1929 Arab riots

1929 Arab riots in Palestine
Part of Intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine
During the 1929 Palestine riots, Jewish families at Jaffa Gate fleeing from the Old City of Jerusalem
Location	British Mandate of Palestine (Safed, Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa)
Date	23–29 August 1929
Deaths	133 Jews 110 Arabs
Non-fatal injuries	339 Jews 232 Arabs

The 1929 Arab riots in Palestine, also known as the 1929 Massacres, (Hebrew: מאורעות תרפ"ט‎, Meora'ot Tarpat, lit. Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), or the Buraq Uprising (Arabic: ثورة البراق‎‎, Thawrat al-Buraq), refers to a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 when a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence. The riots took the form, in the most part, of attacks by Arabs on Jews accompanied by destruction of Jewish property. During the week of riots from 23 to 29 August, 133 Jews were killed by Arabs and 339 others were injured, while 110 Arabs were killed and 232 were injured, the vast majority by the British police while trying to suppress the riots. During the riots, 17 Jewish communities were evacuated.

The Shaw Commission found that the fundamental cause of the violence "without which in our opinion disturbances either would not have occurred or would not have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future." It also attributed the cause as being Arab fears of Jewish immigrants "not only as a menace to their livelihood but as a possible overlord of the future."Avraham Sela described the riots as "unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine, in duration, geographical scope and direct damage to life and property."

The Western Wall is one of the holiest of Jewish sites, sacred because it is a remnant of the ancient wall that once enclosed the Jewish Second Temple. The Jews, through the practice of centuries, had established a right of access to the Wailing Wall for the purposes of their devotions. As part of the Temple Mount the Western Wall was under the control of the Muslim religious trust, the Waqf. Muslims consider the wall to be part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, and according to Islamic tradition the place where Muhammad tied his horse, Buraq, before his night journey to heaven. There had been a few serious incidents resulting from these differences.