1929 Hebron Massacre - 1929 Aftermath

1929 Aftermath

In total, 67 Jews were killed in Hebron; 59 died during the riots and eight more succumbed to their wounds later. Most of those killed were Ashkenazi Jewish men, but there were also Sephardic Jews, a dozen women and three children under the age of three. Seven of the victims were yeshiva students from the United States and Canada. Scores of people were wounded or maimed, including many women and children. One estimate put the figure at 49 seriously and 17 slightly wounded. Several cases of rape, mutilation and torture were reported in the Jewish press. These claims were contested by Arab spokesmen and when 20 bodies were exhumed to ascertain whether deliberate mutilation had taken place, no conclusions could be made one way or another.

Altogether 195 Arabs and 34 Jews were sentenced by the courts for crimes related to the 1929 riots. Death sentences were handed down to 17 Arabs and two Jews, but these were later commuted to long prison terms except in the case of three Arabs who were hanged. Large fines were imposed on 22 Arab villages or urban neighborhoods. The fine imposed on Hebron was 14,000 pounds. Financial compensation totaling about 200,000 pounds was paid to persons who lost family members or property.

Some Hebron Arabs, amongst whom the President of Hebron's Chamber of Commerce, Ahmad Rashid al-Hirbawi, favoured the return of Jews to the town. There were 160 Jews who returned in the spring of 1931 with Rabbi Chaim Bagaio, but were evacuated, except for one family, again during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The last family left in 1947.

During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel gained Hebron from Jordan. Residents, terrified that Israeli soldiers might massacre them in retaliation for the events of 1929, waved white flags from their homes and voluntarily turned in their weapons. Subsequently, Israelis settled in Hebron as part of Israel's settlement program, and the Committee of The Jewish Community of Hebron was established. Today, hundreds of Israelis live in Hebron, and thousands live in Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement established on the city's outskirts.

Descendants of the survivors are divided, with some claiming they wish to return, but only when Arab and Jewish residents can find a way to live together peacefully. Other survivors and descendants of survivors support the new Jewish community in Hebron.