Tower and Stockade Settlements
Facing the Threat of Dividing the Land of Israel
The commission’s report was published in July 1937 and recommended dividing the Land of Israel into two separate states – one Jewish and one Arab. The passage connecting Jaffa with Jerusalem would be under British control. The Jewish Yishuv was divided in its opinion. Ben Gurion, Weizmann and Golda Meir supported the division while Ussishkin, Tabenkin and Katznelson opposed it. The Arabs rejected it entirely. The partition plan of the Peel Commission caused the Jewish Yishuv to establish facts on the ground. They established 52 Tower and Stockade Settlements.
52 Settlements in One Night
Tower and Stockade is the name given to the operation in which 52 Jewish agricultural settlements were all established in one night during the Arab Revolt (1936-1939). They were established mainly in outlying areas, far from centers of Jewish settlement.
This dramatic establishment of settlements was a result of the Arab attacks against the Jews and the position of the British regarding immigration and settlement in the Land of Israel as expressed in the White Paper. The Jewish institutions built the settlements in areas in which Jewish settlement was forbidden. This lightning operation was carried out under the cover of darkness all in one night because of concern that the British would stop them and that there would be Arab hostility.
All the equipment that was needed was prepared in advance. The settlers had to complete the tower and stockade before the British army arrived and before armed Arab gangs managed to attack the settlers. On the night that they built the tower and stockade, they put up walls from wooden boards with a layer of gravel between them to protect themselves from enemy fire. They built shacks within the walls. They constructed the watchtower with positions for guards and a spotlight at the top. That is the source of the name Tower and Stockade. The organization and the building were carried out by the Haganah. Nevertheless, all the different streams in the Yishuv took part in the operation. Thanks to Tower and Stockade, the borders of the Hebrew settlement were expanded and important political and security goals were achieved.
The British Mandate’s Attitude towards the Yishuv
The relationship between the British Mandate and the Jews of the Land of Israel was complicated. On the one hand, the Mandate supported in principle the Balfour Declaration and contributed to the strengthening of the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants were absorbed into the Yishuv. However, following the tension and the riots between Jews and Arabs, the British government began to impose restrictions on the Jews regarding immigration, land acquisition and the establishment of settlements. A number of suggestions were made in an attempt to prevent a worsening of the situation and to try and make peace between the Jews and the Arabs, including the Partition Plan, the Peel Commission and the White Papers.
Following the riots, the Jews formed several military organizations. The main one, the Haganah, was officially established in 1920. However, it gained strength in 1929 after the riots. There were periods when it cooperated with the British government, and at other times it operated in the underground. The Lehi and the Etzel were established in the 1930s. Near the end of the British Mandate these organizations put up armed resistance to the British government and they even cooperated with one another.
Song of the Watchman
My eye shall drink in the distances,
The land is calm in the dead of night,
Oh, watchman, what brings the night?
(Chorus)
A shepherd’s flute shall rejoice
The flock spilling down the hillside,
What more could I want,Canaan?
The breeze from the sea whispers,
Between the sheathes of wheat,
What more could I want, Canaan?
(Verse)
The moon rising above the hills,
The valley covered in mist
Somewhere a jackal gently wails,
Oh, watchman, what brings the night?