Monday, June 04, 2018

Collective Responsibility, Collective Punishment

Between 1936 and 1939, with a short pre-sequel in late 1935 until the wiping-out of the Al-Qassam Gang


the Arabs of Mandate Palestine waged in three main periods an intermittent terror campaign against the British regime and the Jews residing in the country.

One element that has been argued is whether the support the gangs received from the populace warrants the thinking that that assistance indicated an identification of the non-combatant section as also part of the terrorist network.

The large amount of participants at his funeral was one indication:



Most studies point to the oppressive and cruel nature of the gangs who, in mid-1937, moved the struggle out of the cities and into the hills.

I just read an article by Na'ama Ben-Zeev, "The Arab Revolt from the Viewpoint of A Young Attorney", which is mainly a translation of a section of the memoirs of a young lawyer, Hanna Naqaraa Christian Arab, who met with gang leaders and provided legal aid.

Here is a snippet:


...the active element in this period were those of the villages. Some became involved in guerrilla activity as part of the gangs and many others extended assistance of a logistical nature: providing hiding places, food, money, weapons and ammunition, medical aid, intelligence and if not for all this assistance provided by the non-combatant populace the revolt could maintain itself for so long...

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