1929 Palestine riots

1929 Arab riots in Palestine
Part of the intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine
During the 1929 Palestine riots, Jewish families at Jaffa Gate fleeing from the Old City of Jerusalem
Location	British Mandate of Palestine (Safed, Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa)
Date	23–29 August 1929
Deaths	133 Jews 116 Arabs
Injured	339 Jews 232+ Arabs

The 1929 Palestine riots, Buraq Uprising (Arabic: ثورة البراق, Thawrat al-Burāq) or the Events of 1929 (Hebrew: מאורעות תרפ"ט, Meora'ot Tarpat, lit. Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), was a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 in which a longstanding dispute between Palestinian Arabs and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence.

The riots took the form, for the most part, of attacks by Arabs on Jews accompanied by destruction of Jewish property. During the week of riots, from 23 to 29 August, 133 Jews were killed by Arabs, and 339 Jews were injured, most of whom were unarmed.^[1][2] There were 116 Arabs killed and at least 232 wounded, mostly by the Mandate police suppressing the riots. Around 20 Arabs were killed by Jewish attackers and indiscriminate British gunfire.^[3][4] After the riots, 174 Arabs and 109 Jews were charged with murder or attempted murder; around 40% of Arabs and 3% of Jews were subsequently convicted. During the riots, 17 Jewish communities were evacuated.^[5]

The British-appointed Shaw Commission found that the fundamental cause of the violence, "without which in our opinion disturbances either would not have occurred or would have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future",^[6] as well as Arab fears of Jewish immigrants "not only as a menace to their livelihood but a possible overlord of the future".^[7] With respect to the triggering of the riots, the Commission found that the incident that contributed most to the outbreak was "the Jewish demonstration [...] at the Wailing Wall" on 15 August 1929.^[6]

Avraham Sela described the riots as "unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine, in duration, geographical scope and direct damage to life and property".^[8]