Did the arabs welcome jews into palestine?

Answer 1

It depends on which group of Arabs we are talking about; there were numerous distinct groups. Those who we call the Palestinians today were called the Fellahin or Landed Peasantry. There were also the Druze, who were landed, but did not embrace Islam or a Greater Arab identity. There were also the Bedouins who were nomadic. The British called them all Palestinian Arabs regardless of their incredible cultural differences.

Fellahin Arabs
The Fellahin were openly antagonistic towards the Yishuv or Jewish Settlement. One of the famous early examples of this was the founding of the city of Tel Aviv. A number of Zionist Jews wanted to move into the Arab port city of Jaffa in 1906, but were prevented from doing so by the Arab Fellahin living there. As a result, the Jews petitioned the Ottoman Government to buy land to the north of Jaffa to establish their own town where they could settle. Thus, Tel Aviv was born. (Of course, eventually Tel Aviv became so massive that Jaffa was incorporated into it as district.)

Passive resistance to the development of the Yishuv was not the only method by which Fellahin attempted to prevent Jewish Settlement. In the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, militias founded by the Fellahin attacked members of the Yishuv in what are often considered pogroms, especially the 1929 Attack in Hebron. Fellahin also petitioned the British government to limit and make illegal further Jewish Immigration, resulting in the British White Papers in 1939 that effectively prevented Jews from escaping to Palestine during the Holocaust.

Non-Fellahin Arabs
Of course, as mentioned earlier, there were non-Fellahin Arabs in Palestine. These Arabs actually did endear themselves to the Yishuv and developed strong bonds with them. The Jews and Druze were jointly able to secure Druze rights to Nabi Shu'ayb, which is a Druze holy site. In return, Druze pledged themselves to the physical defense of the Yishuv and fought alongside Jews in the Jewish-Arab Engagement of 1947-1949 and in all other Arab-Israeli Conflicts. The Bedouins were able to strike a strong trade relationship with the Yishuv. The Yishuv was often able to provide Bedouin camps with water and additional jobs. The Bedouins in turn helped the Yishuv maintain a strong agricultural food base, especially in the Galilee Region. Similarly, Bedouins have served alongside Jews in Israel.

Understandably, Jews remain grateful to the Druze and Bedouin for their historical loyalty and positive contribution to Israeli culture. Currently the Druze are over-represented in the Knesset and are members of nearly every political party except the Religious Jewish Parties.