Why Did Jews Buy Land from Palestinian Arabs?

When the British Mandate for Palestine was officially established on July 1, 1922, the population consisted of 650,000 Muslims, 87,000 Jews, and 73,000 Christians.

Although Arabs held an overwhelming majority in terms of population, the British clearly viewed the Jews as the sovereign group of the country, as stated in the Balfour Declaration issued in 1917.

In this regard, the British intended to leave local administration largely to the Jews, as they had promised during the First World War.

The High Legislative Council of Palestine consisted of 23 seats. Ten members of the council were appointed by the high commissioner, while eight were chosen from among Arabs, two from among Jews, and the other two from among Christians. The fact that the High Commissioner for Palestine, Herbert Samuel, was a Jew and a Zionist gave a strong indication regarding the ten individuals to be appointed.

Although the final word in the administration of Palestine was spoken in London, it was unacceptable for the Arabs, who made up the majority of the population, to have only a 43% share in the local administration. Indeed, they protested this situation by boycotting the elections.

The Arabs' refusal to participate in the elections meant they did not recognize the mandate administration, and this development posed a security problem for Britain.

As a result of the unrest caused by the Zionist movement in the Arab world, the British were forced to deploy more troops in Palestine every day. This was not a pleasant development for a country that had been severely exhausted during the First World War and whose public had become openly anti-war.

Worse still, the growing Arab unrest resulting from the Zionist movement could turn into an anti-British uprising at any moment, and this uprising could spread to the rest of the Middle East and even to all British colonies with Muslim populations. Since the British were the patrons of the Jews, it was not a remote possibility that the Arabs would revolt against their authority, and the uprising they feared would break out in 1936 (though it would remain limited to Palestine).

To prevent a possible Arab uprising, the British began implementing a policy of balance between Jews and Arabs starting from 1920, when the conflicts began. We can define the basis of the British policy of balance as not giving or doing anything for the Jews that they had not promised.

The Jews had thought that as a result of the Balfour Declaration, they would be able to immigrate to Palestine as they wished, buy state land cheaply or have it given to them through grants, and have influence in the public sector. The British had not made any such promises to the Jews, and they intended to keep the Jewish presence in Palestine at a limited level by imposing restrictions on the Jews in these very areas.

Being a minority in public services meant, in a sense, that very little of the taxes they paid returned to the Jews. Although not being able to control the public sector caused dissatisfaction among the Jews, as they bore nearly 50% of the public burden despite their small population, they did not object to the Arab weight in the public sector in exchange for being left with the local administration.

However, immigration and land ownership, unlike dominating the public sector, were not situations that could be sacrificed. After all, "immigration" lay at the heart of the practice of Zionism. To turn Palestine into a Jewish homeland, it was first necessary for a significant number of Jews to already be living in the region. The prerequisite for immigration was land. Unless a significant amount of land came under Jewish control, a significant Jewish population could not be created in the region, and without a significant population, the Jews could neither get the Arabs to accept their will nor the British to accept their arguments.

As early as 1920, the British had limited Jewish immigration to Palestine to 16,500 people per year and banned Jews who did not have a job in Palestine from immigrating to the region. The Zionists would relax this rule over time thanks to the investments they made in the country. Indeed, with the implementation of Jewish development plans, Palestine had become significantly more livable than other Middle Eastern countries. With the increase in job opportunities, about 100,000 Arabs had migrated to Palestine from various Middle Eastern countries by 1936. At a time when a massive wave of immigration was taking place, the British efforts to hinder the Jews in this area would cease to be a reasonable policy.

Regarding land, the British did not support the Jews and instead favored the Arabs. During the mandate years, which lasted until 1946, the British granted 397,000 of the 960,000 dunams of state land to Arabs. The number of dunams they granted to Jews was only 83,000.

The Jews would solve this problem by purchasing land from Arabs. The Jews acquired 92% of the land they owned during the mandate period by purchasing it from Arabs, often on the condition of paying exorbitant prices.

The struggle for independence that Palestinian Arabs waged against the Jews began in 1920, even before the British Mandate for Palestine was established, and from that date on, Palestinian Arabs clearly demonstrated that they did not want Jews in these lands. However, the fact that the Jews' living spaces were provided by the Arabs themselves—despite all the British obstacles—shows that the moment money entered the equation, the ideals of independence were shelved.