How The Palestinian Peasants Revolted Against The Egyptians

• published: 27 May 2015
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The Peasants' Revolt was a rebellion against Egyptian conscription and taxation policies. While rebel ranks consisted mostly of the local peasantry, urban notables and Bedouin tribes also formed an integral part of the revolt, which was a collective reaction to Egypt's gradual elimination of the unofficial rights and privileges previously enjoyed by the various classes of society in the Levant under Ottoman rule. As part of Muhammad Ali's modernization policies, Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian governor of the Levant issued conscription orders for every fifth Muslim male. Encouraged by local chief Qasim al-Ahmad, the notables of Nablus, Hebron and the Jerusalem-Jaffa area did not abide by Ibrahim Pasha's orders to conscript and tax the local peasantry. Al-Ahmad and other local clan leaders rallied their kinsmen and engaged in an open revolt against the authorities in May 1834, taking control of several towns. While the core of the fighting was in the central mountain regions of Palestine (Samaria and Judea), the revolt also spread to the Galilee, Gaza and parts of Transjordan. Jerusalem was briefly captured by the rebels and plundered. Faced with the superior firepower and organization of Ibrahim Pasha's troops, the rebels were defeated in Jabal Nablus, Jerusalem and the coastal plain before their final defeat in Hebron, which was leveled. Afterward, Muhammad Ali's troops pursued and captured al-Ahmad in al-Karak, which was also leveled. Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal argue that the revolt was a formative event for the Palestinian sense of nationhood, in that it brought together disparate groups against a common enemy. These groups are some of those that reemerged later to constitute the Palestinian people. The revolt represented a rare moment of political unity in Palestine. However, the ultimate intention of the notables and rebel leaders was to force out the Egyptian army and reinstate Ottoman rule as a means of restoring the Ottoman-era standards that defined the relationship between the government and the governed. These standards were made up of the religious laws, administrative codes and local norms and customs that were disrupted by Egyptian reforms. In consolidating his power, Muhammad Ali, the rebel ruler of Ottoman Egypt, ruled autocratically, while taking his model from the organization of bureaucracy characteristic of modern European states. Like earlier rulers of Egypt, Muhammad Ali desired to exercise control over greater Syria (Bilad al-Sham), both for its strategic value and for its rich natural resources. Not only did Syria have abundant natural resources, it also boasted a thriving international trading community with well-developed markets. In addition, in his strategy it would be a captive market for goods then being produced in Egypt. More importantly, the extension of Egyptian control over Syria was desirable because it would serve as a buffer state between Egypt and the Ottoman sultan in Constantinople. A new fleet and army was raised and built, and on 31 October 1831, under Ibrahim Pasha, Ali's eldest son, the Egyptian invasion of Syria began, which initiated the First Egyptian–Ottoman War. For the sake of international appearances, the pretext for the expedition was a quarrel with Abdullah Pasha of Acre. Wāli Ali alleged that 6,000 fellaheen (peasant, farmer or agricultural labourer) had fled to Acre to escape the draft, corvée, and taxes, and he demanded their return. Ibrahim Pasha advanced through Palestine, occupying Haifa in December 1831, and then using the city as his primary military base. Events preceding the revolt By May 1834, the last prominent ally of the Egyptians in Palestine was the Abd al-Hadi clan. Egyptian economic and political policies had alienated four broad and influential factions in Palestine, namely the effendiyat (notables) of Jerusalem, the bulk of the major clans in Jabal Nablus, the clans of the Jerusalem hinterland, and the Bedouin tribes in the areas of Hebron and Bethlehem.