Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on Translation and Transliteration

Linear Measures and Currency

CHAPTER 1 The Land Regime in Late Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine

Introduction

Elite Continuity

Land Classification

The Tithe

Land Registration

Landownership and Rental Agreements

The Status Quo and the “Politics of Notables”

CHAPTER 2 The Land Question, 1917-1929

Closure of the Land Registry Offices, 1918

The Land Transfer Ordinance (LTO) of 1 October 1920

Reaction to the Land Transfer Ordinance and Its Emendation

Compensation to Tenants in Occupation

The Beisan Agreement

Palestinian Arab Land Sales: Motives

Jewish Land Purchase: Methods

The Wadi Hawarith Affair

CHAPTER 3 The British Threat to the Jewish National Home, 1930

Sir John Chancellor

The Shaw Report

Hope-Simpson’s Appointment and Arrival

The Jewish Agency’s Rationale to Hope-Simpson

Hope-Simpson’s Attitude toward the Land Issue

Hope-Simpson’s Findings: Cultivable Land Estimates

Hope-Simpson’s Findings: Landless Arabs

Hope-Simpson’s Findings: The Development Department

CHAPTER 4 Neutralization of the British Threat: The Postponement of Land-Transfer Controls

The Passfield White Paper

Reaction to the White Paper and to Chancellor’s Land Legislation

The Henderson Committee: Repudiation of the White Paper

The MacDonald Letter

Jewish Agency Reaction to the Proposed Land Bills

The Development Department

The Defeat of Land-Transfer Controls

CHAPTER 5 The Rural Economy and Lewis French: The Landless Arab Inquiry

The Landless Arab Inquiry: The Jewish Agency’s Position

The Landless Arab Inquiry: Procedures for Enumeration

The Landless Arab Inquiry: Results of Enumeration

The Landless Arab Inquiry: Efforts at Resettlement

The French Reports

The French Reports: Jewish Agency and Arab Executive Reaction

CHAPTER 6 Jewish Land Purchase, 1933-1939

Influences on Jewish Land Purchase

The Impact of Owner-Occupier Sales

The Protection of Cultivators Ordinances

Small-Landowner Protection: A Mirage

The Transjordan Option

Purchase Attempts in Syria and Success at Lake Huleh

Land Acquisition during the 1936-1939 Disturbances

CHAPTER 7 Conclusions

Appendixes

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Index