Black Hand (Mandatory Palestine)

History

The Black Hand took shape after the 1929 riots, though one account traces its origins to a decision made following the September 1928 Day of Atonement incident at the Wailing Wall. From the start, the group split into two factions. One, led by Abu Ibrahim, pushed for immediate militant strikes. The other, under Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, believed an armed revolt was too risky and would expose their preparations. According to Subhi Yasin, the dissident group carried out attacks in the north against al-Qassam's wishes, though Abu Ibrahim denied this in 1969. The campaign began on 11 April 1931 with the ambush and killing of three members of Kibbutz Yagur. It continued with a failed bombing of Jewish homes on the outskirts of Haifa in early 1932, and several operations that left about four people from northern Jewish settlements dead or wounded. The violence peaked on 22 December 1932, when a bomb thrown into a home in Nahalal killed a Jewish father and son.

Al-Qassam, a Syrian-born preacher, founded the Black Hand in 1930 and led it until his death in 1935. He had fled to Haifa after the failure of the Hananu Revolt he led in Syria. According to Shai Lachman, al-Qassam often worked with Mohammed Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem, from 1921 to 1935. They had a good relationship, and al-Qassam's official appointments required the Mufti's approval. Their cooperation grew after the 1929 riots, in which one source says al-Qassam's men took part. However, they fell out in the mid-1930s, likely because of al-Qassam's independent activism. When the Mufti refused al-Qassam's plan to use money meant for mosque repairs to buy weapons, al-Qassam turned to the Arab Nationalist Istiqlal Party for support. He kept trying to form an alliance with the Mufti to attack the British, but the Mufti, who headed the Supreme Muslim Council, still favored diplomacy. Al-Qassam ultimately moved forward with his plans to attack the British on his own.

Before the Black Hand, a group called the Green Hand existed briefly in the Safad and Acre districts, active for a few months during the winter of 1929/1930.

Legacy

The Black Hand name has been used by different groups in Mandatory Palestine. One group was linked to the 'Azazme Bedouin of the Negev and blamed for killing eleven Israelis at Scorpion Pass in March 1954. Another account mentions a Black Hand group active around Jaffa in 1919, founded by Wadi'al Bustani, which reportedly had backing from the British military governor there. Separately, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, formed in 1992 as the armed wing of Hamas, conducted attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians between 1994 and 2000. Qassam rockets also take their name from al-Qassam. Although his own revolt failed, al-Qassam became a popular hero, inspiring later Arab militants who called themselves Qassamiyun during the 1936–39 Arab revolt.