1920 in British-administered Palestine

1920 in British-administered Palestine
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See also: 1920 in the United Kingdom Other events of 1920

Events in the year 1920 in British-administered Palestine.

Incumbents

• High Commissioner - Sir Herbert Louis Samuel from 1 July

Events

This section requires expansion.

• 24 February – The Conference of London ends with agreement among Britain, France and Italy on partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.
• 1 March – Zionist activist Joseph Trumpeldor and five Palestinian Jewish fighters are killed in the battle of Tel Hai. The battle, which gave Tel Hai its long-enduring fame, was significant far beyond the small number of fighters involved on either side - mainly due to its influence on Zionist history, both inspiring an enduring heroic myth and profoundly influencing Zionist military and political strategies over several decades.
• 4–7 April – Nabi Musa Riots in and around the Old City of Jerusalem mark the first large-scale skirmish of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Four Arabs and five Jews are killed, while 216 Jews (18 critically) and 23 Arabs (one critically) are wounded. The majority of the victims were members of the old Yishuv, largely non-Zionist or anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews. About 300 Jews from the Old City of Jerusalem are evacuated.^[1]
• 26 April – The San Remo conference ends, during which the Allied Supreme Council agree to allocate the mandate of Palestine (including the Transjordanian region) to the United Kingdom, incorporating the terms set forth in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. However, at this time the frontier of British controlled territory and the Palestinian administration continues to be the Jordan river. Transjordan, east of the river, remains part of the Arab Kingdom of Syria.^[2]
• 12 June – Following the Battle of Tel Hai, the Jewish leadership in Palestine establishes the Jewish paramilitary organisation "Haganah" to protect Jewish farms and kibbutzim, believing that the Jewish population in Palestine could not rely on the British administration for protection from the frequent attacks carried out by local Arab gangs against Palestinian Jews.
• 1 July – Sir Herbert Louis Samuel is appointed the first British High Commissioner of Palestine.
• 7 August – Sir Herbert Louis Samuel's request to extend the frontier of British territory beyond the Jordan river and to bring Transjordan under his administrative control is rejected. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, proposed instead that British influence in Tranjordan should be advanced by sending a few political officers, without military escort, to encourage self-government and give advice to local leaders in the territory.^[3]
• 10 August – The Treaty of Sèvres endorses the allocation to the United Kingdom of a mandate of Palestine. The treaty is stillborn and subsequently superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne.
• 6 December – The Histadrut is established in Haifa to look after the interests of Jewish workers.
• 23 December – The United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-controlled Syria and British-controlled Palestine.

Unknown dates

• The founding of the kibbutz Degania Bet immigrants from the Second Aliyah.
• The establishment of the Jewish National Council, the main national institution of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within the British Mandate of Palestine.

Notable births

This section requires expansion.

• 1 June - Amos Yarkoni, Israeli Bedouin senior IDF officer (died 1991).
• Full date unknown
  • Michael Gross, Israeli painter, sculptor and conceptual artist (died 2004).
  • Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian Arab businessman (died 2010).

Notable deaths

This section requires expansion.

Joseph Trumpeldor

• 1 March – Joseph Trumpeldor (born 1880), Russian-born early Zionist activist.

References

v t e Years in Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948) 1940s 1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 1930s 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 1920s 1920 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1928 · 1929 British-administered Palestine (pre-Mandate) 1918 · 1919 · 1920