants	13	13 Arabs killed, 10 wounded[41][42]
N/A	December 12, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	20	20 killed, 5 wounded by barrel bomb at Damascus Gate.[43]
N/A	December 13, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	16	16 Arabs killed; 67 Arabs wounded from bombings in Jerusalem and Jaffa; Irgun also burns down 100 Arab homes in Jaffa[1]
N/A (See Beit Nabala)	December 14, 1947	Arab Legion	13	13 Jews killed (some sources say 14); 9 Jews, 2 Britons, 1 Arab wounded in attack on military convoy near Lydda[1]
N/A	December 16, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	10	10 killed by bomb at Noga Cinema in Jaffa.[44]
al-Khisas massacre	December 18, 1947	Jewish militants (Haganah)	10	10 Arabs killed[1]
N/A	December 24, 1947	Arab snipers, Jewish militants	8	4 Jews killed in Haifa by snipers, 4 Arabs killed in reprisals[1]
N/A	December 26, 1947	Arab militants	7	7 Jews killed while driving in convoy to Jerusalem[1]
N/A	December 28, 1947	Arab Snipers, Jewish militants	5	5 Jews killed in Bab el Wad by snipers, 5 Arabs killed in reprisals[1]
N/A	December 29, 1947	Arab militants, Jewish militants (Irgun)	4	4 Jews killed in Tel Aviv from mortar and sniper fire, 13 Arabs killed in Jerusalem in Irgun bombing[1] [1] [45]
Bomb thrown on Damascus Gate Café inJerusalem	December 29, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun)	13	11 Arabs, 2 Britons killed[1] [46] Uri Milstein reported 15 casualties from the bombing in the Palestine Post.[47]
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre	December 30, 1947	Jewish militants (Irgun), Arabs	39	Arabs beat 39 Jews to death and injured 49 after an Irgun bombing which killed 6[1]
Balad al-Shaykh massacre	January 1, 1948	Jewish militants (Palmach)	50	17–70 Arabs killed in Haifa[1]
N/A	January 3, 1948	Arab militants	4	4 Jews killed in Haifa[1]
N/A	January 3, 1948	Arab militants	4	3 Jews, 1 Briton killed in Jerusalem[1]
Bombing of Arab National Committee HQ	January 4, 1948	Jewish militants (Stern Gang)	14	14 Arabs killed; 100 Arabs wounded[46]
Semiramis Hotel bombing	January 5, 1948	Jewish militants (Haganah)	20	20 Arabs killed in Jerusalem[48]
N/A	January 5, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	14	14 Arabs killed and 19 injured by truck bomb outside the 3-storey 'Serrani', Jaffa's built Ottoman Town Hall[49]
N/A	January 5, 1948	Arabs, Jews	4	4 Arabs killed after attacking Jewish quarter in Safed[1]
Jaffa Gatebombing in Jerusalem	January 7, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	18	15–20 Arabs killed[1] [50]
N/A	January 9, 1948	Arab militants	35	35 Jews killed near Kfar Etzion[1]
N/A	January 10, 1948	Arab militants	11	11 Jews killed, 1 decapitated near Yavne[1]
N/A	January 14, 1948	Arab militants	7	7 Jews, 2 Britons killed in Haifa[1]
The 35 Heroes of Gush Etzion (Hebrew: ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון)	January 15, 1948	Arab militants	35	35 Jewish members of a relief force to Gush Etzion killed nearHebron by Arab militants.[51]
N/A	January 20, 1948	Arab militants	8	8 Jews killed in Yehiam[1]
N/A	January 22, 1948	Arab militants	7	7 Jews killed near Yazur[1]
N/A	January 25, 1948	Arab militants	10	10 Jews killed[1]
N/A	January 27, 1948	British soldiers	4	4 Arabs killed in Gaza[1]
N/A	February 3, 1948	Arab militants	6	6 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 7, 1948	Arabs, Jews	6	3 Arabs, 3 Jews killed in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 8, 1948	Arabs	6	6 Jews killed in Jerusalem[1]
N/A	February 8, 1948	Arab militants	3	3 Jews killed in Tel Aviv[1]
N/A	February 10, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	7	7 Arabs killed near Ras el Ain after selling cows in Tel Aviv[52]
N/A	February 12, 1948	Arabs	4	4 Jews killed in Jerusalem[1]
N/A	February 15, 1948	Arab militants, Jewish militants	8	5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed[1]
Sa'sa' village ambush in the Safaddistrict	February 14, 1948	Jewish militants (Palmach)	11	11 Arabs killed[53]
N/A	February 17, 1948	Arab militants, Jewish militants	8	5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed[1]
N/A	February 17, 1948	Arab militants	57	57 Arabs killed while taking part in attack on Jewish settlements Tirat Tzvi, Sde Eliahu, Ein HaNatziv[1]
Ramlavegetable market bombing	February 18, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	12	12 killed, 43 wounded[54]
N/A	February 19, 1948	Arab militants	4	4 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 21, 1948	Jewish militants	4	4 Arabs killed in Haifa[1]
Ben Yehuda Street bombing	February 23, 1948	Arab militants, British deserters	55	55 Jews killed[1]
N/A	February 25, 1948	Arab militants	3	3 Jews killed on road between Ramle and Tel Aviv[1]
N/A	February 28, 1948	Arab militants	7	6 Arabs, 1 Jew killed during attack on Jewish village Kfar Sava[1]
N/A	February 18, 1948	Arab militants	4	4 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish settlement Mitzpe[1]
Rehovot Train bombing	March 1, 1948	Jewish militants	28	28 Britons killed[1]
Bevingrad Officers Club bombing	March 1, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	20	20 Britons killed; 30 Britons wounded[2]
N/A	March 1, 1948	Arab militants	4	4 Jews killed on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road[1]
N/A	March 2, 1948	Arab militants	9	6 Arabs, 3 Jews killed during Arab attack on Tel-Aviv Jerusalem road[1]
N/A	March 4, 1948	Arab militants	16	16 Jews killed on Jerusalem-Atarot road[1]
N/A	March 9, 1948	Arab militants	3	3 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish settlement Yehiam[1]
N/A	March 11, 1948	Jews, Arabs	5	4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberias[1]
Jewish Agencybombing	March 11, 1948	Arab militants	13	13 Jews killed[1]
N/A	March 14, 1948	Arab militants	7	7 Jews killed near Faluja[1]
N/A	March 14, 1948	Jews, Arabs	5	4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberias[1]
N/A	March 18, 1948	Arab militants	9	5 Britons, 4 Jews killed in convoy near Acre[1]
N/A	March 20, 1948	Arabs	7	7 Jews killed at Ein Harod[1]
N/A	March 21, 1948	Arabs	6	6 Jews killed on Rosh Pinna-Safed road[1]
N/A	March 22, 1948	Arab militants	24	4 Jews, 20 Arabs during attack on Jewish settlement Nitzanim[1]
N/A	March 24, 1948	Jewish militants	36	36 Arabs killed near Tulkarem[1]
N/A	March 26, 1948	Arab militants	8	6 Arabs, 2 Jews killed in attack on Jewish convoy near Gaza[1]
N/A	March 28, 1948	Arab militants	6	6 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish convoy near Rehovot[1]
N/A	March 28, 1948	Arab militants	6	6 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish convoy near Safed[1]
Cairo-Haifa train bombing	March 31, 1948	Jewish militants (Lehi)	40	40 Arabs killed; 60 Arabs wounded[1]
Massacre in an orange grove in Lydda	April 1, 1948	Jewish militias	11	11 Arab laborers killed[55]
Deir Yassin massacre	April 9, 1948	Jewish militants (Irgun)	100-250	100-254 Arabs killed[56] [57] [58]
Hadassah medical convoy massacre	April 13, 1948	Arab militants	78	78 Jews (nurses, doctors, and patients) killed[59] [60]
Cairo-Haifa Train bombing	April 23, 1948	Jewish militants (Lehi)	8	8 Britons killed; 27 Britons wounded[2]
Sorona Police Station bombing	April 25, 1948	Jewish militants (Lehi)	4	4 Britons killed[2]
Ein al Zeitun massacre	May 3, 1948	Jewish militants (Palmach)	55	37–70 Arab prisoners
Kfar Etzion massacre	May 13, 1948	Arab militants andArab Legion	140	127–157 Jews killed[1]
Abu Shusha	May 14, 1948	Israeli	52	52

See also

• Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War
• List of massacres in Israel
• List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
• List of Irgun attacks during the 1930s
• List of Palestinian suicide attacks
• Palestinian political violence

References

1. Gilbert, Martin (2005). Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Routledge.ISBN 0-415-35901-5.
2. Bard, Mitchell G., PhD (2005). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-410-6.
3. Segev, Tom (2001). One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate. Owl Books. ISBN 0-8050-6587-3.
4. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=PlX7R1W3W1FXwA7NZQQ31PvZ0A6XcEGoLrXuqOA8EJvD0MK30%2FZ%2BO9RBflAsML89Yw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1936%2F07%2F17&page=4&rtl=true
5. [http://avo.co.il/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=2765 'Communal relations - Jewish and Arab in the city of Hebron' (2005) (Hebrew)
6. Shaw Report
7. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=PlX7R1W3W1FXwA7NZQQ31CkdNdttOOJnKpQPxfszXzy4%2F%2FEL50OcJQayLdOYnOLrYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1936%2F04%2F20&page=1&rtl=true
8. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=PlX7R1W3W1FXwA7NZQQ31CkdNdttOOJnKpQPxfszXzxfzMYnJh6nBv%2FkTMjGTRZVYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1936%2F04%2F20&page=8&rtl=true
9. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=96KzFMUry1ERiHgyc6%2ByB7H6mXwXnSNTAZ6UT%2BiHCngwytI862BtCwPhAYZcq3CIYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1937%2F06%2F25&page=2&rtl=true
10. Detailed newsreport summing up the event and Jewish casualtieshttp://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=96KzFMUry1ERiHgyc6%2ByB49F9Q88Sr%2BUUs8LpwcMHzcqKC5RSqvEJu%2BiKQ5PMKv3Yw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1937%2F02%2F02&page=6&rtl=true
11. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=8yHaYnXD6TCfoQVaRuJQGBwhgtkEYyeIklv9yTYrJZQzfUOa9wlHKYPxo%2Fn7Wg4jYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1938%2F07%2F07&page=1&rtl=true
12. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=8yHaYnXD6TCfoQVaRuJQGLptC4J44f8Jw3jimOZcSPGnvvO%2F49Ux0ncJpMnyzcnOYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2F1938%2F07%2F08&page=1&rtl=true
13. http://www.laad.btl.gov.il/Web/He/Victims/111.aspx?ID=35813
14. http://www.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=505279
15. J. Bowyer Bell, Moshe Arens, Terror out of Zion,p. 39, 1996 edition
16. (Hebrew)Y. 'Amrami, A. Melitz, דברי הימים למלחמת השחרור ("History of the War of Independence", Shelach Press, 1951).
17. http://www.laad.btl.gov.il/Web/He/Victims/111.aspx?ID=35794
18. Tom Segev, Haim Watzman. The Seventh Million. p. 39. Citing Arnold Zweig's letters to Sigmund Freud
19. Irgun site Restraint and Retaliation section.
20. "18 Arabs Die In Bomb Blast". The Vancouver Sun. June 19, 1939. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
21. Palestine Post, July 26–27, 1938
22. http://www.laad.btl.gov.il/Web/He/Victims/111.aspx?ID=35932
23. http://www.laad.btl.gov.il/Web/He/Victims/111.aspx?ID=38456
24. http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=33qrSrchslLOhGnFlMuMf77wh1jgmcUxIzEnVneTCpuCZ4xlxJ0xNRCKp1ZCLmFAYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=HZH%2F1938%2F09%2F15&page=1&rtl=true
25. "Mandate for Palestine - Report of the Mandatory to the LoN (31 December 1938)". domino.un.org. 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012. Tiber
26. Y. Ben-Ami, Years of Wrath, Days of Glory; Memoirs of the Irgun, Speller and Sons, New York 1982; p 229. Casualty figures from Palestine Post Feb 28, 1939.
27. The Irgun web site, "The Split within the Irgun" section
28. Palestine Post, June 20–22, 1939
29. Palestine Post, June 30, 1939
30. Dr. Yom-Tov Levinsky, מחורבן לחורבן - page 83http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?sits=1&req=41738&st=%u05e2%u05e8%u05d1%u05d9%u05dd
31. Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jews. p. 221.
32. Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920 - 1948). The Anchor Press. OCLC 834452921. Page 289.
33. The Irgun web site, "The United Resistance" section.
34. Horne. Page 294
35. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
36. The Irgun Site
37. Donald Neff, Hamas: A Pale Image of the Jewish Irgun And Lehi Gangs,Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May/June 2006, p. 14-15.
38. The Irgun web site, "Raid on the Jerusalem Officers Club" section.
39. http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/592306
40. http://images.rarenewspapers.com/ebayimgs/6.17.2012/image043.jpg
41. Palestine Remembered - Al-Tira
42. Palestine Post, Dec 14; Milstein, Vol 11, p91
43. Uri Milstein, History of Israel's War of Independence, Vol II. p51
44. Milstein, Vol II, p81.
45. Milstein, Vol II, p214.
46. Jewish Virtual Library
47. Uri Milstein (30 December 1947). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post II: 51.
48. Archives of The International Herald Tribune
49. The Scotsman newspaper, Jan 6, 1948
50. Uri Milstein (9 January 1948). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post III: 95–96.
51. Dr.Yom-Tov Levinsky מחורבן לחורבן 1956http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?sits=1&req=41738&st=%u05e2%u05e8%u05d1%u05d9%u05dd
52. Palestine Post, Feb 13, 1948
53. Khalidi, Walid (2006). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 496. ISBN 0-88728-306-3.
54. Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
55. Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
56. Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press, 1987)
57. Morris, Benny (2004). "Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April—June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon". The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 238. ISBN 0-521-81120-1. ISBN 0-521-00967-7 (pbk.).
58. Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre". In Alan Sacks. History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision (in Hebrew and English). Translated by Alan Sacks. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. p. 377. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2.
59. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
60. Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 16: Brutality and Hypocrisy". In Alan Sacks. History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision (in Hebrew and English). Translated by Alan Sacks. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. p. 387. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2.

 1660 destruction of Safed 

The 1660 destruction of Safed occurred during the Druze power struggle in Mount Lebanon, at the time of the rule of Ottoman sultan Mehmed IV.[1] [2] [3] [4] The towns of Safed and nearby Tiberias, with substantial Jewish communities, were destroyed in the turmoil.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Only a few of the former residents of Safed had returned to the town after the destruction.[6] [7]Sholem considers the 1662 reports about the destruction of Safed as "exaggerated".[8] The community however recovered within several years, whereas Tiberias lay in waste for decades.

Safed: historical context

Safed's central role in Jewish life in Galilee declined after the late 16th century, when it had been a major city with a population of 15,000 Jews.[9] By the second half of the seventeenth century Safed still had a majority Jewish community with 200 "houses" and some 4,000 to 5,000 Jewish residents, while about 100 "houses" (multiple family units) in the town were Muslim.[10] The district was under control of Druze emirs from the Maan family until 1660, when the Ottomans sought to regain local control by reorganizing the sanjaks of Safed and Sidon-Beirut into the new province of Sidon.[11] From the 1658 death of Emir Mulhim Ma'n to 1667, a struggle for power between his sons and other Ottoman-backed Druze rulers took place in the region.[12] Mulhim's son Ahmad Maʿn emerged victorious among the Druze, but the Maʿnīs lost control of the area[11] [12] and retreated to the Shuf mountains and Kisrawan.[13] In the second half of the seventeenth century Safed became the capital of the Ottoman sanjak of the same name.

Year of the destruction

Adler, Franco and Mendelssohn claim that the destruction of Safed took place in 1660, Mendelssohn writing that the Jews of Safed "had suffered severely" when the city had been destroyed by the Arabs.[1] [3] [4]

Gershom Scholem places the attack in 1662,[8] and Rappel writes that by 1662 bothSafed and Tiberias were destroyed, with only a few of former Safed's Jewish residents to return to the town.[7] A publication by the General Council of the Jewish Community of Palestine states that the Druze of Lebanon raided and destroyed both Safed and Tiberias in 1662, "and the inhabitants fled to the adjacent villages, toSidon or to Jerusalem".[14]

Claims of massacre

Rosanes brings a claim of Safed's Jewish community "utter destruction" in his book "History of the Jews in Turkish realm". Jacob de Haas, in his History of Palestine, asserts the near-total destruction of the Safed Jewish community, claiming that "its community had been massacred in 1660, when the town was destroyed by Arabs, and only one Jew escaped."[2] However, Gershom Scholem writes that the reports of the "utter destruction" of the Jewish community in Safed in this time period "seem greatly exaggerated, and the conclusions based on them are false." He points out that Sabbatai Sevi's mystical movement was active in Safed in 1665. Scholem also attributes to the "French trader d'Arvieux who visited Safed in 1660" an understanding of "the religious factor which enabled the community to survive," a belief "'that the Messiah who will be born in Galilee, will make Safed the capital of his new kingdom on earth'"[8] Scholem wrote that there was definitely a Jewish community in Safed in 1664–1667.[15]

Safed's Jewish community in the later years

Only a few of the former residents of Safed had returned to the town after the destruction.[7] Altogether, the town's Jewish community kept existing despite the events, with Barnai saying that "in the second half of the seventeenth century the Jewish presence in Palestine dwindled, and the Jewish presence in the Galilee also shrank. Only in Safed was there a small community."[6]

See also

• Ottoman Syria
• Timeline of Jewish History
• 1517 Safed pogrom
• 1834 Safed Plunder
• 1838 Druze attack on Safed

References

1. Isidore Singer; Cyrus Adler (1912). The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Funk and Wagnalls. p. 283. In 1660, under Mohammed IV. (1649-87), Safed was destroyed by the Arabs.
2. Jacob De Haas (1934). History of Palestine. p. 345. Safed, hotbed of mystics, is not mentioned in the Zebi adventure. Its community had been massacred in 1660, when the town was destroyed by Arabs, and only one Jew escaped.
3. Sidney Mendelssohn. The Jews of Asia: especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. (1920) p.241. "Long before the culmination of Sabbathai's mad career, Safed had been destroyed by the Arabs and the Jews had suffered severely, while in the same year (1660) there was a great fire in Constantinople in which they endured heavy losses..."
4. Franco, Moïse (1897). Essai sur l'histoire des Israélites de l'Empire ottoman: depuis les origines jusqu'à nos jours. Librairie A. Durlacher. p. 88. Retrieved 13 July 2011. Moins de douze ans après, en 1660, sous Mohammed IV, la ville de Safed, si importante autrefois dans les annales juives parce qu'elle était habitée exclusivement par les Israélites, fut détruite par les Arabes, au point qu'il n' y resta, dit une chroniquer une seule ame juive.
5. A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. P.409. "Sultan Seliman surrounded it with a wall in 5300 (1540), and it commenced to revive a little, and to be inhabited by the most distinguished Jewish literati; but it was destroyed again in 5420 (1660)." [1]
6. Barnai, Jacob. The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: under the patronage of the Istanbul Committee of Officials for Palestine (University of Alabama Press 1992) ISBN 978-0-8173-0572-7; p. 14
7. Joel Rappel. History of Eretz Israel from Prehistory up to 1882 (1980), Vol.2, p.531. "In 1662 Sabbathai Sevi arrived to Jerusalem. It was the time when the Jewish settlements of Galilee were destroyed by the Druze: Tiberias was completely desolate and only a few of former Safed residents had returned..."
8. Gershom Gerhard Scholem (1976-01-01). Sabbatai Sevi: the Mystical Messiah, 1626-1676. Princeton University Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-691-01809-6. In Safed, too, the [Sabbatai] movement gathered strength during the autumn of 1665. The reports about the utter destruction, in 1662 [sic], of the Jewish settlement there seem greatly exaggerated, and the conclusions based on them are false. ... Rosanes' account of the destruction of the Safed community is based on a misunderstanding of his sources; the community declined in numbers but continued to exist ... A very lively account of the Jewish community is given by French trader d'Arvieux who visited Safed in 1660.
9. Dr. Altshuler, Mor. The Messianic Secret. (Hebrew). Ch.8. "The Golden Age of the Kabbalah in Safed and its economic blossom continued through the sixteenth century. At its peak more than 15,000 Jews populated the city."
10. Keneset Yiśraʼel be-Erets-Yiśraʼel. Ṿaʻad ha-leʼumi (1947). Historical memoranda. General Council (Vaad leumi) of the Jewish Community of Palestine. p. 62. "… thirty to forty years later, the French traveller Roger mentions 200 Jewish and 100 Moslem houses, elsewhere in his book putting the number of Jews at 4,000 persons. According to the Turkish traveller Evlia Chelebi there were about 1,300 Jewish houses, although he probably meant families. It seems, therefore, that at about the middle of the XVIIth century there were some 4,000 to 5,000 Jews in Safed."
11. "the sanjaq of Ṣafad, which was part of this province, remained under the suzerainty of Druze amīrs until 1660, when the Ottomans reorganized the province. The Maʿnīs, however were unable to preserve their control of the sanjaq, and the Druze villages in the area lost their protection." Firro, Kais (1992). A history of the Druzes. BRILL. p. 45. ISBN 978-90-04-09437-6.
12. Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim (2004). The view from Istanbul: Lebanon and the Druze Emirate in the Ottoman chancery documents, 1546-1711. I.B.Tauris. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-1-86064-856-4.
13. Salibi, Kamal S. (2005). A house of many mansions: the history of Lebanon reconsidered. I.B.Tauris. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-86064-912-7.
14. "In 1662, Safed and Tiberias were destroyed in a raid by Druzes from the Lebanon, and the inhabitants fled to the adjacent villages, to Sidon or to Jerusalem" Keneset Yiśraʼel be-Erets-Yiśraʼel. Ṿaʻad ha-leʼumi (1947). Historical memoranda. General Council (Vaad leumi) of the Jewish Community of Palestine. p. 62.
15. Scholem, loc. cit., p187