1929 Palestine riots

The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Riots, the Buraq Uprising (Arabic: ثورة البراق, Thawrat al-Burāq) or the Events of 1929 (Hebrew: מאורעות תרפ"ט, Meora'ot Tarpat, lit. Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), were a series of demonstrations and riots in Mandatory Palestine in late August 1929 regarding access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The riots, which primarily affected the cities of Jerusalem, Safad, and Hebron, were part a longstanding dispute between Palestinian Arabs and Jews over access to the site.

According to some historians, the dispute escalated into violence due to the refusal of Zionist leaders to accept British offers of shared representation in Palestine, which was accepted by the Arab leadership. According to other historians, the riots were caused by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, trying to strengthen his position by rousing fears of a Jewish takeover of the Temple Mount. Scholars have also pointed to the transfer of land to the Jewish National Fund, which, along with rising concerns over land sales and immigration, contributed to socioeconomic anxieties that helped fuel the outbreak.

The riots took the form, for the most part, of attacks by Arabs on Jews accompanied by destruction of Jewish property. During the week of riots, from 23 to 29 August, 133 Jews were killed by Arabs, and 339 Jews were injured, most of whom were unarmed. There were 116 Arabs killed and at least 232 wounded, mostly by the Mandate police suppressing the riots. Around 20 Arabs were killed by Jewish attackers and indiscriminate British gunfire. After the riots, 174 Arabs and 109 Jews were charged with murder or attempted murder; around 40% of Arabs and 3% of Jews were subsequently convicted. During the riots, 17 Jewish communities were evacuated.

The British-appointed Shaw Commission found that the fundamental cause of the violence, "without which in our opinion disturbances either would not have occurred or would have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future", as well as Arab fears of Jewish immigrants "not only as a menace to their livelihood but a possible overlord of the future". With respect to the triggering of the riots, the Commission found that the incident that contributed most to the outbreak was "the Jewish demonstration [...] at the Wailing Wall" on 15 August 1929.

Avraham Sela described the riots as "unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine, in duration, geographical scope and direct damage to life and property".