Britain and the Palestine Problem • 281and the Jews' first self-defense militia during the 1920 Arab rebellion.
Jabotinsky represented the ultranationalist right wing of the Zionist spec¬
trum, and his views would influence those of such recent Israeli leaders as
Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ariel Sharon.The Jewish Governor and the Nationalist Mufti
Britain's first civilian governor in Palestine was Sir Herbert Samuel. Al¬
though he was a prominent Zionist, he tried hard to be fair to all sides, so
that Palestinian Arabs as well as Jews would accept him. He went so far as
to name an ardent young nationalist, Hajj Amin al-Husayni, to be the
chief mufti (Muslim legal officer) of Jerusalem, even though other candi¬
dates for the post were backed by the Muslim notables. Samuel probably
hoped to tame him with a small taste of power, but Hajj Amin used his
control of the awqaf and appointments to key Muslim posts to become the
leader of Palestinian Arab nationalism. Although his flamboyant personal¬
ity won him enemies as well as friends among the Palestinian Arabs, he be¬
came so influential as a spokesman and revolutionary leader that the
British finally deported him in 1937.
Samuel encouraged both Jews and Arabs to form their own institutions.
The Jews in Palestine went on developing organizations covering nearly
every aspect of their lives, including the Jewish Agency as a body represent¬
ing world Jewry and the Vaad Le'umi, a consultative national council for
the Jewish settlers. Political parties mushroomed, each having its own
unique blend of socialism, nationalism, and religion. The general labor fed¬
eration, called Histadrut, set up factories, food-processing plants, and even
a construction company. It also organized the underground defense orga¬
nization, Haganah, formed after the 1920 rebellion. The Arabs, divided by
family and religious loyalties, failed to create comparable organizations or
even a united nationalist party. Instead, they pursued an obstructionist pol¬
icy that hindered their cause outside the country. Britain tried in 1923 to
set up a legislative council that would have given the Arabs ten out of
twenty-two seats, but the Arabs refused, accurately noting that the two
seats designated for the Jews and the ten for the British were disproportion¬
ately high for their numbers. The Palestinian Arabs sought out Sa'd Zagh-
lul, the Wafd Party leader, hoping for Egyptian support. After hearing their
complaints, Sa'd bluntly told their delegation to go back and make peace
with the Jewish colonists. Other Arab and Muslim leaders did more to en¬
courage Palestinian Arab resistance, but as they were all outside Palestine
and had their own problems, they gave little material aid.