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The 1834 Palestinian Arab Revolt was a reaction to conscription into the Egyptian army of Wāli Ali (Muhammad Ali of Egypt). Wāli Ali as a part of a modernisation policy, introduced the conscription of ordinary subjects. Traditionally, soldiers were recruited from freebooters, loot-seekers, mercenaries, slaves or members of a military caste. The imposition of a conscription levy led to the Palestinian Arab revolt, headed by the prominent Palestinian Arab clans of Nablus, Hebron and the Jerusalem-Jaffa area. Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal argue that the 1834 Palestinian Arab revolt was a formative event, in that it forged a unity among disparate groups against a common enemy: the various classes and clans who fought in it are precisely those that reemerged later to constitute the Palestinian people.. Under the Turkish Empire, Palestine's Arab population mostly saw themselves as Ottoman subjects. The revolt was sparked off by popular resistance against the heavy demand for conscripts, since the peasantry was aware that conscription was little more than a death sentence. Starting in May 1834, the rebels took many cities, among them Nablus, Jerusalem and Hebron. In response, Ibrahim Pasha sent in an army, which finally defeated, on the 4th of August of that year, the last rebels holding out in Hebron.

Background

In consolidating his power, Wāli Ali favoured a style of rule based on autocratic despotism, while taking his model from the organisation of bureaucracy characteristic of modern European states. Like earlier rulers of Egypt, Wāli Ali desired to exercise control over Bilad al-Sham (the Levant), both for its strategic value and for its rich natural resources. Not only did Syria have abundant natural resources, it also boasted a thriving international trading community with well developed markets throughout the Levant. In addition, in his strategym it would be a captive market for goods then being produced in Egypt. More importantly, the extension of Egyptian control over Syria was desirable because it would serve as a buffer state between Egypt and the Ottoman Sultan.

A new fleet and army was raised and built, and, on October 31, 1831, under Ibrahim Pasha, Wāli Ali's eldest son, the Egyptian invasion of Syria began, which initiated in turn the First Turko-Egyptian War. For the sake of international appearances, the pretext for the expedition was a quarrel with Abdullah Pasha of Acre. Wāli Ali alleged that 6,000 fellaheen (peasant, farmer or agricultural labourer) had fled to Acre to escape the draft, corvée, and taxes, and he demanded their return. Ibrahim Pasha advanced through Palestine, occupying Haifa in December 1831, and then using the city as his main military base.

Revolt declared in Nablus

Qasim al-Ahmad, nahiya (clan leader) of Jamma'in was appointed as mustasallim (administrator) of the Nablus sub-district by Ibrahim Pasha. Qasim was replaced by 'Abd al-Hadi. Qasin organised the a'ayan (notables) of Nablus, Hebron and Jerusalem and on 19 May, 1834, the clans, led by Qasim, notified Egyptian officials that Palestinian Arab families would no longer furnish the Egyptian army with troops. Governor Ibrahim Pasha responded by sending Egyptian forces into the rebellious cities, thus triggering armed conflict with the clans. Ottoman-alligned Palestinian Arab families in Palestine revolted under the leadership of Qasim al-Ahmad.

The uprising spread throughout the area known today as the West Bank. During the revolt, a zealous Muslim denounced Ibrahim Pasha as an infidel and exhorted the population of Nablus to join the uprising. Ibrahim Pasha finally defeated the last rebel stronghold of Hebron on 4 August.

Jerusalem

Nablus sent hundreds of rebels to attack Jerusalem, aided by a clan from Abu Ghosh, and together they conquered the city on May 31. The Christians and Jews of Jerusalem were subjected to attacks. Ibrahim's Egyptian army routed Qasim's forces in Jerusalem the next month.

Hebron

An estimated 750 of the town's Muslims had been drafted as soldiers, and some 500 of them were killed. Hebron took part in the rebellion of 1834 in Palestine, and suffered badly from Ibrahim Pasha's campaign to crush the uprising. The town was laid to siege and, when the defences of the town fell, it was sacked by Ibrahim Pasha's army. Most of the Muslim population managed to flee beforehand to the hills. The Jewish community however stayed behind, and, during the general pillage of the town, five of them were killed.

Conclusions

Once the revolt was crushed, Qasim and his two eldest sons were hanged. The Egyptian army razed 16 villages before taking Nablus. 10,000 felaheen were deported to Egypt and the general population was disarmed. Ibrahim Pasha forced the heads of the Nablus clans to leave for nearby villages.

Turkish rule was subsequently reinstated in 1840, but many Egyptian Muslims remained in Jerusalem.

Hat-I-Sharif of Gulhana issued by Abdülmecid I lifted the restrictions against non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman empire as part of the Tanzimat (reforms) promising, amongst other things, a reform of conscription.

In the 1840s and 1850s, the international powers began a tug-of-war in Palestine as they sought to extend their protection over the country's religious minorities, a struggle carried out mainly through their consular representatives in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

1. 'The tough rule and new reforms led to the 1834 revolt’s outbreak in the heart of the country, uniting dispersed Bedouins, rural sheiks, urban notables, mountain fellaheen, and Jerusalem religious figures against a common enemy. It was these groups who would later constitute the Palestinian people'. Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal,The Palestinian People: A History, Harvard University Press, 2003 pp.3-20, p.7
2. ^ Kimmerling, Baruch and Migdal, Joel S, (2003) The Palestinian People: A History, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674011317 p. 6-11
3. Ayubi, Nazih N. (1996) Over-Stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850438285 p 104
4. ^ Maḥmūd Yazbak (1998) Haifa in the Late Ottoman Period, 1864-1914: A Muslim Town in Transition BRILL, ISBN 9004110518 pp 18-19
5. Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot, Egypt in the reign of Muhammad AliUniversity of Cambridge, 1983
6. H. B. Tristram: The Land of Israel: Travels in Palestine, p. 142, 1865
7. ^ Joel Beinin (2001) Workers and peasants in the modern Middle East Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521629039 p 33
8. ^ Making of America Books Biblical researches in Palestine, 1838-52. A journal of travels in the year 1838. By E. Robinson and E. Smith p. 88
9. Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine, A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 403
10. Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine, A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 399 'In 5594 (1834) Hebron met with a heavy calamity, since it was taken by storm on the 28 day of Tamuz (July), by Abraim Pacha, and given up to his soldiers for several days……Nearly all the Mahomedans inhabitants fled into the depth of the mountain range, but the Jews could not do this; besides which, they entertained little fear, since they could not be viewed as rebels and enemies by Abraim, wherefore they fell an easy prey into the hands of the assailants.'
11. Beshara, Doumani. (1995). Rediscovering Palestine: Egyptian rule, 1831-1840 University of California Press.
12. Doumani, 1995, Chapter: Egyptian rule, 1831-1840.
13. Isseroff, Ami. "The Growth of Palestinian Arab Identity". MidEastWeb. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
14. Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem, Keter, 1978, Volume 9, "State of Israel (Historical Survey)", pp.304-306

Bibliography

• Palestinian nationalism