Policing politics: Crime and conflict in British Mandate Palestine (1920--1948)

摘要

The objective of this study is to provide a theoretically grounded explanation of the British reaction towards crime perpetrated by the Arab and Jewish Underground movements in Mandate Palestine (1920--1948). This thesis is based on an historical analysis of archival sources.;From a conflict and critical theory perspective, this work aims first to explain British criminal justice policy decisions during the Mandate towards the following five crimes of the Arab and Jewish Undergrounds: Political Assassinations, Weapons Smuggling, Robbery and Extortion, Illegal Immigration, and Bombs and Sabotage. The concept of vigilantism is also employed to examine the development of the private policing roles taken on by the Arab and Jewish Undergrounds.;These three conceptual frameworks are used as a guide in an exploration of the power shifts of Mandate Palestine. This thesis proposes that private police forces in Mandate Palestine were established in reaction to growing dissatisfaction of disenchanted community groups. This dissertation outlines how these police forces developed into competing power bases to the established rule of law.;This study used mainly qualitative methods. There is a small segment of the thesis which includes quantitative data. The qualitative data analysis was based on a content analysis design. The quantitative data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics.;The quantitative analyses of this work includes a macro- and micro-level analysis. The macro-level analysis consisted of the tracking of crime over the length of the Mandate Period. This analysis was based on published Palestine Police Force crime figures and official demographic reports. The micro-level component of the quantitative analysis was the examination of Jewish "terror" suspect files of the Palestine Police Criminal Investigation Division.;The British Mandate of Palestine was a period of extreme ethnic, social, and political conflict. This thesis provides a lesson for contemporary police forces of divided societies. The conflicting community demands placed on the Palestine Police during the Mandate Period are reflective of modern-day policing dilemmas. The lesson learned from the British experience in Palestine is that the balancing of community interests is paramount for any police force attempting peace and security.