Conducts research and collects data on the global history of labour, workers, and labour relations

Arab Revolt

15 April 1936
A British armored railroad wagon behind a railcar on which two Arab hostages are seated, during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt
Source: 
2011/3672

The Arab Revolt in British-Mandate Palestine broke out on 15 April 1936 with an attack on a Jewish truck convoy. In many towns Arabs stopped work, and the unemployed and the rural population joined the agitation. From the summer of 1936, most of the rebellious activities emanated from the rural population. 'Resentment was directed against the British and their policies, perceived as discriminating in favour of the Jews; against the Jews who had, as the Arabs saw it, stolen their livelihood, their land, and their ancestral rights; and against the Arab social elite, for charging exorbitant rates of interest on loans and expropriating land.'

From: David de Vries, Shani Bar-On, 'Politicization of Unemployment in Mandate Palestine' in: Unemployment and Protest (Oxford 2011)