Escalation
The next day an incident which "in its origin was of a personal nature" was sparked when a young Sephardic Jew named Abraham Mizrachi was fatally stabbed by an Arab at the Maccabi grounds near Mea Shearim, in the Bukharan Quarter, following a quarrel which began when he tried to retrieve his lost football from an Arab field. A Jewish crowd attacked and severely wounded the policeman who arrived to arrest the Arab responsible, and then attacked neighbouring Arab houses and wounded their occupants.
Mizrachi died on 20 August and his funeral became the occasion for a serious anti-Arab demonstration. It was suppressed by the same force that had been employed in the initial incident. A late-night meeting initiated the following day by the Jewish leadership, at which acting high commissioner Harry Luke, Jamal al-Husayni, and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi were present, failed to produce a call for an end to the violence.
Over the following four days period, the Jerusalem police reported 12 separate attacks by Jews on Arabs and seven attacks by Arabs on Jews.
On 21 August, the Palestine Zionist Executive telegrammed the Zionist Organization stating describing the general excitement and the Arab fear of the Jews: "Population again very excited and false alarms caused local panics in various quarters but no further incidents course of day. Arabs also excited and afraid Jews. Desirable insist with home Government need of serious measures assuring public security. We are issuing appeal to public keep calm, refrain from demonstrations, and observe discipline, but feel embarrassed by militant attitude. Doar Hayom and also part of youth influenced by Revisionist agitation. Can you speak to Revisionist leaders?"
Read more about this topic: 1929 Palestine Riots