Table Of ContentZionism and Land Tenure in
Mandate Palestine
A fundamental aspect of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is the
territorial disputewhich began long beforethe State of Israel was established.
Analysing the land tenure system in Palestine under the administration of the
British Mandate, this book questions whether, and to what extent, the land
tenure system in Palestine facilitated Zionist land acquisition. The research
uses benchmarks elaborated in the guidelines of the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme as its analytical starting point, and looks at the for-
mation and implementation of the land tenure system in Palestine. It goes on
to place the penetration of Zionism into the land tenure system within the
theoretical context of a colonial-settler framework, employing information
from land registry records located at the Jordanian Department of Lands.
Providing a political–historical analysis of the land tenure system from the
end of Ottoman Rule until the end of the British Mandate, this book will be
of interest to scholars and students of Middle Eastern History, Imperial and
Colonial History, and Middle Eastern Politics.
Aida Asim Essaid is the Director of the Information and Research Center at
the King Hussein Foundation in Amman, Jordan. Aida was previously the
Senior Coordinator of the West Asia – North Africa Forum, and a
Researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies at the Universityof Jordan. As
a doctoral student at the University of Exeter, Aida was a teaching assistant
and research assistant at the Department of Politics, where she focussed on
the Arab–Israeli conflict. Her current research focuses on development, social
cohesion, and human rights issues in Jordan and the region.
Routledge Studies on the Arab–Israeli Conflict
Series Editor: Mick Dumper, University of Exeter
The Arab–Israeli conflict continues to be the centre of academic and popular
attention. This series brings together the best of the cutting edge work now
being undertaken by predominantly new and young scholars. Although
largely falling within the field of political science the series also includes
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contributions.
1 International Assistance to the 7 The Political Right in Israel
Palestinians after Oslo Different Faces of Jewish
Political Guilt, Wasted Money Populism
Anne Le More Dani Filc
2 Palestinian Political Prisoners 8 Reparations to Palestinian
Identity and Community Refugees
Esmail Nashif AComparative Perspective
Shahira Samy
3 Understanding the Middle East
Peace Process 9 Palestinian Refugees
Israeli Academia and the Identity,Space and Placein the
Struggle for Identity Levant
Asima A. Ghazi-Bouillon Edited by Are Knudsen and
Sari Hanafi
4 Palestinian Civil Society
Foreign Donors and the Power 10 The Rise and Fall of Arab
to Promote and Exclude Jerusalem
Benoît Challand Palestinian Politics and the
City since 1967
5 The Jewish–Arab City Hillel Cohen
Spatio-Politics in a Mixed
Community 11 Trans-Colonial Urban Space in
Haim Yacobi Palestine
Politics and Development
6 Zionist Israel and Apartheid Maha Samman
South Africa
CivilSocietyandPeaceBuilding 12 Zionism and Land Tenure in
inEthnic-NationalStates Mandate Palestine
Amneh Daoud Badran Aida Asim Essaid
Zionism and Land Tenure
in Mandate Palestine
Aida Asim Essaid
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Firstpublished2014
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Essaid,AidaAsim,author.
ZionismandlandtenureinmandatePalestine/AidaAsimEssaid.
pagescm.–(RoutledgestudiesontheArab-Israeliconflict;12)
1.Landtenure–Palestine.2.Zionism–Palestine.3.Landsettlement–
Palestine.4.PalestinianArabs–Legalstatus,laws,etc.–Palestine.
I.Title.
HD951.P3E872013
333.3’1569409041–dc23
2013021146
ISBN:978-0-415-52725-5(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-88452-3(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Glossary and Acronyms ix
1 Introduction 1
2 The Politics of Landownership 24
3 The Legal Framework 56
4 Land Settlement, Transfers, and Disputes 96
5 The Case Studies: Sarafand al-Kharab 129
6 The Village of Al-Haram 175
7 The Village of Yaquq 215
8 Conclusion 238
Appendix I: Letters to the Editor of The Times (London) 248
Appendix II: Land Settlement Court’s Response to Plea 250
Appendix III: JDLS: Report by the Land Settlement Officer 251
Bibliography 254
Index 265
List of Illustrations
Figures
2.1 The triangular relationship in Mandate Palestine 38
8.1 Comparison of village statistics 1945 and mandate registry
records 246
Maps
1.1 Classification of soil 7
1.2 Jewish-owned land in Palestine 8
5.1 Palestine 1946: Distribution of population by district showing
percentages of Jews and Palestinians 138
Tables
4.1 Transfers of Arab-owned land to Jews, 1918–36 114
4.2 Land sales to Jews in Palestine by non-Palestinian absentee
landlords 114
5.1 Districts, headquarters, and sub-districts of Mandatory
Palestine in 1945 133
5.2 Population of Palestine in 1945 (village statistics) 137
5.3 Differences in land areas in Sarafand al-Kharab, 1929–45 143
5.4 Schedule of rights/decisions 145
6.1 Registration blocks and land area for Al-Haram village 180
7.1 Arab landowners in Yaquq 218
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the support of many people
throughoutthejourneyofmydoctoralresearch.Itwasmadepossiblethrough
the University of Exeter Jerusalem Scholarship Programme, with the financial
assistance of Mr Mohammed Abuali, and with the management of the
Palestine Land Society under the direction of Dr Salman H. Abu Sitta.
I had the privilege of working under the supervision of Professor Michael
Dumper at the University of Exeter. His guidance, honesty, and unrelenting
supporthavemade thisresearch possible;any weaknesses in thiswork remain
mine alone. I would also like to thank my examiners, Professors Ilan Pappé
and Emma Murphy. And a very special thanks goes to Lindy Ayubi for her
meticulous editing during the final leg of the thesis.
I would like to express my appreciation to the Jordanian Department of
Land and Survey in Amman, and to acknowledge the Central Zionist
Archives, Israeli State Archives, British Public Records Office, UN-HABI-
TAT(NewYorkoffice), UN Recordsand Management Office, and the Abdul
Hameed Shoman Public Library.
OtherswhohavehelpedmethroughthecourseofthefieldworkinAmman,
Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem include Abdel Qader Al-Husseini,
IngridJaradat,FahmiAl-Ansari,andAla’El-Bakri.Iwouldespeciallyliketo
thank Randa Kamal of Al-Quds University for all her help while I carried
out research in Jerusalem, aswell as her entire family who welcomed me into
their home. Thanks also go to the late Dr Khalid Nashef from the Jordanian
Department of Antiquities for his advice during my fieldwork in 2007.
DrNashefpassedawayinFebruaryof2009,IamsorryIcouldnotfinishthis
research in time for him to see it.
Asanundergraduate attheUniversityof Toronto Iwasencouraged bytwo
professors to pursue this field of study. Jens Hanssen introduced me to the
politicalandeconomictransformationandthemodernhistoryoftheMiddleEast,
and Amir HassanpourprovidedadeeperunderstandingofthePalestinian–Israeli
conflict,nationalistmovements,andfinallythesubjectofland.
Graduate research can be perplexing as one tries to find their niche in the
life that is taken over by the PhD. Fortunately I had many friends in Exeter
who were willing to share their time and wisdom with me: Drs Andrea Teti,
viii Acknowledgements
Khalid Almezaini, Amneh Badran, Ghada Ageel, Adham Saouli, Mansour
Nsasra, Dimah Mahmoud, and the late Shahira Samy. There were also my
dear friends Veronica and Greta Bascella, and Zain Bseiso, along with too
manyotherstobenamed.Thankyou,itwasyourpatience,care,andfriendship
whichmadethisexperiencememorable.
Itisimportantfor metomentionthefirstpeopletoinstillinmemyinterest
in the British Mandate: my late Grandparents, Salim and Haifa. While fas-
cinating me with Mandate stories of their past, my Grandfather especially
wouldwarn me to avoid politics. I hope he will forgive me then for using him
as the source of my inspiration.
My deepest thanks goes out to all my family in the US and Jordan, aswell
as to three members of my family who have not only been a source of sup-
port,butmyconfidantswhenitcame todiscussingmywork:myGreat-Uncle
Baha, my Uncle Omar, and my unwaveringly supportive and loving brother,
Salim Essaid. They have each helped me in their own way in the completion
ofthisresearch.AndIwouldespeciallyliketoexpressmysinceregratitude to
my husband, Feras Momani, for all his love and encouragement.
Lastbutnotleastthankstomyparents,AsimEssaidandMaroKasbarian,
without whom none of this would have been possible. They have supported
me in every way possible, given me the love and opportunity to reach this
point, and more than once dropped everything just to be there for me.
I dedicate this book to them.
Glossary and Acronyms
Cadastral survey An official, accurate, and systematic surveyof
land for its division into permanent area units,
and their registration by identification numbers
given to each parcel and block.
Cadastre Refers to a system of registering real property in
registry books according to a certain order, which
may be related to as a repositoryof data on parcels
oflandwhosesize,form,andlocationaredetermined
byofficialsurvey.
Dunum Refers to the metric dunum introduced to Palestine
by the British (as opposed to the Ottoman
dunum). Therefore 1 metric dunum = 1,000 square
meters; ¼ of an acre; 1 km = 0.62 miles.
Fellah Peasant, agriculturalist, or farmer.
Fellahin (Also spelled fellaheen.) Plural of fellah.
Ghubn fahish Obscene injustice.
ICA SeePICA,PalestineJewishColonizationAssociation.
Ifraz Partition of musha‘ land.
JA TheJewishAgencyforPalestine.Established
according to Article 4 of the Palestine Mandate
which states that “An appropriate Jewish Agency
shall be recognized asapublicbody for thepurpose
ofadvisingandcooperatingwiththeAdministration
of Palestine in economic, social and other matters
as may affect the establishment of the Jewish
national home and the interests of the Jewish
population in Palestine, and subject always to the
controloftheadministration,toassistandtakepart
in the development of the country.” Created in
1930.
JNF Jewish National Fund. Founded by the Zionist
congress in 1901 AD and incorporated as an English
company in 1907 with a Palestine Office in Jaffa.
